'Jurassic World' Easter Eggs: Did You Catch These 'Jurassic Park' References?
Jurassic World, a third sequel to the 22-year old modern classic Jurassic Park, opened in theaters this past weekend. We've had plenty of coverage on the blockbuster sequel, including reviews from both Peter Sciretta (who loved the movie) and Germain Lussier (who was fairly disparaging), and a new interview with director Colin Trevorrow.
Fans now seeing Jurassic World are undoubtedly noticing all the direct references to Jurassic Park, as well as easter eggs placed for discovery by longtime fans. Most of these are pretty obvious, while others may only be noticed by those who have seen the original film countless times. So we've listed all the Jurassic World easter eggs and references that can be spotted in the film.
Check out our list of Jurassic World easter eggs after the jump, but beware of major spoilers for the movie!
The Score
Perhaps the most obvious part of this list, Jurassic Park fans will easily notice that there are many nods and references to the original score composed by John Williams. Several of the orchestral cues and themes from Jurassic Park are incorporated into the new score from Michael Giacchino, who also does a fine job of creating some great compositions on his own in Jurassic World.
Ian Malcom's Book, God Creates Dinosaurs
Fans of Jurassic Park should remember that Ian Malcolm was the favorite chaos theoretician played by Jeff Goldblum, and the main voice of opposition against the creation of the entire park and messing with the laws of nature. Goldblum doesn't make a cameo in the movie, but life found a way, so to speak, to still get Malcolm into the movie.
You might remember that back in April an image surfaced as part of a little easter egg hunt in the viral marketing for Jurassic World. The photo showed a book called God Creates Dinosaurs, written by Ian Malcolm. And that book actually appears twice in the film. The first time it pops up in the hands of Claire's (Bryce Dallas Howard) assistant Zara (Katie McGrath), who is reading the book as she sits behnd the kids on the Jurassic World monorail. The second time, you can see it on the desk of tech guy Lowery (Jake Johnson), who is clearly a fan of the original Jurassic Park, almost as an amusing representation of real-life fans. Speaking of which...
Vintage Jurassic Park Merchandise
Jurassic Park was such a huge film in 1993 that there was plenty of merchandise to go along with its release. From action figures to t-shirts to cups to backpacks, there were few items that didn't end up getting branded with dinosaurs and the Jurassic Park logo. This fact is mocked a bit in Jurassic World when Lowery wears a vintage Jurassic Park shirt, likely from the gift shop in the original visitor's center, that he got on eBay. We get a glimpse of that merchandise in the original Jurassic Park around the time the dramatic scene between John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) and Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) takes place while they're eating ice cream. My only question is why did he get it on eBay when he could have probably just stolen one from the abandoned Jurassic Park gift shop.
Look at This Work Station!
The old Jurassic Park t-shirt isn't the only reference that Lowery is a part of in the film. There's one comment from Claire about his cluttered work station, which seems appropriate considering he's basically the new Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight), the tech guy from the original Jurassic Park. Thankfully, Lowery isn't as scheming as Nedry, and is a much more likeable guy, so we actually feel bad when all the dinosaur figures get swept off his work station in anger, not unlike when Samuel L. Jackson threw all the trash of Nedry's messy desk.
Welcome to the Park
The gates to Jurassic World look awfully familiar, and that's because they're modeled after the original gates in Jurassic Park. In fact, they say something in the movie about the gates being crated from the original gates to Jurassic Park. We get a different angle of the gates in the final cut of the film than we did in the trailers for the movie, but that's because that shot from the trailer was created specifically for the marketing campaign. You might remember us writing about that shortly after the trailer came out in November.
Brad Bird, The Voice of the Monorail
On-screen cameos are always easy to spot, and sometimes they're even intentionally highlighted (Jimmy Fallon makes a very obvious cameo in Jurassic World). But voice cameos aren't always as easy to pin down. One such voice cameo that almost nobody will notice is that of The Incredibles and Tomorrowland director Brad Bird as the welcome voiceover on the Jurassic World monorail. It's a pretty perfect cameo considering Bird inadvertently helped Colin Trevorrow get the gig directing Jurassic World.
In fact, Trevorrow explained how the cameo happened in our interview with him:
"[Brad Bird has] been a great mentor and friend. And he actually invited me to the set of Tomorrowland. And allowed me just to kind of watch him for a couple days. And he gave me great confidence that I at least understood what a day to day experience on a giant blockbuster movie is for a director and we both mixed up at Skywalker Ranch. And he was up there ahead of me and they were doing some pre-dubbing stuff. And I asked if he would be the guy. And I remember writing him a detailed character description of who that guy was. He worked on the tram and he lives in North Hollywood and writes screenplays at night. Yeah, I had this whole thing that I laid out as like just put that into the character. And he did it."
Winston's Steakhouse
Much like a regular theme park, there are plenty of restaurants and stores in Jurassic World. Just look around in various crowd shots of the park and you'll see a Starbucks, a Samsung store, and even a Margaritaville (we'll get to that later). But one you might not immediately recognize as being a real-life restaurant is a place called Winston's Steakhouse. That's because it's a reference to the late Stan Winston, the special effects and animatronics wizard who helped make the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park work so well on the big screen. Winston passed away in 2008, but he gets a subtle tribute in the form of this steakhouse.
Mr. DNA, Where Did You Come From?
One of the fan favorite "characters" from the original Jurassic Park is the animated Mr. DNA (he even has his own t-shirt). The genetic cartoon is the one responsible for explaining how John Hammond and Jurassic Park scientists took dinosaur DNA and used it to bring dinosaurs back to life. Mr. DNA makes a quick appearance in the new visitor's center when Gray (Ty Simpkins) is darting around to all the touch screens. Fun fact: Colin Trevorrow actually did the voice for Mr. DNA himself as the original voice actor, Greg Burson, has since passed away. Some effects were applied to Trevorrow's voice to make it sound like the original.
John Hammond
There wouldn't be a Jurassic World without the innovative idea that John Hammond had to create Jurassic Park, for better or worse. Hammond's presence is still very much felt in Jurassic World as a statue (seen above) of him overlooks the main floor of the visitor's center and the entire science area is called The Hammond Creation Lab.
Tyrannosaurus Rex Still Loves Goats and Flares
In the original Jurassic Park, the Tyrannosaurus Rex is easily distracted by flares, and also eventually lured out by a goat for feeding time. It looks like 22 years haven't changed the dinosaur as the T-Rex impresses crowds by eating a fresh goat in the park. In addition, the climax of the film sees a T-Rex called into action by Claire when she has Lowery open the gate to her paddock and uses a flare to help bring her to the main strip of the park to fight the Indominus Rex. Also, it's important to note that this T-Rex is the exact same one from the original Jurassic Park, and she has the scars from her first raptor battle to prove it.
When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth
When Zach (Nick Robinson) and Gray (Simpkins) are wandering through the jungle after encountering and escaping from the Indominus Rex, they stumble upon the original visitors center from Jurassic Park. When they walk into the lobby, they find pieces of the skeleton that was shattered when the T-Rex threw an attacking Velociraptor into it. In addition, the fallen banner that says "When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth" is seen and used to create a makeshift torch. This scene is somewhat recreated when the Indominus Rex smashes into the visitor's center and has a triumphant roar in the lobby.
The Birds!
Whether it's a direct reference or not, the sequence when the flying Pteranodons and Dimorphodons escape and attack Jurassic World feels like a tribute to Alfred Hitchcock's classic film The Birds. Also, there's a rather obnoxious shot of the foot of bird stomping down on the ground to open the film, referencing Alan Grant's (Sam Neill) talk about how birds might be the descendents of dinosaurs, a theory that has become rather popular among those studying dinosaurs.
So You Guys Dig Up Dinosaurs?
After the opening raptor attack scene in Jurassic Park, there's a scene with close-ups of Alan and Ellie's team digging up dinosaurs in the Badlands of Montana. There's a scene in the visitor's center where a little girl is brushing dirt of dinosaur bones in a little interactive area, and the shot is a re-creation of sorts of the sequence from the original film.
Dr. Henry Wu
This is the only character who appears in the film from Jurassic Park. Dr. Henry Wu (played by B.D. Wong) was one of the original scientists who help John Hammond realize his dream of bringing dinosaurs back to life. However, it seems like a lot has happened in 22 years, and he seems a little more menacing and careless about his work now. I'd really like to know what happened to Dr. Wu over the past couple decades to make him such a dick. If you want some more insight into Dr. Henry Wu, check out our interview with B.D. Wong right here.
There's a Green Button That Says Push to Close
It could just be a coincidence, but Karen (Judy Greer) goes out of her way to tell her son Zach to push the green button that pops up on his cell phone to answer when she tries to call him. Fans of Jurassic Park might remember a significant green button that needed to be pushed in order to get the power back on.
They're Flocking This Way
One of the more subtle references to Jurassic Park is the shot of what appear to be Gallimimus' galloping next to a truck full of tourists. You can't help but notice that the angle of the shot is almost exactly the same as when Alan Grant and the kids end up running through a flock of them.
Also, I can't be sure, but I believe there's a a background hologram of a Gallimimus running that some kids are looking at, and I believe it's the same animated model that convinced Steven Spielberg that making Jurassic Park was even possible.
Take That, Jurassic Park III
In the final fight between the T-Rex and the Indominus Rex (and eventually a hero Velociraptor), the skeleton of a Spinosaurus, the big bad dinosaur from Jurassic Park III ends up getting smashed. It's not clear whether this is meant as a bit of a dig at the inferior Jurassic Park sequel, but that's how I'm going to look at it.
We Spared No Expense
There are a handful of times that John Hammond mentions to his first park visitors in Jurassic Park that, "We spared no expense." And this philosophy on the building of the park is something that Masrani had instilled upon him by Hammond before he died as he directly references this line in Jurassic World.
Jaws
Steven Spielberg is responsible for essentially creating the blockbusters with Jaws, and reinventing it with Jurassic Park. Therefore, it only seems appropriate that the animal that the aquatic Mosasaurus chomps out of the sky is a shark. In a way, this seems like commentary on the evolution of not only the Jurassic Park franchise, but blockbusters in general. It would certainly fit in to the theory that Jurassic World is really about the struggle to make Jurassic World by pleasing audiences with bigger and better dinosaurs, much in the way that some Hollywood tentpoles are mindlessly manufactured by corporations.
Also, there's a chance that the "We need more teeth," line said by Gray could be another Jaws reference in the vein of "You're gonna need a bigger boat," but that's probably a stretch.
Raptor Showdown
Much like Alan, Ellie and the kids in Jurassic Park, Owen (Chris Pratt), Claire, Zach and Gray end up getting stuck in the visitor's center with some raptors in hot pursuit. But unlike the first film, these raptors actually end up being the heroes when the Indominus Rex shows up.
Chaos Theory
One of the many memorable pieces of dialogue from Jeff Goldblum as Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park is his explanation of chaos theory to Ellie. He uses the example of a two drops of water rolling down someone's hand in different directions. You might noticed that when a drop off blood falls on one of the ACU team member's wrist, a second drop of blood falls and goes in the other direction. That's chaos theory.
That Jeep is 22 Years Old
Adding to the nostalgia of Jurassic Park, one of the many artifacts of the original park that Zach and Gray stumble upon is one of the Jeep Wranglers. However, this isn't just any Jeep Wrangler. You'll notice that the numbered card on the rearview mirror says it's "029," which is one of the Jeeps that drove Jurassic Park's first attendants to see the Brahciosaurus.
Margaritaville and Jimmy Buffett
As we mentioned previously, there's a Margaritaville in Jurassic World, because it's always five o'clock somewhere. However, what you might not know is that Jimmy Buffet, the musician creator of Margaritaville, actually has a cameo in the movie (check out a picture he posted from the set right here). He can be seen wearing a straw hat and a salmon-colored shirt. In fact, you can even see him run from some of the dinosaur madness on the main strip in front of the restaurant, but not before saving two margaritas off the table as he takes off.
Dilophosaurus
Originally intended to be the first dinosaur on the Jurassic Park tour, this venom-spitting dino didn't pop up until Dennis Nedry was desperately trying to get stolen dinosaur embryos back to the dock. This time the dinosaur pops up in hologram form to trick a pursuing velociraptor.
Cool, Night Vision!
Another one of the many Jurassic Park artifacts that Zach and Gray encounter are a pair of night vision goggles. They're the exact kind of goggles that Tim was messing around with in the Ford Explorer before the T-Rex attacked. Are they heavy? Then they're expensive, put them back.
Two Days in the Valley
In the original Jurassic Park, there's a gorgeous shot of the helicopter arriving on Isla Nublar, heading into a green valley on the coast. It appears this same valley is used for another helicopter arrival in Jurassic World, but it's a little different this time since the helicopter is bringing InGen people to the island while the park is in ruins. Could this be a commentary on how the wonder has disappeared from the island and it has been corrupted by greed and chaos? (Thanks to the FromDirectorStevenSpielberg Tumblr for the image).
Objects in Mirror...
One of the more memorable shots in Jurassic Park is when we see a T-Rex opening its jaws in the reflection of one of the side mirrors of a Jeep Wrangler when Ellie and Muldoon rescue an injured Ian Malcolm. That shot is brought back in Jurassic World, but this time as a raptor pursues Claire, Zach and Gray.
Through the Broken Glass
The Indominus Rex attack on Zach and Gray in the gyrosphere isn't quite as scary as the initial T-Rex attack from the first film, but there are some similarities in the attack. Much like when the T-Rex smashed through the glass roof of the Ford Explorer, the Indominus Rex does the same thing by breaking the glass of the gyrosphere as he tries to get his new meal.
Hungry Eyes
It's not until later in the movie that we learn one of the dinosaurs used to create the Indominus Rex was a raptor. But there's a subtle hint to that fact in one of the early shots of the genetically modified dinosaur. We see the eye of the I-Rex through the leaves of the jungle in his container, and it's a shot that calls back to a menacing shot of a raptor in Jurassic Park, watching as Muldoon gets eaten.
InGen Still Messing Things Up
After bringing a T-Rex to San Diego, it looks like InGen still hasn't learned their lesson. Instead of bringing dinosaurs to the mainland, this time they want to use them as weapons. Funnily enough, I think this is another element of the movie that goes along with the theory that Jurassic World is about the struggle to make a movie like Jurassic World. Remember when Jurassic Park 4 was originally going to have human-dinosaur hybrids that could wield weapons? That sounds like a stupid idea InGen would like to make happen.
Thanks to ScreenRant and Yahoo for informing some of the entries that appear on this list.
Are there any easter eggs we missed? Was there anything you were hoping to see in Jurassic World that didn't pop up?