In an exclusive Dinosaur Interplanetary Gazette Interview, Stout reveals the origins of what will be the most exciting dinosaur picture ever made:

D.I.G.  How and when did you first become involved with the Disney project?
William Stout: I was first approached way back in 1988. I had just finished a two year stint as a designer for Walt Disney Imagineering. I knew through the industry grapevine that the project was in the hands of Paul Verhoeven as director and Phil Tippett (he had been selected to animate the stop motion critters). I called Phil to make sure that nothing was being done behind his back. He told me that he and Paul had dropped out because they couldn't get approval for their $80 million budget, and he gave me his blessing.

The plan then was to do the stop motion animation in either Czechoslovakia or Hungary. The project drifted away (I assumed they couldn't get the financial green light), came back, drifted away, came back. It seems like I was reapproached about every three years.

Then about three years ago in 1997,  I got a call from the film's new producer, Pam Marsden. She seemed really on the ball and capable of putting this thing into motion. After a long negotiation, I was hired. I worked on the project for two months. That may not seem like a long time, but I'm very, very fast.

D.I.G.  Did you do conceptual sketches or full renderings?
Stout: Pretty much full renderings. Most were in color, some were in sepia tone, depending upon my time.

D.I.G.  Of what?
Stout:  I was hired to be part of the character design team. I came up with designs for the main group of Iguanodon characters (at many different age levels), the Carnotaurus, a Tyrannosaurus rex, two Triceratops characters, Stygimoloch (a pachycephalosaur), a nasty (but funny) trio of raptors (three different species: Velociraptor, Garudimimus and Avimimus), an Opisthcoelicaudia (a Cretaceous sauropod with a neck and spine sail), Euplocephalosaur (an ankylosaur) and a Nyctosaurus (a kind of pterosaur).

In addition I painted five suggested scenes for the film. Since I haven't seen the film I really have no idea as to what from the work and ideas that I produced has survived to make the screen.

Those scenes were:
1) A velociraptor perched on top of a rotted tree trunk
2) A pterosaur perched on top of a Triceratops who is wallowing in a lily pond
3) Our male & female lead Iguanodons engulfed in a sea of flowers
4) The lead Iguanodons dwarfed by the spectacle of a dramatic sunset
5) The  lead Iguanodons in the pastoral splendor of a heavily wooded swamp

D.I.G.  Did you work directly with any of the animators?
Stout: No, I did all of my work at home and brought it in at the end of each week. I did get a lot of inspiration, however, from a brilliant artist on the project, the film's art director, Thom Enriquez.

D.I.G.  How did the story change during the time you were involved?
Stout: It was essentially the same script I was handed back in 1988. I am very aware of the Disney animated film process, so I'm sure that Walon Green's script has changed dramatically since my involvement.

D.I.G.  Did you have any ideas or input on the way the dinosaurs actually moved? Weight? Range of limb/joint motion? Squash and stretch?
Stout: Not at all, unless the animators were referring to my 1981 book, The Dinosaurs - A Fantastic New View Of A Lost Era. I of course indicated action, weight and sagging, etc. in my drawings, but anything you see on screen in terms of motion was directed by Ralph Zondag and Eric Leighton and is ultimately the hard and thoughtful work of the brilliant Disney animators.

D.I.G.  Did you work on the "personalities" of the dinosaurs?
Stout: There was not a lot of personality indication in the early script that I had read, so I suggested personalities for each of the characters I designed. I don't know if any of those personalities made it to the final cut.

D.I.G.  Have you seen any of the final, rendered dinosaurs?  How do you feel about them?
Stout: I have seen the two trailers (previews) for the film. They're so awe inspiring that every time I see them my hair stands on end. It looks like it could be the picture of the year, if not the decade. I'm profoundly proud to be associated with this film.

D.I.G.  Anything else you'd like to add?
Stout: Just one last thought I'd like to express. Making movies is a very hard job. It can often turn  out to be one of the worst experiences in your life. Working on Walt Disney's Dinosaur, however, turned out to be just about the most fun I've ever had working on a motion picture. I'd really like to convey my appreciation to all the great talents involved and send them a big "Thank You!"

1. William Stout Dinosaur Illustration
2. William Stout DragonCon Biography
3. William Stout Fine Art Prints
4. William Stout Dinosaurs, Penguins, Whales Exhibit
5. William Stout Personal Website