A 20-foot-tall reptile will prowl the streets of Toronto this Sunday — armed with a giant basketball.

The ferocious-looking Toronto Raptor is a highlight of the upcoming Santa Claus Parade. Sponsored by Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, the red dinosaur spans an entire float platform and took hundreds of hours to design, construct and paint.

“In recent memory it’s one of the largest figures we’ve built,” said Alf Iannarelli, general manager and creative director of the Santa Claus Parade.

At the Sunday unveiling, parade watchers will see the giant Raptor with its arm outstretched, about to slam-dunk a winning basket. The dinosaur sports a jersey with the number 95 — typically worn by the Raptors mascot — and basketball shorts.

(When the Star got a behind-the-scenes look, the Raptor was still missing a foot, a basketball net and ball. Iannarelli said it was nearly complete.)

Propped up behind the dinosaur, child volunteers will sit in stands as though they’re watching a game, said Iannarelli.

His design was inspired by a photo of a real Raptors mascot mid slam-dunk. From there, he extrapolated.

“The challenge comes in: How do you engineer it so it stays up?” Iannarelli said. “We had to anchor him in a couple of places with steel inside. There’s steel channel running through him.”

To shape the outstretched dinosaur, a builder carved up chunks of Styrofoam and smoothed the sculpture over with sandpaper. The body was then covered with papier-mâché and coated with latex paint.

The whole construction process took around two months.

Those who have seen the final product agree the float packs a punch.

“They think it’s spectacular, and it is,” said Iannarelli. “It’s overwhelming because it’s so big and so bright and so right.”

While the dinosaur is impressive, the design team had to work within restrictions. Floats have height maximums of 13.6 feet (4.14 metres), due to overpasses and wires overhead along the parade route, so the dinosaur is tilted forward to comply with the guidelines.

“If he was to come alive and come off the float and stand up, he’d be about 20 feet tall,” said Iannarelli.

The structure sits atop a 3.4-by-8.5-metre platform built over an old farm wagon. The wagon attaches to an SUV that will pull the float along the six-kilometre route.

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Organizers say this year’s parade will be Toronto’s biggest in its 110-year history, with 31 floats on display and more sponsors than ever.

Sunday’s parade kicks off at 12:30 p.m., beginning at Christie Pits and ending at the St. Lawrence Market.

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