Producers of ‘Walking With Dinosaurs’ ponder next step

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What do you do after you’ve walked with dinosaurs?

Why, romp with apes and dragons, of course.

So says Carmen Pavlovic, chief executive officer of Creature Production Co., which is bringing its “Walking With Dinosaurs – The Arena Spectacular” to a close in Southern California next month after a three-year tour of North America.

“Our next production is ‘King Kong – Live on Stage’ in cooperation with the Merian C. Cooper Estate,” Pavlovic said in a news release. “We have also announced collaboration with DreamWorks Animation to develop an arena show based on their hugely successful film ‘How to Train Your Dragon.’”

“Walking With Dinosaurs,” loosely based on the 1999 Emmy-winning BBC series of the same name, is a spectacle of 17 life-sized dinosaurs that are operated by puppeteers, mechanics and drivers. The largest is 36 feet tall and 56 feet long.

The show, originally created in Australia in 2007, played the Honda Center in Anaheim and Staples Center in L.A. in 2008 and now is returning to the two venues to close out a trek that promoters say will have covered 1,081 performances in 144 cities in the United States, Mexico and Canada. A separate company has been touring Europe and Asia.

“Walking With Dinosaurs” plays the Honda Center Sept. 1-5, then moves to Staples Sept. 9-12.

--Lee Margulies