Mechanical Elephants, Horses, and other Walking Animals

This page will contain a timeline showing Walking Animals, and dates showing the creation or announcement of the contraptions.

For the moment, it is more a list of what is going to be placed in this blog. If IMAGE IS CLICKABLE, then a blog post exists for it. Check out the updates page for the recent posts.

Mechanical  Elephants 

7thCentury Mechanical Elephant (Indian Legend)
1880- "The Steam House" by Jules Verne (Fiction)

1891 – Mechanical Elephant by Woolson Morse
1903- "The Wonderful Electric Elephant" by Frances T. Montgomery
1932 – "Mechanical El" – Paris

1935c – Japanese Mechanical Elephant

1937 – Shrum Brother's Mechanical Elephants 
1938 – Hutton's American Mechanical Elephant

1939 – Messmore & Damon Mechanical Elephant

1948- "Tamakichi-kun" the Mechanical Elephant – Jiro Aizawa
1947- Frank Smith's Mechanical Elephants

1947-55 Frank Stuart's Baby Mechanical Elephants

                           1980c – "PoCo" Post Code's Mechanical Elephant (nee "Barney") 
1949- Macades / Luneside Mechanical Elephants
1950s – Frank Stuart Mechanical Elephants
                     1948-9 Maurice Radburn's "Bimbo" Prototype
                     1950 – Frank Stuart's "Nellie" in Australia
                     1950 – "Nellie" of England
                     1951 – Frank Stuart's Mechanical Elephants in America
                                        1951 – Cunningham's "Jumbo" Elephant of Detroit

                                                  1979 – "Jumbo" Restoration by Larry Gavette
                                        1953 – Wendelken's "Wendy" Elephant of New York
                                        1954 – Ezell Mechanical Elephant of Houston
                     1952-67 – "Bensina" of Sweden
                      1965 – Electrophants – Frank Stuart

 1957 – "Danger in the Everglades" (Mechanical Elephant) fiction – Frederick Keith
 1957-8 – "Toffee-kun" the Robot Elephant
1961 – RCA "Dumbo" Moon walker
1969 – GE "Mechanical Elephant" Walking Truck – Ralph Mosher

1999-2002 "Snowdrop" by Peter Clare
2003 – Pedal-powered Mechanical Elephant

2006c – planetX – Entertainment Walking Elephant

 2011 – Otherlab – Walking Elephant

Miscellaneous Mechanical Elephants

Automata & Toy Mechanical Elephants

Early Mechanical Horses

480 BC–Wooden Horse Carriage – Lu Ban – Chinese
230 AD–Wooden Ox / Gliding Horse – Zhu-ge Liang – Chinese
1663- Cart with Legs – Potter / Hooke
1770- 8-Legged Wooden Horse – Edgeworth
1867 William Farr Goodwin's Mechanical Horse (pat.) 
1872- 8-Legged Steam Walker 
1876- Farr Goodwin's Philadelphia Centennial Steam Horse & Men
1877- Doyle Mechanical Horse
1878- Davis Toy Horse
1892- Rygg Mechanical Horse (Patent)
1932- Sam Barton Bicycle Horse
1932-3- Alzetta Italian Mechanical Horse
1939- Messmore Model Horse

1947-  WJ McIntyre "Blowtorch" Horse – Canada
1951- Bogart Mechanical Horse and Cart
1960c – Maratori "Golden Horse"

 1965 – Meccano Walking Horse and Chariot by Andreas Konkoly

 1988 – "Rikky and Pete" Mechanical Horse

Unknown French Steam Mechanical Horse

 

 

Early Fictional Mechanical Animals

7thCentury Mechanical Elephant (Indian Legend)

 1868- Ellis – Steam Man and Steam Horse (Frank Reade Jr.)

1880- "The Steam House" by Jules Verne (Fiction)
 1882- Compressed-Air Horse – Fiction
 1892 – "Hockbockid" – Fiction by Bradshaw

 1892 – Electric Bob's Big Black Ostrich

 1896- Lathrop & Edison Walking Machine – Fiction

1903- "The Wonderful Electric Elephant" by Frances T. Montgomery

 1957 – "Danger in the Everglades" (Mechanical Elephant) fiction – Frederick Keith

 
Other Walking Mechanical Animals

French Walking Tiger
1955- TEAL (model) – Peter Holland
1981- Arfur Dog
1988-92 – Wareham – Mechanical Animals
2001- Theo Jansen Animaris Rhinoceros Lignatus
2002 – Shiva – Mechanical Walking Tiger
2006c – planetX – Entertainment Walking Panda
2007 -Ivanov's Walking Ostrich
                 

Gigantic Animal Walkers

 

1955- Dan Dare – Phant Walking Tank – Fictional
1969- US Steel: Walker – Syd Mead – Conceptual
1980- AT-AT (Star Wars) – Fictional
1983- DRGXX – Syd Mead – Conceptual
1984- Moon Walker – Syd Mead – Conceptual
2001- Theo Jansen Animaris Rhinoceros Lignatus

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