The Dinomania Blog
Welcome to the official Dinomania Blog, your destination for everything prehistoric.
Join Ranger Chris and the Dinomania team as we explore the incredible world of dinosaurs, fossils, ancient creatures, and the latest discoveries from the field of paleontology. From fascinating dinosaur facts and fossil finds to behind-the-scenes stories from our events and adventures across the UK, there's always something exciting to discover.
Whether you're a lifelong dinosaur enthusiast, a parent looking for educational content, a teacher seeking classroom inspiration, or a young explorer eager to learn more about the prehistoric world, our blog is packed with articles designed to inform, inspire, and entertain.
Here you'll find:
- Behind-the-scenes stories from Dinomania events
- Updates on our latest projects, tours, and television appearances
At Dinomania, we believe learning should be exciting, engaging, and accessible to everyone. Our blog is an extension of that mission, helping to inspire the future whilst using the past.
So grab your explorer's hat, dig into our latest articles, and join us on a journey through millions of years of prehistoric history.
The Story of Ranger Chris and Dinomania
If someone had told Chris Roberts back in 2016 that one day he would be standing on stage with Steve Backshall, appearing on national television, meeting celebrities, entertaining thousands of families and building a dinosaur brand followed by millions of people, he probably would have laughed.
At the time, he was fitting windows for a living.
The job paid the bills, but it never felt like where he was meant to be. Deep down, Chris wanted to build something of his own. Something creative. Something exciting. Something that would make people smile.
What he didn't realise was that dinosaurs were about to completely change his life.
The Beginning
Before Dinomania existed, Chris had already dipped his toe into the world of children's entertainment with a business called Heroes4Hire.
It was a useful learning experience, but it was dinosaurs that truly captured his imagination.
In April 2016, Dino4Hire was born.
There was no grand master plan.
No huge investment.
No team of staff.
Just Chris, one dinosaur, a lot of determination and a hope that people might enjoy what he was trying to create.
The early days were spent travelling around South Wales, performing at birthday parties, schools and community events. Every booking felt important because it was.
Every review mattered.
Every photograph shared online mattered.
Every family who recommended him to a friend mattered.
Chris wasn't trying to build a national brand. He was simply trying to build something people loved.
Slowly, it started working.
Finding Ranger Chris
As the bookings increased, something else started to happen.
Children weren't just meeting Chris anymore.
They were meeting Ranger Chris.
The hat appeared.
The character developed.
The stories grew.
What started as dinosaur appearances slowly became experiences.
Children didn't just want to see a dinosaur.
They wanted to meet the ranger who discovered them.
The dinosaurs themselves began taking on personalities too. They became characters with names, attitudes and stories of their own.
Without really planning it, Chris had started creating a world.
Taking a Risk
By 2018, the business had grown far beyond what Chris had imagined when he bought his first dinosaur.
Instead of staying with local appearances, he decided to take a gamble.
Touring.
Looking back now, it was probably one of the biggest risks he ever took.
Touring meant larger venues, more equipment, more travelling and much bigger financial commitments.
There was no guarantee people would buy tickets.
There was no guarantee anyone would even turn up.
But Chris believed families would enjoy the experience.
Thankfully, they did.
The tours allowed families to experience Dinomania in a completely different way. Walking dinosaurs, baby dinosaurs, fossils, audience interaction, games and educational content all came together to create something unique.
For the first time, Dinomania felt like more than a business.
It felt like a real show.
Building a Community
In December 2018, the Dinomania Facebook page was launched.
At the time, it was simply a place to share updates and photographs.
Chris had no idea that social media would eventually become one of the most important parts of the journey.
The following year saw the launch of merchandise, including keyrings, wristbands, lanyards and T-shirts.
Children who had met the dinosaurs could now take home a little reminder of their adventure.
Then, in June 2019, Dinomania started uploading videos to YouTube.
The original goal was simple.
Share some dinosaur fun online.
That was it.
There was certainly no expectation that one day millions of people would watch.
The First Viral Moment
Everything changed in September 2019.
A collaboration with Goubtube went viral.
Suddenly, people who had never heard of Dinomania were seeing the dinosaurs online.
The reach was incredible.
The opportunities that followed were even more surprising.
A short time later, Dinomania appeared on Good Morning Britain.
For Chris, it was one of those moments where life suddenly felt very different.
A few years earlier he had been loading dinosaurs into a van and hoping somebody would book him.
Now he was appearing on national television.
The Year Everything Stopped
Then came 2020.
COVID.
Like thousands of businesses across the events industry, Dinomania was hit hard.
The 2020 tour was shaping up to be the biggest yet, with around twenty dates planned across the country.
Then everything stopped.
Shows disappeared overnight.
Schools closed.
Events were cancelled.
The future felt uncertain.
For a business built around live audiences, it was frightening.
But difficult times often force people to adapt.
With events paused, Chris turned his attention towards creating content.
Instead of reaching hundreds of people at a live event, Dinomania could reach thousands online.
Then hundreds of thousands.
Then millions.
What felt like a disaster at the time would eventually become one of the biggest turning points in the company's history.
A Million Dinosaur Fans
In October 2020, Dinomania released its first dinosaur facts book.
It was another step towards becoming more than a live show.
Then came another milestone.
100,000 subscribers on YouTube.
Then 500,000.
Then 1 million.
When the channel passed one million subscribers in November 2022, it was difficult to fully process.
What had started as a handful of videos filmed for fun had become one of the largest dinosaur channels in the world.
For a small Welsh family business, it was a proud moment.
Not because of the number itself.
But because every subscriber represented someone who had chosen to spend a little time with Dinomania.
Britain's Got Talent
In 2022, another unexpected opportunity arrived.
Britain's Got Talent.
Walking onto one of the biggest stages in British entertainment was surreal.
Meeting Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon, David Walliams and Ant & Dec felt a long way from the early birthday party days.
But perhaps the most rewarding part wasn't appearing on television.
It was seeing how many people supported the journey.
The messages.
The comments.
The families cheering Dinomania on.
Those moments meant a lot.
Building Something Bigger
By this point, Dinomania had become much more than dinosaur appearances.
There were books.
Merchandise.
Plushies.
An app.
Tours.
School workshops.
Festivals.
Social media content.
Television appearances.
And millions of followers across multiple platforms.
Yet Chris still viewed it the same way he always had.
As a way to inspire children.
The dinosaurs were the attraction.
But curiosity, learning and imagination were always the goal.
Dragon's Den and Deadly Live
In 2025, Chris found himself standing inside the Dragon's Den studio.
It was one of those moments that forced him to stop and think about how far the journey had come.
Ten years earlier he had been fitting windows.
Now he was pitching a business he had built from scratch to some of the UK's most successful entrepreneurs.
The same year brought another huge opportunity when Dinomania joined Steve Backshall's Deadly Live Tour.
Standing backstage at major arenas and performing alongside one of Britain's most recognisable wildlife presenters was another reminder that sometimes the biggest opportunities arrive when you least expect them.
Bramble
If there is one character who captured people's hearts more than any other, it is probably Bramble.
Bramble started as a new addition to the Dinomania family.
Nobody expected quite how popular he would become.
Whether visiting care homes, hospitals, community events or festivals, Bramble seemed to have a unique ability to make people smile.
Some of Chris's favourite memories now involve Bramble.
Not the biggest stages.
Not the television appearances.
Not the celebrity encounters.
Just simple moments with ordinary people.
A child laughing.
A care home resident reaching out to say hello.
A family stopping to take a photograph.
Those moments often mean the most.
Looking Back
In 2026, Dinomania celebrated its tenth anniversary.
Looking back, the journey has included television appearances, viral videos, sold-out tours, books, merchandise, festivals, celebrity encounters and opportunities that Chris could never have imagined when he started.
But the real success has never been about followers, television appearances or ticket sales.
It has always been about people.
The child meeting a dinosaur for the first time.
The family creating a memory together.
The student discovering a passion for fossils.
The smile on someone's face when Bramble unexpectedly appears.
Those are the moments that matter.
Those are the moments Dinomania was built for.
And while nobody knows exactly what the next ten years will bring, one thing is certain.
