Uniting the Franchise: How Jurassic World 3 Should Incorporate Dinosaur Designs from ‘Park’ Films

Art by Neemz.

2021 is swiftly approaching. Jurassic World 3 is already shaping up to be an event unlike anything we have seen since the original Jurassic Park. With Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum all returning for major roles in the upcoming film, it is easy to see that we are in store for a movie with some serious callbacks to the film that started it all. With the return of old human characters, Jurassic World 3 is posed in the perfect position to be a film that showcases the original aspects of Jurassic Park side by side with the new ideas put forth in the Jurassic World movies. We can talk about the human characters until the sun goes down, but at the end of the day, the highlight of Jurassic has always been the dinosaurs.

One complaint that we see time and time again is how different some of the dinosaurs look in the newer films. While some fans view these differences as a major drawback, it’s time to take a hard look at how these perceived differences actually present a unique opportunity to showcase exactly what these dinosaurs are: genetically engineered, theme park…creatures. In other words, these dinosaurs are simply lab-created animals melding natural science and science fiction.

So today, let’s take a look at some specific examples of these differences. Let’s start with a classic: the mighty Stegosaurus. We first got a glimpse at the creature on Isla Sorna in The Lost World Jurassic Park. This Jurassic Park era Stego was on the more athletic side. As you can see below, it featured a straight tail and narrow head, which featured a beak of some sort. Its athleticism was put on full display when it sensed a threat in Sarah Harding approaching its infant.

Now, let us compare that to the Jurassic World era Stegosaurus. The new creation featured a heavier retro build, with a drooping tail and a wider head (with lips instead of a beak). Their coloration is slightly different, and their skin texture is entirely different than their park counterparts. We’re first introduced to them roaming Nublar’s Gyrosphere Valley in Jurassic World, presumably engineered under Masrani’s supervision to achieve certain goals.

In a universe where scientists have been cloning and creating new dinosaurs for over twenty five years, these differences can be explained by genetic manipulation. Perhaps the old Stegosauruses were just too agile and destructive with their more athletic build and size. Maybe the Jurassic World scientists realized a beefier build appealed to the parks older demographs who imagine dinosaurs with more outdated views. Questions like these are exactly the kind of lore I believe are ripe for answering in Jurassic World 3. Before we move on to how exactly the movie can present those answers in a natural way, let’s take a look at another dinosaur example.

The Ankylosaurus is well-known for the armor plating all along its back, but the different eras of Jurassic took the animal in otherwise different directions. We first see the Jurassic Park era Anyklosaur in Jurassic Park 3 as it lumbers underneath the tree some of our characters are hiding out in. It touts rougher scale-based armor with a smaller, colorful head. It has a narrow and angular build overall and is not overtly large.

Once again, let’s look at the Jurassic World edition Ankylosaurus that we see duke it out with the Indominous Rex. Not only is the Jurassic World era animal bigger, it has defined armor plating and a larger, uniform-color head. Just like the Stegosaurus, it sports a bulkier, stockier build overall. It’s been theorized that ‘World’s’ Anylosaurs are female counterparts to ‘Park’s’ males.

Ankylosaurs and Stegosaurs are only scratching the surface. Numerous other species have distinct sub-species within the Jurassic films, with 3 different Pteranodon breeds, over 3 different breeds of Velociraptors, plus a variety of sexual dimorphism seen within Parasaurs, Brachiosaurs, and more.

The best step for Jurassic to take is to embrace the differences and use them as a tool to enrich the deep mythology the universe has already given to us. I mean, who wouldn’t want to see the Jurassic Park 3 raptors running around Blue? That sort of variety in appearance is a treasure trove of rich story that has largely only been explored by the DPG marketing campaign for Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom. It’s important to not stifle that variety, but embrace it fully, and bring all these elements from various films together.

However, not every difference is a canonical variation – the T. rex of Jurassic World being a prime example. Many fans have complained she looks off from her Jurassic Park appearance – and it’s true – the design has changed in more ways than just aging. This love for Jurassic Park’s iconic designs is another prime reason to bring them back. Not just nostalgia – they’re some of the most iconic creature designs in cinema. Embrace the masterclass work of Stan Winston Studios, Crash McCreery and ILM that laid the foundation for Jurassic World.

We know that Jurassic World 3 director Colin Trevorrow plans to expand the universe even more and deal with these creatures on a much larger scale now that they’re part of our world. One of the best ways to explore this evolution naturally, while keeping it tied to the past films is to simply go back to the older, forgotten dinosaurs. Likewise, we can finally explore how these various subspecies may interact – what would a crossbreed of a Jurassic Park female raptor and JP3 male raptor look like? Or would they never have the chance, fighting for territory instead?

What makes the Jurassic Park novel so great is that it tackles the science aspect of the story head on – the novel version of Wu has candid conversations with Hammond about manipulating the DNA of the dinosaurs to alter their physical characteristics and change the way they behave. If we’re trying to find inspiration, that’s where to start the search. Having a character in the movie, like Wu, explain the differences between all the animals on screen only serves to deepen the canon in a positive way. Not only that, it serves as a natural explanation for why Project IBRIS with the raptors at Jurassic World was (eventually) successful compared to the more aggressive raptors from the previous movies.

What are your thoughts on the dinosaur differences? Is this a purposeful creation from Jurassic Park scientists, or do you think the filmmakers were just looking to switch up the styles? If you believe the science backs it up, would you like to see it explained on screen? Sound off in the comments below and tell us how you would explain the uniqueness of the dinosaurs!

ILM Shares Dino-Filled Jurassic World Battle at Big Rock Making-Of!

Jurassic World’s live action short film ‘Battle at Big Rock’ released over one month ago, but has continued to earn the interest of Jurassic fans online. Perhaps one of the largest points of discussion have been among those trying to discern the designs of the all-new dinosaurs, which were obscured in chaos and darkness in the short film. Thankfully, ILM has just released a ‘Behind the Magic’ making of for Battle at Big Rock, which show off the new dinosaurs in all their glory!

Check it out below:

The video shows the exciting process the short Jurassic film underwent while being brought to life: from shooting the previs in VR, to bringing the ILM model department into the mix with practical dinosaur reference models. Further, they’ve confirmed what fans have suspected: the differences in design between the male and female Nasutoceratops (revealing the Mattel toy is in fact based on the male), and of course, revealing the final design of the adult Allosaurus!

The male Nasutoceratops is in the back, with longer horns, and harsher more defined angles, while the female is softer with more rounded features. Both sport similar color schemes, though the male favors reds for his patterns while the female seems to favor oranges. While it’s hard to say, it seems to be safe to assume the baby is a male based upon its colors.

The Allosaurus (below) went through numerous design changes, and the final ILM model is different than that seen in the previs, or animatronic pictures released by Colin Trevorrow. The toys released are all based upon the older non-final design, which was more monstrous and not very recognizable as its namesake – however the final design looks appropriately Allosaurid and Jurassic!

There are a ton of great details in the video, mostly the dinosaur designs shown in their full glory, so be sure to watch it and take it all in!

What are your thoughts on the dinosaur designs in Battle at Big Rock? Sound off in the comments below, and as always, stay tuned for the latest news!

Behind the Scenes Look at Designing Jurassic World Dinosaur Toys with Mattel’s Kristen Sanzari

Since their release in 2018 alongside Fallen Kingdom, Mattel’s Jurassic World line have taken over the toy aisle, and captured the attention of fans and collectors alike. Recently, we spoke to Kristen Sanzari – one of the designers on the Jurassic World toy line – about her work, and how she came to design dinosaurs for this continuously evolving range of action figures.

Kristen provided numerous design sheet images, that document part of the process that designing these toys undergo. In the images you can see reference photos, design change notes, and how things like action features are created.

Read on to learn about Kristen’s work directly from her, and of course, check out the images!

“I have been designing Jurassic World toys at Mattel for almost 3 years now, and people often ask how I got into toy design. So, I will give you a little background. I grew up with a love of drawing animals and my favorite animation characters. I loved my toys and loved animation. When it came time to go to college, I went to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where I studied graphic design and ran on the track team. I loved graphic design but knew I still wanted to study animation, so after graduating from Cal Poly, I moved to San Francisco, where I attended the Academy of Art University to get my master’s in visual development for animation.

After graduating, I got a job as a graphic designer/illustrator at a toy and publishing company called Artistic Studios (now Bendon Publishing). I worked on licensed craft sets and toys and loved it, but I was still mostly doing graphic design and package design, with only a little bit of illustration here and there. Wanting to do more concept art, I began applying to jobs at animation studios and toy companies in LA. I interviewed with Mattel for the Jurassic World product design position with a portfolio full of concept art for animation. Although similar in a lot of ways, I had no toy designs to show. So, after the interview I drew up some toy concepts focused on Jurassic, and luckily my now boss had faith I could design toys and I got the job.

Was I a dinosaur expert or a Jurassic park fanatic prior to getting the job? No, but I liked dinosaurs, I had seen some of the movies, and most of all I loved drawing and learning about animals. So, I made it my mission to learn as much as I could about dinosaurs and the Jurassic Park franchise when I began working on the brand. I watched all the movies a bunch of times, took several paleontology courses online, listened to the Jurassic Outpost Podcast, bought and read multiple dinosaur books and made it a point to learn about and know every dinosaur we designed.

When designing our toys, we begin by brainstorming about what we want that toy to do. Is it a T. Rex that roars and has a massive chomp? Or is it a Pachycephalosaurus that rams its head? There are usually so many great and crazy ideas that come up in brainstorms, but we always do our best to make sure the function of our toys are realistic, on brand, and accentuate what the dinosaur would have done in real life. Something we also focus on is our scale, we do our best to make all our dinosaurs in scale to a 3¾” human action figure, which really allows you to imagine how massive some of these dinosaurs were in real life.

As you can see from many of these design sheets, we start off with an initial drawing of the dinosaur concept and what the feature will be. Sometimes these are based on assets from Universal, for dinosaurs from the films, and sometimes we are able to create the dinosaur designs ourselves. We spend a lot of time creating the patterns and textures, picking the colors of the dinos, and making sure they fit into the look and feel of the dinosaurs in Jurassic World. In the Carnotaurus example you can see that the drawing and the original sculpt are different from the final sculpt and product. This is because we often know what dinosaurs are going to be in the film before knowing exactly what the dinosaurs are going to look like in the film. The toy production timeline is longer than the time it takes to make a film and so often we need to begin our design process before we have all the information. We frequently have to figure out the feature of the toy prior to knowing exactly what the dinosaur will look like, and we just have to be nimble and adjust our designs to fit the look of the movie as soon as we do get the actual assets. Our partners at Universal always do their best to get us the assets and information we need as soon as they can.

Once we have a sculpt we are happy with, and the mechanism is figured out, we can make our first model. The first model is never perfect, but we use it to see if we need to change anything about the sculpt and details, the mechanism function, the articulation, and the color choices. We then take notes on any revisions and make adjustments to improve this model. After all the changes have been accounted for we make a new and improved model. During the entire process there are multiple check points with Universal to make sure they approve the look and function of the dinosaurs.

When the final model is approved we move on to make a “first shot,” which is the first run of the product in plastic. First shots are made in the factories with any leftover or extra plastic they have, so they usually are really crazy colors. For example, we could get a raptor first shot with a pink body, black left leg, blue right leg, green head, and neon yellow arms. We make comments on the first shot and make sure the toy can stand and that the detents and articulations function properly. Next we get our first painted plastic toy sample. At this point the toy is almost complete, but we make sure the plastic and paint colors match, we make sure the mechanism and any electronic features are functioning the way they should, and make sure all the packaging information is aligned with the product. After all these comments are captured we pass them along to make sure our final product is the best it can be. Then, finally we receive the final product!

As a whole the toy design process takes an entire team and I have to say that team Jurassic is made up of some of the most passionate and hard-working people I know. Our design team couldn’t make the toys we do without the enormous help of our awesome marketing team, packaging team, and engineering team. It is truly a team effort and an awesome brand to be a part of.”

Thanks so much to Kristen for taking the time out to speak with us, and to share many of these images! For more from Kristen, you can check out her website here and her Instagram here. With the 2020 Primal Attack line coming soon (which the Sarcosuchus belongs to) , there will surely be more toys to learn about in the future!

What toy do you like the most from Mattel’s line, and what would you like to see more of? Sound off in the comments below, and as always, stay tuned to Jurassic Outpost!


‘Jurassic World 3’ Adds DeWanda Wise in Leading Role!

Photo by Sansho Scott/BFA/REX/Shutterstock (9139726gf)

Hot off the heels of yesterdays announcement that Mamoudou Athie has joined the third Jurassic World film, Variety now reports that DeWanda Wise has also been added to the growing cast! While no plot or character details are available, it is reported that DeWanda Wise will sport a leading role in the upcoming sequel.

DeWanda is best known for her role as Nola Darling on Netlfix’s ‘She’s Gotta Have It’, and has also appeared in a recent episode of the Twilight Zone resurgence titled ‘Six Degrees of Freedom’.

Wise joins Jurassic Park veterans Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum alongside ‘World’s’ Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard. BD Wong and Isabella Sermon are also expected to return in the next Jurassic film. While the plot remains tightly under wraps, dinosaurs are now part of our world, no longer contained on islands, and the story is expected to start from that focal point.

Jurassic World 3 is well into pre-production at London’s Pinewood Studios, where it is slated to begin filming early next year. Colin Trevorrow and Emily Carmichael have written the script, with Trevorrow returning to direct. The film is scheduled to release June of 2021.

What are your thoughts on Jurassic World 3’s ever growing cast? Sound off in the comments below, and as always, stay tuned for the latest news!

Source: Variety


‘The Get Down’ Actor Mamoudou Athie Joins ‘Jurassic World 3’!

The casting for Jurassic World 3 has begun! While Legacy characters have already joined the upcoming Jurassic Park sequel, today’s news marks the first real sign of forward movement with casting a brand new lead character. Deadline reports that Mamoudou Athie has joined the sixth Jurassic Park film.

Mamoudou Athie is best known for his roles in Netflix’s ‘The Get Down’, the Facebook series ‘Sorry for Your Loss’, and the Emma Watson and Tom Hanks driven film ‘ The Circle’. Athie’s role in Jurassic World 3 remains unknown, as he joins alongside Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum. Jurassic World 3 has been penned by Colin Trevorrow and Emily Carmichael, with Trevorrow directing.

Pre-production has roared into full rampage at London’s Pinewood Studios, with filming scheduled to start February 2020. No plot details have been officially revealed at this time, though the recent ‘Battle at Big Rock’ sets the tone of where things will go as dinosaurs once again roam the earth.

Be sure to stay tuned to Jurassic Outpost for all the latest news, and as always, sound off in the comments below!

Source: Deadline


Jurassic World 3 to Begin Filming February 2020 at Pinewood Studios

It’s no secret that Jurassic World 3 aims to begin filming soon – Colin Trevorrow has already confirmed John Nolan and his team are carving dinosaurs out of clay, and prototyping animatronics at their studios outside of London. However, the exact start date has remained unconfirmed.

In a recent interview with Forbes, producer Frank Marshal confirmed the sixth film in the Jurassic Park saga will begin filming February 2020.

“With regards to the next Jurassic World movie, we are in full pre-production at Pinewood Studios in London, England. We plan to begin shooting in February of next year, so that is all very much in motion.”

Filming is expected to continue into the Summer, likely wrapping around July or August. The only confirmed location remains Pinewood Studios in London, however recent reports suggest some filming will take place on the Mediterranean island of Malta. It’s unclear where else the film will shoot, though we anticipate some locations to represent the Californian wilds, where Fallen Kingdom ends (Fallen Kingdom and Battle at Big Rock shot those outdoor locations around England and Ireland, and similar choices are to be expected this time around).

No word if Hawaii will return. Given the destruction of Isla Nublar and escape of the dinosaurs on mainland, this may well be the first Jurassic film to not utilize the Hawaiian islands.

Outside of filming start dates, Marshall went on to talk about why he believes the Jurassic films are so special, remarking that dinosaurs are science fact – not fiction – and it drives their mass appeal.

“It’s about the dinosaurs. Dinosaurs are timeless, and they were here. We’re not dealing with superheroes; we’re not dealing with science-fiction, we’re dealing with science fact. Dinosaurs are studied in schools, they’re in museums, and I think people have a fascination with what it would be like to have dinosaurs in the world today.”

It’s this point that we agree with, though it highlights why some of us have issues with the more recent Jurassic films. As the films move forward with depicting the the dinosaurs more and more as fantasy monsters, some of that magic and appeal of dinosaurs is lost in the process. As Jurassic World 3 will reportedly adhere closer to modern science and understandings, we’re hopeful the behaviors and set pieces involving the dinosaurs also shift towards their more grounded, yet still fictional Jurassic Park roots.

Whatever the future holds for Jurassic World 3, we’re excited, and cannot wait for news to continue to be shared as pre-production continues to be in full swing.

Let us know where you hope Jurassic World 3 will film in the comments, and be sure to share what you want from the movie!

Source: Forbes


Jurassic World 3 to film in the Mediterranean

The theme park dinosaurs of Jurassic World are spreading to Europe, well at least the film crew is. According to a report from newsmalta, the production for Jurassic World 3 is set to film on the Mediterranean island country of Malta later this year!

As pointed out by our friends at The Jurassic Park Podcast, other productions such as Assassin’s Creed, 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, Murder on the Orient Express and Game Of Thrones have previously filmed on the island country. Now will Malta serve as a backdrop for a return to Isla Nublar or even Isla Sorna? Or could it be an all new locale for the franchise? All that will eventually be answered as production begins and eventually with the film’s release on June 11, 2021.

Colin Trevorrow is returning to the director’s chair for the 6th installment of the franchise and the film will see the return of Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard along with the original 1993’s Jurassic Park cast of Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum.

What are your thoughts on Jurassic World 3 filming in Malta? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below and on our forums.

Thank you to The Jurassic Park Podcast for uncovering this news.

Source: newsmalta