Thirty years ago,Jurassic Parkchanged the face of cinema. Its groundbreaking special effects paved the way for future advancements in CGI technology and its tight script co-written by the novel’s author,Michael Crichton,told a compelling narrative about the dangers of man trying to control nature. It has since spawneda lucrative franchiseconsisting of sequels, video games, and a Netflix series.
The story of how the film came to be is a fascinating one, with plenty of interesting facts and behind-the-scenes stories that show the complexity of filmmaking. Life finds a way, after all, and adversity often results in stronger products and creative solutions.
10George Lucas helped with post-production
AsJurassic Parkentered post-production, Spielberg received the script forSchindler’s List.Knowing that he had to act now, he flew to Poland to film in the winter. Through teleconference, he remained in touch with his old crew, but described working on both projects as “a bipolar experience”.
Related:John Williams' Most Iconic Movie Soundtracks, RankedTo help oversee the cleanup ofJurassic Park,Spielberg turned to his old friend, fromIndiana JonesandThe Land Before Time,George Lucas.Lucas and his team spent most of their time working on sound and visual effects, which would help influence Lucas' later use of effects in theStar Wars: Special Edition.For his contribution, Lucas received special credit at the end of the film.
9Big names were considered for the cast
Since the dinosaurs have little screentime, the story ofJurassic Parkis a very human one. As such, it was imperative that Spielberg get the right actors to bring these characters and their struggles to life. While the final cast is perfect in their respective roles, the journey to finding them left many what-if scenarios.
Plenty of big-name starswere considered for the characters. Among these includedHarrison Fordas Grant,Jim Carreyas Malcolm, andRobin Wrightas Sattler. Perhaps the biggest wasSean Connery,who passed on the chanceto play Hammond for a part inRising Sun, which became another feather in his cap of missed opportunities.
8Effects legend Phil Tippett inspired a line in the movie
Phil Tippettis a legendary stop-motion animator who has worked with the likes of Industrial Light & Magic and DreamWorks. He worked on several significant films in the 1980s, includingDragonslayer,RoboCop,andStar Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.His style of animation, called go motion, mixed motion-blur to give more realistic movements to stop-motion.
Related:Exclusive: ‘Mad God’ Clip Showcases the Glory of Phil Tippett’s Stop-Motion HorrorTippett was initially brought in to do the effects for the dinosaurs, but it was decided to use CGI to make them look more realistic. When Tippett learned this,he exclaimed, “I think I’m extinct”.Spielberg loved the line so much that he included it as Malcolm’s line, “Don’t you mean extinct?” when Grant said he was out of a job.
7Earth, Wind, & Fire inspired the water ripples
One of the most impressive practical effects in the film comes from the Tyrannosaurus attack. Whenever she approaches, her footsteps shake the ground and cause nearby water to ripple. It’s done a few times in the franchise, but the best is in the original film.
The effect came into being when Spielberg was driving and listening to the song “September,“by Earth, Wind, & Fire, and he noticed that his rearview mirror was vibrating. He decided to use the vibrations in water cups inside the Ford Explorer to build tension. Special effects' supervisorMichael Lantieripulled it off by attaching guitar strings to the dashboard and plucking them.
6The dinosaur sounds effects included the sounds of animals in heat
Since dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years, nobody knows what they sounded like. This gave sound designerGary Rydstroma lot of freedom tocome up with the perfect sounds.He spent months recording animal noises, and while his work won him two Academy Awards for Best Sound and Best Sound Effects Editing, many of these sounds are linked to romance.
Many of the dinosaurs have innocent animal sounds, such as the hiss of a swan for the Dilophosaurus, or a baby elephant trumpet for the Tyrannosaurus. Others are more adult, such as the squeaks of the Galimimus, which came from a female horse excited by the presence of a male. Perhaps the most iconic is the Velociraptor’s barking call, which came from a pair of mating tortoises from Marine World.
5Richard Kiley has multiple appearances in the franchise
“Spared no expense,” is John Hammond’s (Richard Attenborough) catchphrase. He brings it up constantly to show how much money he put into the park, but it becomes an ironic echo when one takes into account the many cut corners. Yet one area Hammond can say he succeeded was in hiringRichard Kileyto voice the tour.
Kiley was an esteemed actor, having played Don Quixote in the original 1965 production ofThe Man of La Manchaand appeared in several television series such asA Year in the Life.Creighton name-dropped Kiley as the tour narrator in his novel, so Spielberg made sure to hire him to voice it in the film as well. Universal then hired him to narrate the water rideat their theme parks, giving him a third branch of the franchise to appear in.
4The crew survived Hurricane Iniki
For on-sight locations, Spielberg chose the island of KauaʻI in Hawaii for Isla Nublar. As they were preparing to finish shooting,the island was hit by Hurricane Iniki, the largest hurricane to ever hit Hawaii. While the cast and crew were safe in a hotel, the island was ravaged by 145-mile winds.
Related:9 Movies That Were Notoriously Difficult to MakeNeedless to say, the sets were completely destroyed, including the path to the maintenance shed, which forced them to cut scenes of Ray Arnold (Samuel L. Jackson) being killed by Velociraptors. Some of the crew decided to brave the hurricane to get footage, with a few scenes making it into the film. Amusingly, Attenborough slept through the whole thing, and when asked how, responded with, “My dear boy, I survived the blitz”.
3The dinosaurs are barely in the movie
DirectorSteven Spielbergcreated the modern summer blockbuster movie withJaws.Though the shark only appeared in four minutes of runtime, partially due to it constantly breaking down, Spielberg was able to build suspense through minimalist techniques that made the audience’s brain fill in the gaps. Fast-forward toJurassic Parkand, despite the advancements in technology, he maintained a similar mindset.
Related:Home Jurassic Park The 10 Best Quotes From ‘Jurassic Park,’ RankedThe dinosaurs only appear in fifteen minutes of the film’s one hundred and twenty-seven-minute runtime. Further, only around six minutes had the dinosaurs rendered with CGI, with the rest being animatronics. This mixture ensured that, when the dinosaurs did appear, they could move and act more dynamically than the shark fromJaws,which helped add tot heir realism.
2Jeff Goldblum made Malcolm brave
Of all the human characters in the film, none have left an impact on the popular consciousness as Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum). A mathematician who specializes in chaos theory, Malcolm acts as the voice of discontent who points out the dangers of man’s attempt to control the natural world. He also showcases his bravery when he lights a flair to lure the Tyrannosaurus away from Grant and the children.
Interestingly, the scene intended for Malcolm to run and save himself, like the lawyer Donald Gennaro (Martin Ferrero). It was Goldblum who approached Spielberg andsuggested tweaking the sceneto give Malcolm a more heroic moment. The decision paid off and helped to cement Malcolm asperhaps Goldblum’s best character.
1The Tyrannosaurus constantly broke down
Themost iconic dinosaur in the movieis undeniably the Tyrannosaurus Rex. The task of bringing her to life for the tense close-up shops fell on Stan Winston Studios, who created a massive hydraulics robot. When it came time to film the attack on the tour group,all sorts of problemsreared their scaly heads.
Related:‘Jurassic Park’ Timeline Explained, from Isla Nublar to ‘Camp Cretaceous’First, the rain would soak into the robot’s latex skin, throwing off its weight and forcing the crew to dry it by hand with towels between takes. Sometimes the water weight even caused the robot to move on its own. One example made it into the film when the Rex broke through the sunroof of the car Lex (Ariana Richards) and Tim (Joseph Mazzello) were hiding in.
