Media Showcase: Jurassic Park (Dinosaurs Pt2)

Number two: Apatosaurus

             This animal took a while to make it into a film. Apatosaurus was the animal first seen by the group of people that visit the island in the book. However the animal was changed to Brachiosaurus for the film. It was suppose to be in the second film, Jurassic Park; The Lost World, but was again changed to a different species this time being Mamenchisaurus. It was not until 2015 in the film Jurassic World that the animal finally made it to film. The animal can be seen roaming the prairies, in the petting zoo, and in the scene in which the main characters, Owen and Claire uncover the swath of damage left by the genetically mutated dinosaur. The Apatosaurus featured in Jurassic World is rather accurate suffering only from ultra saggy skin, which could not be proven either way, and shrink-wrapping (the act of stretching the skin of an extinct animal, in fleshed out reconstructions, over the skeleton to tightly).

Number three: Brachiosaurus

             Ah yes, Brachiosaurus, the first moving dinosaur to be seen in the original film, that can also be seen along the river in the third film. It was created using computer generated animation, a great feat for the time. The animators and supervisors got this guy mostly right except for the front feet, which should be U-shaped with only one claw on the first toe of each front foot, kind of like a fleshy hoof. Another possible contention with the anatomy of brachiosaurus was the nostrils; the film placed the animal’s nostrils on the top of its forehead when in life they would have been near the end of the snout. However, this is an outdated notion and was not completely well understood at the time, so this is understandable. Other than the fact of sauropod rearing is still held in contention, (The debate is still ongoing on whether or not sauropods in general could rear up on their hind legs.) they got this one correct.

Number four: Ceratosaurus

          One of the most briefly seen animals in the Jurassic Park series is Ceratosaurus. It was shown in only a very brief scene in which the group, consisting of the curbys, Billy Brennan, and Dr. Alan Grant traversing a river in a boat are frightened by the animal. The animal is then put off by the smell of another animal’s droppings and leaves. This film was made in 2001 and has no excuse for the way they made this animal look. The Ceratosaurus in the film is far thicker than the animal might have been. The real animal was small, at about 18 feet at the longest. Ceratosaurus as it appears in the film sports a single rounded horn atop its snout. The real animal did have crests atop its head usually consisting of two over the eyes and on on the snout. However, these crests were thin and wide and were probably used as a display. Another inaccuracy that not only this animal, but all theropods in the franchise suffer from are the placement of the arms. Theropods could not hold the arms curled up with their palms facing downwards due to specialized bones in their wrists. Theropods were forced to place their hands inward at all times.