The McDonald’s Dinosaur is a life size replica of a Tyrannosaurus Rex located in Tucson, Arizona outside of the McDonald’s location on the corner of Tanque Verde Road and Kolb Road. The dinosaur was put up in the early 1990s and has served as an iconic Tucson landmark ever since. It is especially popular amongst young children who like dinosaurs.
The McDonald’s Dinosaur With a mask on
Origin
The McDonalds Dinosaur is 18 feet tall and 40 feet long and made out of concrete. The dinosaur was put up by the stores owners Michelle and Michael Retzer during the opening of the store in 1994. There is also a Maiasaura in the restaurants lobby that has a nest of baby dinosaurs at its feet. According to Michelle, the idea to have the dinosaur made was her then 2 year-old sons idea who at the time was a very big dinosaur fan. The dinosaur was made locally by La Reata Studios in Amado, Arizona. The total cost of having the statue manufactured and transported to their store was around $55,000 dollars. 1
During the Holidays the dinosaur gets dressed up in a variety of different costumes. During the Covid-19 pandemic the dinosaur donned a protective face mask in order to promote the important safety measure. 2
Vandalism
The dinosaur was well constructed and has held up well over the years although there have been instances of vandalism over the years. In the first year of the Dinosaurs’ lives the Maiasaura in the lobby of the restaurant was climbed and assaulted by some children who poked out the gel eyes of the sculpture. These eyes could not be replaced since the gel had hardened. This led to wrought-iron cages to be erected around both of the sculptures in order to protect the expensive models. 1
CAD Controversy
In 2020 a facebook group called Christians Against Dinosaurs cropped up and began posting about getting the sculpture taken down. The page cited their Christian belief that Dinosaurs were never real since god created the earth. According to them, the sculpture is blasphemous and needs to be taken down. The owners of the store confirmed that there was no way that they were going to take down the sculpture for these purposes. 2
1. Pedersen, Brian J. “Dinosaur Fueled by Big Macs.” Tucson.com, 3 Aug. 2009, https://tucson.com/dinosaur-fueled-by-big-macs/article_dbf18792-1160-11e6-a2c0-67becc5f566c.html. Accessed 29 Sept. 2022.
2. Brean, Henry. “Internet Dispute among Dinosaur Deniers Won’t Topple Tanque Verde T. Rex.” Tucson.com, 2 Sept. 2020, https://tucson.com/news/local/internet-dispute-among-dinosaur-deniers-wont-topple-tanque-verde-t-rex/article_22c2ba68-9bde-5bc1-ad85-4a1bc1551fb3.html. Accessed 29 Sept. 2022.
