Spielberg found out about Jurassic Park while working on ER
Spielberg and author Michael Crichton were working on the screenplay for ER when Crichton told him about the plans for his next book, Jurassic Park. The director immediately tapped Universal to buy the film rights before the book was even published.
One iconic moment was inspired by listening to Earth, Wind & Fire
The idea for the rippling water and rattling mirror caused by the T. rex was inspired by Spielberg listening to Earth, Wind & Fire in his car with the bass turned up at full volume.
Jurassic Park brought Richard Attenborough out of retirement
Attenborough, who plays InGen CEO John Hammond, was on a 15-year hiatus from acting. He agreed to end this retirement when Spielberg approached him because the director had “the charm of the devil.”
A King Kong ride inspired Spielberg’s original plan for building the dinosaurs
The logistics of Spielberg’s original plans to bring the dinos to life were inspired by the Universal Studios’ “King Kong Encounter” ride.
Jeff Goldblum liked to read his lines out loud on set
“I was struck by the fact that he wasn’t studying it like most people I’d been around that were actors, who’d study quietly. He was speed-reading them out loud!” recalled Ariana Richards, who played Lex.
Jurassic Park almost took a backseat to Schindler’s List
Steven Spielberg wanted to direct his dream project – Schindler’s List – first. However, that film wasn’t greenlit to be made until the director made the dinosaur flick first. Both came out in 1993.
To create realistic dinosaurs, effects artists had to get into character
Stan Winston’s crew built raptor suits and got into them. Digital artists took videos of themselves acting like the Gallimimus herd for reference before animating the scene.
Chip Kidd is behind that iconic logo
The logo on the poster was adapted from designer Chip Kidd’s T. rex skeleton drawing that was used for the original novel.
After filming wrapped, another famous director took the reins so Spielberg could start work on Schindler’s List
Spielberg and crew completed filming on Jurassic Park on November 30, 1992, but immediately had to shift gears to focus on Schindler’s List, which would go into production in March 1993. George Lucas took over some of the post-production duties for his friend.
A huge hurricane hit the set during production
The film was shot on location on Hawaii’s Kauai Island. Hurricane Iniki – the most powerful hurricane to hit the islands in recorded history – struck during filming. Attenborough somehow slept through the worst of it.
It took many different animals to create the T. rex’s roar
The sound design of the T. rex’s roar was reportedly a composite of tiger, alligator and baby elephant sounds. The Dilophosaurus roar was created by combining monkeys, hawk screeches, rattlesnake hisses and swan calls.
Grant and Lex probably would have been T. rex food
At the time the film was made, it wasn’t known for sure whether the dinosaur’s vision was based on movement but more recent research suggests that T. rex probably had excellent vision. So they probably would’ve been eaten…
Other big names were up for roles in the film
Other possible candidates for the roles in the film included William Hurt and Harrison Ford as Alan Grant, Christina Ricci as Lex, Sean Connery as John Hammond, and Robin Wright or Juliette Binoche as Ellie Sattler.
Spielberg had paleontologists serve as consultants on the film
Famed paleontologist Jack Horner was used during production to ensure the dinosaurs exhibited scientifically accurate behavior. Robert T. Bakker, another paleontologist gave animators info about the dinosaur’s physical characteristics.
But he didn’t always take their advice
Spielberg still insisted on using dramatic license when it came to some of the animals’ appearance. The most famous example is Spielberg’s Velociraptor, which more closely resembles the Deinonychus. Funny enough, a species called the Utahraptor was discovered during production and was almost exactly the same size as the movie’s big female.
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