Jurassic Park Franchise: 20 Things you Didn’t Know

Sunday, December 24, 2017

Jurassic Park Franchise: 20 Things you Didn’t Know

There have been few films in history that have had the lasting power that Jurassic Park did. Couple that with successful subsequent sequels, and this franchise is one of the highest regarded and enjoyed in cinematic history. Of course, even now, nearly 25 years after the original film was released to audiences, there is still a lot that adoring fans do not know about the entire franchise as whole. Here you will be introduced to 20 facts you likely didn’t know about the franchise, which is sure to move you up the chain towards being one of the biggest film dinosaur buffs on the planet.

The Roar of T. rex Was Several Animal Sounds Combined And Modified

While there were obviously no recorded versions of the Tyrannosaurus Rex to reference for a roar, Spielberg and company needed to get creative about what would be an iconic sound for film history. In a condensed version of this process, sound engineers mixed the squeal of a baby elephant, the snarl of a tiger and the gurgling of an alligator. This is part of the process that engineers are forced to do with so many films, to create iconic sounds from the unlikeliest of places. A lot of time was spent with perfectly blending these sounds, slowing them down to dramatic levels or speeding them up as needed to create the infamous declaration of film’s most terrifying dinosaur. While it is believed that the actual roar of the T-Rex sounded nothing like Jurassic Park’s creation, it was still a great result that really fit the creature created for the movie.

Jeff Goldblum Was No Coward

If you recall in the first film, Ian Malcom jumps out of the Ford Explorer with a lit flare to distract the Tyrannosaurus Rex who was heading towards the children in the other car. While this scene might have been deemed foolishly heroic to fans of the franchise who could see that Grant had things well in hand to save the children, the actual script featured something else entirely. As the book would suggest, Ian Malcom was supposed to just run off in fear much like the weasel-ish lawyer Gennaro who cowers in fear in the stall of the nearby bathroom. Jeff Goldblum refused to allow this to be a defining characteristic of his character, and offered this modified version for Spielberg, which the director thoroughly enjoyed.

Jurassic Park III Featured Scrapped Ideas From The First Two Installments

If you have ever watched the third installment of the film, the obvious weakest choice in the entire franchise, you might have often thought about how it appears to be haphazardly thrown together. While it does feature the dinosaur chasing thrills and high stakes found in all of the other films, there is likely a very good reason for this. Several of the most noteworthy scenes featured in the film are actually scrapped ideas from both Jurassic Park and The Lost World. So while the movie still faired decently with true fans of the franchise, they could stop and appreciate just how impressive the first two installments might have been had they actually included some of the Jurassic Park III greatest clip collection.