CollectA Protoceratops (Bix from Dinotopia) by Paintingdinos

Call it my inner horse girl showing or just general social ineptitude, but I have always been drawn to media where humans form strong bonds with other animals. Something about that kind of narrative just appeals to me. Maybe it’s that main characters are often socially awkward, “I like animals better than people” types; which, yeah, I guess that’s me.

Living the dream

James Gurney’s Dinotopia is, in my opinion, one of the exemplars of this type of story.

Source: https://artandinfluence.com/dinotopia-the-fantastical-art-of-james-gurney

Unfortunately, I didn’t grow up reading the books, but did still encounter the series as a youth. Being a dinosaur obsessed child requires a healthy appetite for mediocre media and the Hallmark miniseries was something I just devoured. Honestly, looking back on it, it’s not that bad and the music is seriously fantastic.

Source: https://www.amazon.com/River-Quest-Dinotopia-John-Vornholt/dp/0679869824

I also remember fawning over a copy of one of the chapter books, River Quest, in my elementary school’s library. But, that was one of those filthy chapter books where you had to read of all things. Besides, and at that age I was becoming more obsessed with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Sonic the Hedgehog to bother with some dinosaur book for babies.

Source: https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/73536-dinotopia-the-mini-series/images/posters

As a young adult getting back into dinosaurs, I would often see James Gurney’s art pop-up here and there and quickly became obsessed with it. I quickly connected the dots, realizing that these were the paintings that Dinotopia show I used to watch as a kid was based on and that they came from a series of books. As soon as I got enough money together I ordered all 3 of the main books; I still haven’t read First Flight, sorry.

Source: http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2015/04/tyrannosaurs-behind-art.html?m=1

It’s a real shame I missed out on these books as a kid because they are just chock-full of the kinds of things I love. While there’s not a ton of deep Silmarillion-level lore, the world is fleshed-out so practically it makes you forget that this is a world were dinosaurs have lived unchanged on an island for tens of millions of years. There are just oodles of pages of schematics and labels highlighting all the little eccentricities of this place. As a kid, I loved books with technical breakdowns of diagrams. I absolutely are up those DK guides that went over all the details of movies. You can really get lost tuff like this. I actually witnessed this first-hand the other day. I brought a copy of the first book to my child care job and caught a co-worker turning through the pages, carefully looking over the art, and then proceeding to buy the book on his phone for his niece. I’m honestly just happy I could spread the word.

Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/277886239480063622

The way the series approaches the complicated issue of anthropomorphic animals is really stand out, too. For example, carnivores aren’t considered evil, but are treated by the mostly vegetarian populace as a different culture. It also goes a step beyond many franchises, and makes it clear that these animals are not subservient in anyway to their human counterparts, but equals. They have their own culture and lives. Unlike so much dinosaur media, these dinosaurs don’t spend their time roaring and chasing humans, they’d mostly rather sing or discuss the cyclical nature of time. This might just be my fan-fiction level head canon, but I have found so much enjoyment in this series. It’s one of the few fantasy worlds I wouldn’t mind living in, honestly.

Source: https://jamesgurney.com/products/dinotopia-a-land-apart-from-time-signed

One of my favorite features of the Dinotopia series is the Protoceratops named Bix. She’s the resident empathy among the main characters, relying on communication skills and understanding to resolve conflicts. These are admirable qualities and so refreshing compared to other dinosaur characters who are either over-the-top anti-heroes or lost children.

Source: https://pin.it/1FGQdtr

Because of Bix, Protoceratops became my favorite dinosaur and I have amassed a small collection of them.

It's a whole...thing...

Unfortunately, Dinotopia never got much merchandise in the realm of toys. There are a couple of plush, one of which is a Bix, but that’s it. Coincidentally, Bix was modeled after the Protoceratops from Tyco's Dino Riders. When there were talks of Disney and Jim Henson making a Dinotopia movie in the mid-90s, a line of figures and dolls was proposed, but never made it past the mock-up stage. It’s ok, sometimes our dreams have to die horrible deaths and apparently result in Disney’s Dinosaur and The Phantom Menace. I’m not mad. Who said I was mad?


In lieu of proper figural representation, and to accompany the Quetzalcoatlus Skybax custom she had made before, I commissioned Bix from Dinosaur Toy Forum member, paintingdinos. Like the aforementioned Skybax, this custom would utilize a figure that was based on the more modern look for Protoceratops as opposed to the plump “hog-parrot” of Gurney’s books. Since it is one of the better modern reconstructions of Protoceratops available, I chose the CollectA figure from a couple years back.


I was a bit concerned at first, as I am a big fan of classic Protoceratops reconstructions and didn’t know if the figure would be able to come across as a character firmly rooted in those ideas. The modern look for Protoceratops is relatively slim, with long legs and a head that makes it look like it’ll fall down under its weight. But science marches on, and if anything it would prove a neat experiment to see what a modern version of Bix might look like.



Of course, paintingdinos did a masterful job here. I made the executive decision to defer to her judgement on how this would turn out. I know nothing about color or layers or…art…


Bix really looks like she jumped out of one of Gurney’s illustrations. There’s a real painterly quality to the way the colors interact. I can’t quite describe it without sounding like an art history students trying to fill space on an essay, but it’s something about the point at which the red and yellow meet and how they continue to cross over.


The quills, while maybe a questionable choice on CollectA’s part, look so good. Paintingdinos went for something akin to a porcupine and I think it really works. They contrast just enough from the red and yellow to stick out, but aren’t so striking as to look out of place.


The head is also another victory in conveying the character. The upward angle of the head, along with the jaw articulation and those little Nosferatu teeth didn’t give off the warm vibes Bix has in the books.

However, paintingdinos has managed to make it work so well. The white around her eyes is a great little touch that I think can go unnoticed in Gurney’s art. I certainly didn’t notice it before we went over reference material for this custom.

Also, miraculously, I think the paint has somehow accomplished the herculean feat of making that jaw articulation look bearable.

A recreation of a scene from my unpublished fan fiction: Mementoceratops mori

I am beyond happy to have a figure of Bix in my collection. Paintingdinos, as always, did some real next-level work to bring this idea to life and I can’t thank her enough for that. Along with her Skybax custom, it feels like Bix fills a huge hole in my collection.

At long last, Bix and Cirrus are reunited! Hopefully no one feels like throwing a rock at her again.

That's all the customs I have to share for now...
Breathe deep, seek peace!

Another beautiful repaint by paintingdinos!

It can be very disappointing when we fall in love with a series but little merchandise is produced to bring your favorite characters to life.

I also love to look at concept art, it always amazes me how much effort goes into things. I have the art books for all 3 How to Train Your Dragon movies

Bix looks great and it’s so nice paintingdinos can bring these characters to life!

To be fair, 90% of your post is Mongolian for me. It is not your fault, it is just my lack of knowledge about the subject.
What I can understand perfectly is your huge joy for receiving this model in your collection and that's the most important, I guess.
I enjoy the pose of this model, it is quite feline like what is surprising for a Protoceratops and surely the new beautiful colors give to it a different energy.

It's really interesting to read the story and background to these figures! They're wonderful!

Wow another beautiful Dinotopia custom! I love that you're having this series brought to life like this. It's so stunning as a work of art, and these customs have really done it justice. It is wild to see this more modern version of Bix, hahaha, but I think everything you said about how the paint was handled is certainly true. The colors really compliment each other and work well together, and the figure really has life and personality. What a fantastic mini collection!

what a wonderful story Michael. It is lovely to see your custom model of Bix. The artist did a great sympathetic job!
I'd heard of Dinotopia but never knew what it really was. I love how sentient it all is (as it should be)

And after reading all this though - I can say for sure that I want one of these (circled in green)



I also really love the dino hatchling with Bix.
There is something about baby dinos that is really heart melting - just like baby elephants!

oh! and great job for subtly influencing that other person - who ordered the book

Thanks @Joliezac. I have to agree, I'm a big fan of animation and concept art just makes me appreciate the work that goes into these projects so much more. Funnily enough, I also have all three of those How to Train Your Dragon art books.

Thank you for the comment, @Roger. I guess it's fitting for a post about Protoceratops to read like Mongolian.

Thanks @Bonnie, glad you enjoyed the read!

I never thought about it much as a mini collection, @Jill, but now that you mention it, I like that idea. Kinda makes me want to get some more customs to go with them at some point, but finances as they are, that'll be some time from now.

@sunny, thank you! I'm glad you got something out of the post. I'm not big on baby dinosaurs much myself outside of paleontological discoveries, but I can appreciate the cute factor now and then. Speaking of that baby you circled, I know Hallmark released a set of plush back when that miniseries came out based on that design. The specific one is "26," though believe each had minor variations. They're not too hard to find on second hand sites.