2007 Archive

Pleo — Then and Now

From the archive: this is a preserved news post from the original Pleo Dinosaur! enthusiast blog, written as Pleo approached his 2007 launch. We keep it at its original address for the historical record.

Originally posted September 24, 2007.

Here's a wonderful way to appreciate just how far Pleo has come. Footage from a 2006 technology demonstration shows one of the earliest Pleo prototypes being shown off by the company's chief executive alongside Pleo's inventor, Caleb Chung. Set that early dinosaur beside the Pleo arriving in homes now and the transformation is striking — it's hard to believe you're looking at the same creature.

Look at the Eyes

The single most obvious change is in Pleo's eyes. In the early demo they're comparatively flat and simple. On the finished Pleo they're a vivid, intricate blue — bright, wet-looking, and full of apparent feeling. So much of the emotional connection people form with Pleo runs straight through those eyes, and the team clearly knew it, pouring redesign after redesign into getting them exactly right.

And the Skin

The other leap is the skin. The prototype's covering looks rough and unfinished next to the shipping dino's soft, detailed hide, which was resculpted to suggest the muscle and bone underneath. That attention to a lifelike surface is exactly the kind of obsessive detail that kept delaying Pleo — and exactly the kind that made him worth the wait. Where the prototype reads as a machine wearing a costume, the finished Pleo reads as a small animal.

The Bigger Point

"Then and now" isn't just a fun comparison; it's the whole story of Pleo in miniature. Every delay bought another round of refinement on the details that make him feel alive, and the results speak for themselves. For the full arc from prototype to collector's piece, see our Pleo timeline, or meet the finished dinosaur on the What Is Pleo? page.