Night at the Museum Inspired Dog Names

The Night at the Museum franchise, consisting of three feature films, is science fiction fantasy story where the museum's exhibits come to life at night through the magic of an ancient Egyptian tablet.  The success of the first movie, titled Night at the Museum, introduced and reintroduced viewers to the American Museum of Natural History, located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and boarding Central Park.  Ticket sales and attendance following the movie, which debuted in 2006, rose by 20%, which the museum positively attributes to the interest the movie generated.  Two additional movies followed the first and took place at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. and across the pond at the British Museum in London.  The movies helped to positively increase interest in museum visits among the public, where attendees could see the real exhibits from the movies, including the famed Tyrannosaurus Rex from the American Museum of Natural History.

The Night at the Museum leaves a last impression on popular culture but the characters Rexy and Trixie are some of the funniest and most memorable. Though Rexy and Trixie may sound like the perfect dog names, these characters are dinosaurs; fully completed skeletons of dinosaurs to be precise.  The reason why Rexy and Trixie are in the spotlight as two famous featured dogs with Night at the Museum inspired names is that despite being animated skeletons of gigantic reptiles long extinct, the pair has dog-like tendencies and are portrayed in the movies as oversized dogs.  In Night at the Museum, Larry Daley, played by Ben Stiller, is chased by Rexy throughout the museum.  It is not until Larry reads the instructions on how to handle Rexy that he understand the Tyrannasaurs Rex just wants to play fetch.  The CGI animation of the skeleton mimics that of a playful dog, and the sound Rexy makes is obviously a dog having a good time playing fetch with his friend.  Years later and in the third installment of the franchise, Larry visits the British Museum with the tablet and the museum's fully completed Triceratops skeleton named Trixie comes to life.  Thinking the powerful animated dinosaur will also want to play fetch, he engages with her as well.  At first, Trixie too makes playful puppy noises and gets excited just as a dog would over a bone.  However, she is not as amused with the game and gives chase to Larry and his friends.   When survival seems slim, Sir Lancelot, one of the British Museum's exhibits, duels Trixie and tames her wild side.  The skeleton is seen walking away from Lancelot, whimpering with its tail between her legs.  Both Rexy and Trixie may not embody dogs but these two Night at the Museum characters are meant to appear as dogs.