Lyrics
REX THE HAPPIREX
In the valley
Once upon a time, in the valley of the dinosaurs two Tyrannosaurus rex fell in love with one another and, after having promised to the big wise Triceratops to be faithful to each other forever, they went to live together.
The years flew by, and one day Mrs. T-rex laid five large eggs, making Mr T-rex very happy indeed. At last, his dreams of having a male heir, worthy of his name, had come true. “He will be a great predator like his father, and will be ruler of all the herbivores,” thought Mr. T-rex. And so started the careful nurturing and protection of the eggs in anticipation of their hatching.
Rex and his family
One day, while Mummy T-rex was moving the eggs around to protect them from their enemies, one of the eggs fell on the ground. She immediately picked it up and checked it carefully to make sure that it hadn’t broken. After having rolled it around two or three times with her nose, she was satisfied that the shell had not been cracked, so she returned happily to her work.
Many months passed, and one summer’s day four of the five eggs hatched, revealing four beautiful female T-rex. Mummy T-rex was very excited about them but Daddy T-rex a little less. There was one egg left, and he was sure that it would be a boy. He had decided to call him Bad-rex and that he would be respected and admired by all the dinosaurs in the valley. While he was thinking, the egg started to crack. The first thing Mr. and Mrs. T-rex saw appearing from the shell was a kind of lump. They were so bewildered.
“What sort of dinosaur is that meant to be?” they both thought, when the last piece of shell fell to the ground to reveal their handsome (if one could say this !) boy. Daddy T-rex was so upset . The son that he had imagined and dreamt about so many times, surely couldn’t be that “thing” in front of him. Crossed eyes, tongue hanging out and a big bump on his head. Mummy T-rex suddenly understood that his son had come from the egg that had fallen on the ground a while ago.
Meanwhile the four girls had started to chatter between themselves and to tease their brother, mummy T-rex immediately shouted at them. “Be good,” she said, and then turning to Daddy T-rex she added, “It’s not that serious, this little guy will do alright.” Daddy T-rex did not reply, but threw three pieces of meat that he had just caught, to the little dinosaur. While the girls fought over the tastiest pieces, the little boy remained looking up at the sky dreamily, nibbling a fern leaf. “Look at him, he’s even a herbivore,” growled Daddy T-rex sadly. “Cheer up, dear,” said Mr.s T-rex. “Anyway, It is the fashion nowadays to be a vegetarian.” “The glass is always half full of water to you,” replied Mr. T-rex. (In other words, Mrs. T-rex always saw the better side of things).
While the two T-rex chatted to each other, little T-rex started to wave at them with his foot. “H-H-Hello, h-h-hello,” he mumbled. He was even a bit odd when he spoke. Mummy and Daddy T-rex decided to call the three girls Ruthless, Naughtiness, and Meaty, names that were very apt for them. They all decided, for the time being, to call the little T-rex, Rex.
The years rolled by and while Ruthless, Naughtiness and Meaty grew big, Rex remained small and clumsy and proved to have nothing in common with the other dinosaurs of his species. The truth was that, while his sisters never missed an occasion to tease him, Rex constantly sought them out to make them laugh by making up jokes and by singing songs. This only made his sisters tease him more.
The three sisters were very good at chasing small animals, at jumping, growling and biting each other but they had no idea as to how to have a good laugh. They were too busy acting out their parts as predators.
The virus of sadness
One day, while Rex was walking in the cycad forest, he heard a strange moaning sound. It turned out to be a big Diplodocus, lying on the ground. “Oh dear ! oh dear !,” he was shouting whilst crying. Rex was about to go over to him when two Parasaurolophus doctors appeared. “This is the third case in a week,” they said talking amongst themselves, “if we continue on like this, the virus of sadness will eventually hit all the carnivores and herbivores”. “What is this virus?” thought little Rex.
He ran straight home and asked his mummy what it meant. Mummy T-rex had already heard of it, and in order not to worry him, she explained that it was just a passing illness which was not too serious. This answer did not convince Rex, so he ran quickly to his daddy to ask him the same question. After daddy T-rex had listened to Rex, he explained that sadness did not exist and the only feeling that a T-rex knew was that of ferocity. T-rex still wasn’t happy with these answers so he returned to Diplodocus.
Rex against the virus
The big Diplodocus was still on the ground. Rex started to run around him searching for the little head at the end of the long neck but it was not easy to find. After a while he heard moaning again, so he headed in the direction of the noise. When Rex finally saw the head and the half open eyes of Diplodocus, he went up close to his ears and shouted, “H-H-Hello, M-M-Mister”. Diplodocus opened an eye and after having got a quick glance at Rex answered, “and who are you, you strange creature?”
Rex mustered up some courage, because he was fed up being treated disrespectfully, and after having placed his feet firmly on the ground and made a horrible face he added in his most serious voice, “ I-I-I a-a-am the fiercest T-T-T-Rex.” Diplodocus after hearing Rex, started to laugh so much that all the Cycads and Phoenix plants around started to bend as if they had been shaken by a very strong wind. Even Rex was hurled backwards by the deafening laughter but, instead of being frightened, he climbed the nearest hill and continued his chat. “I-I-I am p-p-pleased that you l-l-liked my j-j-joke, Sir, n-n-now I w-w-will tell you s-s-some m-m-more.” This is how it all started.
Rex the happy-rex
“D-d-do you know w-w-what is the w-w-worst thing that c-c-can happen to a D-d-diplodocus? To w-w-wear a polo-neck jumper. W-w-what’s the w-w-worst thing that c-c-can happen t-t-to a T-Rex? To h-h-have an itchy nose and not be able to scratch it. And for a herbivore? To invite a carnivore to dinner and have nothing to offer it.” While he was telling these jokes and others one after the other, Diplodocus had a laughing fit which was so loud and powerful that it attracted all the other dinosaurs. Soon, Rex had 10,20,30,50 spectators who were enjoying listening to him.
At this stage, Rex had become like a river bursting its banks, and he started to sing and dance, taking a stick and playing “Jungle bells” on the back of the Stegosaurus. At the end of the exhibition, all the dinosaurs there started to applaud him enthusiastically in honour of Rex that had brought back smiles and laughter once again to the dinosaur valley.
Happy end
In the weeks to follow, Rex performed more shows and soon no-one talked anymore about the virus of sadness. A big party was organized in honour of Rex and big wise Triceratops thanked him openly for being such a hero for having saved the dinosaurs from extinction. He also presented him with a medal. Mum, dad T-Rex and the three sisters were very proud of Rex and finally learnt to respect him even if he was different to the others.
It was so, that the new species of the happy-rex became widespread amongst the others in the valley of the dinosaurs.