Tammy and the T-Rex: How an Animatronic Dinosaur Rom-Com Became a Cult ‘90s Classic
Denise Richards continues to date Paul Walker despite his brain being inserted into a robotic dinosaur. Yes, Tammy and the T-Rex is as bizarre as it sounds, but that’s part of the charm.
On 11 June 1993, Steven Spielberg changed the face of filmmaking with the incredible Jurassic Park. The film made audiences everywhere believe that dinosaurs were real, igniting a fascination with them that several other filmmakers, including Tammy and the T-Rex director Stewart Raffill, sought to capitalise on. However, without Spielberg-level production budgets and the work of FX maestro Stan Winston, films like Tammy failed to capture viewer attention.
Upon its initial release in 1994, Tammy and the T-Rex was a critical and financial disaster. However, over the last three decades, some have come around to the film's charms. Whether it's the inclusion of future stars Denise Richards and Paul Walker, or the fact that the script feels like it was improvised on the spot, there is something undeniably entertaining about the 1994 turkey.
If you’ve yet to experience its delights, here’s what you’re missing.
The Insane Plot Of Tammy And The T-Rex
Tammy and the T-Rex stars a young Denise Richards and Paul Walker as high-school sweethearts, Tammy and Michael. Not everyone at the school is happy about their pairing, namely Tammy’s violent ex, who decides to take matters into his own hands. Spotting Michael one night, he and some buddies throw him into a wild animal park where lions and jaguars severely maul Michael, leaving him comatose.
Meanwhile, Dr Gunther Wachenstein and his assistant Helga have developed a robotic T. Rex. Their creation can be remote controlled, but Wachenstein has grand ideas to implant a human brain into the machine, thereby granting it consciousness. They steal Michael’s body and use his brain to bring the Tyrannosaurus to life. Michael awakens inside the T. Rex, escapes, and races straight back to Tammy, battling his former tormentors in the process.
Tammy is remarkably unfazed about her boyfriend now being a robot dinosaur, and the pair take down the dastardly Wachenstein before trying to find a new body for Michael.
How, And Why, Was Tammy And The T-Rex Made?
After the success of Jurassic Park, several dinosaur-focused movies were rushed into production, with Tammy and the T-Rex just one of many.
Of all of the wave of dino movies that followed Jurassic Park, Tammy was almost certainly one of the most rushed. Writer and director Stewart Raffill has said in interviews that the film only happened as he was granted access to an animatronic dinosaur. With a working head, eyes, and arms, the machine came with one massive caveat: it was on its way to a park in Texas and would only be available for two weeks in one month, meaning that Raffill had to come up with an idea fast.
Raffill embraced the challenge and within three weeks had a script, cast, and crew ready. So, production began. Typically, a movie script goes through several drafts, often taking years to perfect. Raffill did not have this luxury and has spoken at length about how, for most of the time, he was writing the script on set, regularly asking his cast and crew if they had any better ideas.
The super tight production schedule fully explains Tammy’s wobbly dialogue and hole-riddled plot, but also helps audiences treat it with a little more kindness.
Tammy And The T-Rex Has Two Different Cuts - Here’s The Version To Watch
When Stewart Raffill was rushing his dinosaur movie idea to life, he always envisioned the project as an R-rated comedy-horror. Tammy and the T-Rex was filmed as such, but during the edit process, it was completely changed.
With distributors all chasing the coattails of Jurassic Park, the decision was made to recut Tammy to a PG-13 so it could appeal to a wider audience. The problem with that was, with all of the moments of gore, violence, and sex removed, Tammy is a confusing and dull mess. It is easy to understand why this version tanked, but thankfully Raffill's initial cut was not lost forever.
A few countries, such as Italy, were allowed to release Tammy and the T-Rex as Raffill intended, and it was from an Italian print that video company Vinegar Syndrome was able to restore the original vision. This version of Tammy makes far more sense and is a fun ode to the B-movie magic of the 50s.
The film was an early credit for both Denise Richards and Paul Walker, and it is easy to understand why both went on to become household names, as their charisma is hard to deny. The pair play sweethearts very convincingly, and the audience can’t help but root for the couple despite the seemingly insurmountable odds trying to keep them apart.
The restored ‘Unrated Cut' of Tammy and the T-Rex is perfect late-night movie viewing, ideally with a ton of friends, pizza, and beer. Although far more violent, this version still has some looser moments. However, these just add to its kitsch charm: nothing can prepare you for seeing a T-Rex try to use a telephone booth to make a phone call.
Unashamedly ‘90s to its core, Tammy and the T-Rex is a throwback to when movies weren’t afraid to take big swings. The fact that Richards and Walker had the careers they had after this, with Tammy on their filmographies, is a testament to the movie's charm factor.
Who Is The Mysterious 'Tanny'?
One strange quirk that remains in the restored version is that during the opening credits the movie is titled ‘Tanny and the Teenage Rex’. Then, during the end credits, Richard's character is also named 'Tanny'.
Incidentally, the end credits are the same in the heavily edited version that was originally released, and were just one of the many criticisms of the project. Even though the name Tanny is never uttered throughout the film, with everyone calling Denise Richards' character Tammy, how does she end up credited as Tanny? The issue is thought to be a hangover from the original idea, but why no one was told that the main character's name had changed is one of the cinema’s greatest mysteries.
