Jurassic Park (film) - Dinosaurs On Screen

Dinosaurs On Screen

See also: List of extinct genera in Jurassic Park

Despite the title of the film referencing the Jurassic period, most of the dinosaurs featured did not exist until the Cretaceous period, with the exception of Brachiosaurus and Dilophosaurus, both of which lived in the Jurassic period. The screenplay acknowledges this when Dr. Grant describes the ferocity of the Velociraptor to a young boy, saying "Try to imagine yourself in the Cretaceous period..."

• Tyrannosaurus is the anti-heroine and, according to Spielberg, the reason he rewrote the ending for fear of disappointing the audience. Before, a much less surprising ending was written in the script, where one of the raptors was shot dead and the other killed by a falling fossil. Winston's animatronic T. rex stood 20 feet (6.1 m), weighed 13,000 pounds (5,900 kg), and was 40 feet (12 m) long. Jack Horner called it "the closest I've ever been to a live dinosaur". The dinosaur is depicted with a vision system based on movement. Its roar is a baby elephant mixed with a tiger and an alligator, and its breath is a whale's blow. A dog attacking a rope toy was used for the sounds of it tearing a Gallimimus apart.
• Velociraptor also has a major role. One Raptor named "Big One" is portrayed as the primary antagonist. The animal's depiction was not based on the actual dinosaur genus in question (which itself was significantly smaller), rather the related (and larger) genus Deinonychus, which had been synonymised with Velociraptor by Gregory S. Paul in 1988. Crichton's writing followed this, but by the time production of the film took place, the idea had been dropped by the scientific community. Coincidentally, shortly before Jurassic Park's theatre release, the similar Utahraptor was discovered, though was proved bigger in appearance than the film's raptors; this prompted Stan Winston to joke, "We made it, then they discovered it." For the attack on character Robert Muldoon, the raptors were played by men in suits. Dolphin screams, walruses bellowing, geese hissing, an African crane's mating call, and human rasps were mixed to formulate various raptor sounds. Following discoveries made after the film's release, most paleontologists theorized that dromaeosaurs like Velociraptor and Deinonychus had feathers. This feature is only included in Jurassic Park III.
• Dilophosaurus was also very different from its real-life counterpart, made significantly smaller to make sure audiences did not confuse it with the raptors. However, this was combated by Nedry, when he referred to the Dilophosaur as being a 'little one'. Its neck frill and its ability to spit venom are fictitious. Its vocal sounds were made by combining a swan, a hawk, a howler monkey, and a rattlesnake.
• Brachiosaurus is the first dinosaur seen by the park's visitors. It is inaccurately depicted as chewing its food as well as standing up on its hind legs to browse among the high tree branches. Despite scientific evidence of their having limited vocal capabilities, sound designer Gary Rydstrom decided to represent them with whale songs and donkey calls to give them a melodic sense of wonder. Penguins were also recorded to be used in the noises of the dinosaurs.
• Triceratops has an extended cameo, being sick with an unverified disease. Its appearance was a particular logistical nightmare for Stan Winston when Spielberg asked to shoot the animatronic of the sick creature earlier than expected. Winston also created a baby Triceratops for Ariana Richards to ride, which was cut from the film for pacing reasons. The redundant Triceratops model was later used in Spielberg's 1997 sequel.
• Gallimimus are featured in a stampede scene where one of them is devoured by the Tyrannosaurus.
• Parasaurolophus appear in the background during the first encounter with the Brachiosaurus.