Life Among The Dinosaurs James Gurney’s ‘Dinotopia’ Has Thrust Him To Success In The Real World And Deep Into A Fantasy World

Years after first sketching an island where talking dinosaurs live among humans, James Gurney feels like he’s gone from being the creator of Dinotopia to an inhabitant.

First, there was “Dinotopia” the book, which detailed in lush paintings a lost land where humans catch rides on the backs of flying dinosaurs, and where the two species govern and play together. Its massive popularity produced an expanding Dinotopian universe that includes the new sequel, “Dinotopia: The World Beneath” (Turner Publishing Inc., $29.95).

Sitting in his home studio, the 37-year-old author said he’s still discovering Dinotopia. Three more books are roughly sketched out in his mind. There’s also a fast-growing Dinotopia franchise: a CD-ROM, novels and maybe biggest of all - a movie now in the works.

“I have one foot in the Hudson Valley and one foot in Dinotopia for the time being,” Gurney said, surrounded by dinosaur models used for his books.

“My goal as an artist is to leap into the picture and live inside it.”

It seems to be working. “Dinotopia,” released in 1993, scored with both young readers and adults and sold more than 1 million copies. “World Beneath” again features 19th-century adventurer Arthur Dennison and his teenage son, Will, who explore an ancient underground city and a jungle rain basin ruled by Tyrannosaurus rex.

Gurney adds trademark touches: dinosaurs wear spectacles or metallic armor, humans use highchairs to sit at dinosaur-sized tables and the paintings sometimes resemble works of Maxfield Parrish or Norman Rockwell - only with dinosaurs in them.

His growing success puts Gurney in a class with “Jurassic Park” author Michael Crichton: Both created widely popular works with dinosaurs in key roles. But while Crichton’s creatures can be dangerous, Gurney’s are friendly - albeit giant - neighbors. Even T-rex, the ferocious villain in most dinosaur tales, is more misunderstood than mean in Dinotopia.

“Taking dinosaurs, which have always been seen as dim-witted and cold-blooded monstrous creatures, and then to invert the whole thing and have them on a par with humans, that’s what makes the idea fun,” Gurney said.

Gurney seems uniquely qualified to tell the tale. He studied archeology at the University of California, Berkley, and then spent two semesters at the Art Center of Design in Pasadena, Calif.

After sketching his way across America on freight trains, Gurney did background movie animation and painted covers for science fiction books. He also painted for National Geographic, accompanying archaeologists on digs and recreating scenes from lost civilizations.

Campfire talks with archaeologists about lost worlds planted the seeds for Dinotopia. He fleshed it out through talks with his wife and two sons and through painstaking storyboard sketches. Being a stickler for details made it real.

Gurney traveled to Venice and Niagara Falls to nail down the look of Dinotopia’s Waterfall City. His cave kingdom in “World Beneath” evolved after spelunking in Puerto Rico.

The son, grandson and great-grandson of mechanical engineers, Gurney paints from models he makes himself. For a misty painting of Waterfall City, he photographed a foam and cardboard city model in his front yard, creating “mist” by wearing a bridal veil and turning on a sprinkler.

“All the cars were slowing down and honking their horn because it looked funny seeing a guy with a bridal veil over his head and a sprinkler taking pictures of a model.”

Perfectly portraying long-dead dinosaurs down to their teeth and claws is a priority. A miniature T-Rex baring its teeth at Gurney from his drawing table is one of many models he keeps on hand. Gurney also attends paleontology conferences and calls friends at the Smithsonian, asking “anything new in Therapods?”

It was such a call that gave him a scoop on a newly discovered dinosaur, Giganotosaurus. Gurney worked closely with paleontologist Rodolfo Coria on how to portray the animal in “World Beneath,” even before the scientist published his findings. Result: What is now thought to be the biggest meat-eating dinosaur - displacing even T-Rex - makes his pictorial debut in Gurney’s book. Gurney’s Giganotosaurus, Stinktooth, has an unfortunate breath problem and tie-dye skin.