Ice Age Encounters

For a current performance schedule, please check our web calendar or at the admissions desk upon arrival.

The Saber-Toothed Cat is coming to the Page Museum on Monday, February 20th!

Have an Ice Age Encounter when a snarling, prowling Saber-Toothed Cat and her 2-month-old baby make a special appearance at the Page Museum. This jaw-dropping adult Smilodon fatalis will take you back to a time when big cats roamed the land we now call Los Angeles. Bring your camera. You won’t believe your eyes. Learn more here about the Page

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The Coolest Cat of the Ice Age

Prowl up to the North American Mammal Hall. You’ll find the world’s first full-suit animatronic, prehistoric cat for live audiences! In a unique collaboration, paleontologists and performing artists from the NHM and puppet engineers from Jim Henson’s Creature Shop (creators of Where the Wild Things Are and Dino Train) have created a jaw-dropping adult Saber-Toothed Cat (Smilodon fatalis) that you will never forget. This 15-minute program steps into the late Pleistocene when thousands of saber-toothed cats roamed the land we now call Los Angeles. Ice Age Encounters audiences meet a mother cat and her 2-month-old kitten — a realistic marionette created by puppet master Robin Walsh (Team America, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer).

More than 2,500 saber-toothed cats have been excavated from the La Brea Tar Pits and studied at the Page Museum, whose scientists have contributed their expertise to the Ice Age Encounters program, telling the story of life 10,000 to 40,000 years ago.

Ice Age Encounters are for people of all ages who enjoy being terrified and thrilled by prehistoric carnivorous beasts and the technology that brings them back to unbelievably realistic life.

Ice Age Encounters Press: The Cat Is Ready for her Close Up

We thought that the state fossil of California deserved a show of its own and, so far, the reaction to the Smilodon fatalis (Saber-Toothed Cat) in Ice Age Encounters has been a rousing success. Check out a Los Angeles Times story about the process of interviewing candidates!  Also check the Museum's YouTube channel for visitor footage.

For Teachers

Our interactive performance art programs satisfy many of the California Visual and Performance Arts Standards for grades Pre-K through 2, using a combination of theater and kinesthetic lesson plans. Click here for details on how to make the most of your field trip to NHM by being sure to include a stop at Ice Age Encounters, Dinosaur Encounters, or a Hop, Slither, and Stalk presentation.  

ROAR!

These are not small hand puppets. The Museum's puppets are very large, realistic interpretations of wild animals. Please prepare and attend to small children accordingly. There are a number of pictures available on the Museum website and other online sources.  While the majority of children love the puppets, they can be a big surprise for senstive individuals.

Behind the Scenes

Ice Age Encounters is a performance-based, interpretive program that lets visitors get close to realistic, life-sized adult and juvenile Saber-Toothed Cats. The NHM commissioned a team of paleontologists, engineers, artists, and puppeteers to bring these prehistoric animals to life.

Every day someone asks us “How do the puppets work?” Whether operating a marionette, or putting a human inside the skin of a cat, puppeteers have a unique set of skills that involve rigorous athleticism, movement-based theater performance, and improvisation training, as well as a basic understanding of science and nature. There is a science to these amazing pieces of artistry, almost as intricate as the paleontology that brought these animals back from the dead.

Is it a robot?

No. And yes! The kitty is a non-robotic, 8-pound marionette operated by one puppeteer with very strong arms, agile hands, and a mind sensitive enough to meld with cat behavior. The adult Saber-Toothed Cat takes two performers, keenly in tune with one another to bring it to life. One puppeteer slips inside the belly of the 75-pound creature to make it stalk, attack, and bend, while the second puppeteer is on the outside, controlling the motors that make it look, bite, and roar! The puppet is worn like a backpack with arm stilts crawling on all fours with limited motion and almost no visibility. The head control unit is operated like a very complicated video game box that steers the voice and head.
 

Can I touch the puppet?

Only with your eyes. The puppets are hand-painted and crafted of delicate fabrics; touching the puppet could damage it. It could also be dangerous. Visibility is limited inside and the puppeteers are engaged in a constant balancing act; any unexpected bumps or nudges could be hazardous to the visitor or the puppeteer. The puppets are fairly heavy: Smilodon and T. rex weigh 75 pounds. We don't want anyone to get squished!
 

Who is inside the puppets?

Our Performing Arts staff is made up of a team of actors, directors, educators, and physical artists, who can be seen "flying" like butterflies on stilts, buzzing as bees, crawling as spiders, and roaring as a Saber-Toothed Cat and a T. rex. Learn about our Performance Artist staff
 

Who made the puppets?

A collective of artists, engineers, puppeteers, and designers made the puppets. Jim Henson’s Creature Shop was commissioned to make the Saber-Toothed Cat and our dinosaur puppets were commissioned at Erth Visual and Physical, Inc., based in Sydney, Australia. Check out their other fabulous creature creations at http://www.creatureshop.com/index.php or www.erth.com.au.
 

How does it ROAR?

We do not know what the saber-tooth cat actually sounded like, but Museum sound specialists put together a mix of noises from other big cats like lions, tigers, and leopards, which run from the remote control through speakers in the puppet's shoulders. These sounds can all be found at:

Ice Age Encounters Production Credits

It takes a huge team to put together our Encounters programs!  Our Museum staff worked with several Los Angeles-based artists and musicians on this project, including: 

Scenic Designer: Sibyl Wickersheimer

Composer: John Ballinger

Scene Shop: Scenic Route

"Nibbles" marionette: Robin Walsh

Saber-Toothed Cat: Jim Henson Creature Shop