WEBVTT - The Monstrefact Redux: The Flight of Dragons

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

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<v Speaker 2>Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and This is the

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<v Speaker 2>Monster Fact, a short form series from Stuff to Blow

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<v Speaker 2>Your Mind, focusing in non mythical creatures, ideas and monsters

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<v Speaker 2>in time. Our recent Weird House Cinema episode on the

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<v Speaker 2>nineteen eighty one film Dragon Slayer got me thinking once

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<v Speaker 2>more about dragon flight. In this film, noted for its

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<v Speaker 2>superb dragon effects, we get to see Vermathra's pejorative soar

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<v Speaker 2>terrifyingly across the sky like a fighter jet, as well

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<v Speaker 2>as swooped down from craggy Peaks, but we don't see

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<v Speaker 2>the creature engage in vertical takeoff. In the special features

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<v Speaker 2>for the excellent twenty twenty three remastered Blu Ray release,

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<v Speaker 2>the effects team indicated that they intentionally avoided depicting the

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<v Speaker 2>dragon taken to flight in order to avoid challenges in

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<v Speaker 2>making the feat seem believable, because, of course, dragons, while

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<v Speaker 2>creatures of fantasy, should feel believable on the screen, and

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<v Speaker 2>that may often mean choosing what to depict and what

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<v Speaker 2>to leave to the audience's imagination. But in raising the

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<v Speaker 2>specter of believable dragonflight, I was reminded of an older

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<v Speaker 2>episode of Weird House Cinema in which I discussed the

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<v Speaker 2>nineteen eighty two animated film The Flight of Dragons with

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<v Speaker 2>Seth Nicholas Johnson. The film from Rankin in Bass was

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<v Speaker 2>based on the nineteen seventy nine book by Peter Dickinson

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<v Speaker 2>and illustrated by Wayne Anderson. Part coffee table fantasy art

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<v Speaker 2>book and part speculative natural history of dragons. The book

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<v Speaker 2>is an absolute delight, and affordable used copies are still

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<v Speaker 2>very much in circulation. Dickinson lays out one of the

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<v Speaker 2>more intriguing models for dragon biology and flight, which I'll

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<v Speaker 2>briefly summarize here. For starters, the dragons of flight of

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<v Speaker 2>dragonagons are quote flying bricks. They have thick bodies and

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<v Speaker 2>short wings, but are very capable of flight. The wings

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<v Speaker 2>for starters are too small to support their weight and

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<v Speaker 2>are not proper limbs, but rather webbed spines that evolved

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<v Speaker 2>from their ribs. The dragons only use these wings for

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<v Speaker 2>propulsion and maneuvering because their large bodies contain lighter than

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<v Speaker 2>air gas, specifically hydrogen, which the dragon produces via digestion

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<v Speaker 2>of limestone. The fiery breath then is a byproduct of

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<v Speaker 2>their mode of flight. They must regularly vent hydrogen as

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<v Speaker 2>a means of lowering their altitude when in flight, or

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<v Speaker 2>as a matter of course, when not engaged in flight.

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<v Speaker 2>Via structure known as thors thimble and the roof of

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<v Speaker 2>their mouth, the dragons are able to ignite the hydrogen

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<v Speaker 2>as a great burst of flame. The film does a

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<v Speaker 2>fine job relating all of this, and the book ruminates

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<v Speaker 2>on the speculative evolution, life cycle, and biology of fire

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<v Speaker 2>breathing dragons as well as dragon slayers. It's a great

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<v Speaker 2>deal of fun, but also rather insightful and clever. I

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<v Speaker 2>highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in the

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<v Speaker 2>monster sciences. While we don't have any terrestrial organisms that

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<v Speaker 2>engage in this mode of flight, science fiction contains numerous

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<v Speaker 2>other examples of creatures that fly via bladders of lighter

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<v Speaker 2>than atmosphere gas. Artist and author Wayne Barlow, a legend

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<v Speaker 2>in his field, for example, envisioned the Eosapiens in his

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<v Speaker 2>nineteen ninety book Expedition. Barlow envisioned them as the most

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<v Speaker 2>advanced life form on the planet Darwin four, floating in

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<v Speaker 2>the atmosphere via two bladders of methane in the planet's

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<v Speaker 2>oxygen rich atmosphere. Tune in for additional episodes of The Monster, Fact,

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<v Speaker 2>The Artifact, or Anamalia Stupendium each week. As always, you

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<v Speaker 2>can email us at contact at stuff to Blow your

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<v Speaker 2>Mind dot com.

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