WEBVTT - The Monstrefact: 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 Lammin. This is the Monster Fact,

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<v Speaker 2>a short form series from Stuff to Blow Your Mind,

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<v Speaker 2>focusing in non mythical creatures, ideas and monsters in time.

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<v Speaker 2>Our recent Weird House Cinema episode on the nineteen eighty

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<v Speaker 2>one film Dragon Slayer got me thinking once more about

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<v Speaker 2>dragon flight. In this film, noted for its superb dragon effects,

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<v Speaker 2>we get to see Vermathra's pejorative soar terrifyingly across the

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<v Speaker 2>sky like a fighter jet, as well as swooped down

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<v Speaker 2>from craggy Peaks, but we don't see the creature engage

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<v Speaker 2>in vertical takeoff. In the special features for the excellent

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<v Speaker 2>twenty twenty three remastered Blu Ray release, the effects team

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<v Speaker 2>indicated that they intentionally avoided depicting the dragon taken to

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<v Speaker 2>flight in order to avoid challenges in making the feat

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<v Speaker 2>seem believable, because, of course, dragons, while creatures of fantasy,

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<v Speaker 2>should feel believable on the screen, and that may often

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<v Speaker 2>mean choosing what to depict and what to leave to

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<v Speaker 2>the audience's imagination. But in raising the specter of believable

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<v Speaker 2>dragon flight, I was reminded of an older episode of

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<v Speaker 2>Weird House Cinema in which I discussed the nineteen eighty

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<v Speaker 2>two animated film The Flight of Dragons with Seth Nicholas Johnson.

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<v Speaker 2>The film from Rankin in Bass was based on the

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<v Speaker 2>nineteen seventy nine book by Peter Dickinson and illustrated by

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<v Speaker 2>Wayne Anderson. Part coffee table fantasy art book and part

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<v Speaker 2>speculative natural history of dragons. The book is an absolute delight,

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<v Speaker 2>and affordable used copies are still very much in circulation.

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<v Speaker 2>Dickinson lays out one of the more intriguing models for

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<v Speaker 2>dragon biology and flight, which I'll briefly summarize here. For starters,

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<v Speaker 2>the dragons of flight of ddragons are quote flying bricks.

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<v Speaker 2>They have thick bodies and short wings, but are very

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<v Speaker 2>capable of flight. The wings for starters are too small

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<v Speaker 2>to support their weight and are not proper limbs, but

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<v Speaker 2>rather webbed spines that evolved from their ribs. The dragons

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<v Speaker 2>only use these wings for propulsion and maneuvering because their

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<v Speaker 2>large bodies contain lighter than air gas, specifically hydrogen, which

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<v Speaker 2>the dragon produces via digestion of limestone. The fiery breath

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<v Speaker 2>then is a byproduct of their mode of flight. They

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<v Speaker 2>must regularly vent hydrogen as a means of lowering their

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<v Speaker 2>altitude when in flight, or as a matter of course,

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<v Speaker 2>when not engaged in flight. Via structure known as thors

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<v Speaker 2>thimble and the roof of their mouth, the dragons are

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<v Speaker 2>able to ignite the hydrogen as a great burst of flame.

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<v Speaker 2>The film does a fine job relating all of this,

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<v Speaker 2>and the book ruminates on the speculative evolution, life cycle,

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<v Speaker 2>and biology of fire breathing dragons as well as dragon slayers.

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<v Speaker 2>It's a great deal of fun, but also rather insightful

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<v Speaker 2>and clever. I highly recommend it to anyone with an

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<v Speaker 2>interest in the monster sciences. While we don't have any

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<v Speaker 2>terrestrial organisms that engage in this mode of flight, science

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<v Speaker 2>fiction contains numerous other examples of creatures that fly via

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<v Speaker 2>bladders of lighter than atmosphere gas. Artist and author Wayne Barlow,

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

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<v Speaker 2>in his nineteen ninety book Expedition. Barlow envisioned them as

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

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<v Speaker 2>floating in the atmosphere via two bladders of methane in

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<v Speaker 2>the planet's oxygen rich atmosphere. Tune in for additional episodes

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<v Speaker 2>of The Monster Fact, The Artifact, or Anamalia Stupendium each week.

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<v Speaker 2>As always, you can email us at contact at stuff

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<v Speaker 2>to Blow your Mind dot com.

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