The ‘Jurassic Park’ franchise has seen a lot of great books over the years that have chronicled their profound history. The original ‘Making Of’ books from the 1990s for ‘Jurassic Park’ and ‘The Lost World: Jurassic Park’ are regarded as some of the best ever made. In 2021, Insight Editions produced ‘Jurassic Park: The Ultimate Visual History,’ featuring stories and never-before-seen imagery from the original trilogy, including ‘Jurassic Park 3’ for the first time. Their fantastic chronicle was followed by ‘Jurassic World: The Ultimate Visual History,’ wonderfully detailing the making of the original three ‘Jurassic World’ films.
Insight Editions’ last dive into the past of ‘Jurassic Park’ featured a detailed look at David Koepp’s screenplay in ‘Jurassic Park: The Official Script Book.’ That 2023 product featured even more new images to accompany endless annotations on the screenwriting process across all of the original film’s screenwriters and their various drafts. I was even a consultant on that book, providing many of its new images, format suggestions, and fine-tuning some of the annotations written by James Mottram.
Three years later, we now have a new book from Insight Editions regarding ‘Jurassic Park,’ written again by James Mottram. Or… do we? Let’s have a look now at ‘Jurassic Park: VHS: The Making of Steven Spielberg’s Iconic Film (VHS: Visual Handbook Series).’
Rewind back to 1994 with this specially designed boxed set that digs into the behind-the-scenes details of Steven Spielberg’s awe-inspiring film Jurassic Park.
In 1993, director Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park brought Michael Crichton’s Isla Nublar and his dinosaur theme park to life. The film captivated audiences around the world, pioneering a new age of visual effects on the silver screen and starting an iconic, billion-dollar film franchise.
Designed to look like the original 1994 video home system (VHS) tape, this boxed set offers Jurassic Park fans an in-depth account of the making of Spielberg’s film, including rare concept art, film stills, behind-the-scenes photography, and exclusive interviews with key creatives. This must-have collectible set is a fitting tribute to a landmark film and the perfect way to experience Jurassic Park for the first or the hundredth time.
SPECIAL COLLECTIBLE FORMAT: This unique boxed set includes a slipcase and hardcover book designed to look and feel like a classic VHS tape of Jurassic Park.
DEEP DIVE INTO A CLASSIC FILM: The perfect guide for fans of all ages, this boxed set offers in-depth commentary about the making and legacy of the film and is fully illustrated with film stills, concept art, and production photography that make it feel like readers are on set with the cast and crew.
I am going to cut right down to the chase: if you have ‘Jurassic Park: The Ultimate Visual History,’ then you essentially already have this book.
This ‘Jurassic Park: VHS’ book is literally an abridged version of just the first film’s section of James Mottram’s 2021 tome. There are essentially no new images, no new artwork, and no new information. You’re actually getting less information overall. What’s there is still good, it’s just literally copy/pasted and cut down from Mottram’s material. The ‘Visual History’ book also had several pop-out features that were cool (if a little gimmicky, sure). None of those have been replicated here, for it is simply a standard book.
What’s a little alarming is that this fact is not mentioned anywhere in the marketing text or even in the book itself. The closest thing we get that this book is adapted from another is the following text on the back of its slipcase: “This book has been modified from its original version. It has been formatted to fit your shelf.” While that may seem like it’s their fun way of telling us that, yes, this literally is formatted from another book, it isn’t explicitly made clear. The verbiage they are using is meant to mimic the phrasing once seen on VHS tapes, referring to cropping a widescreen film to “fullscreen.” ‘Jurassic Park: The Ultimate Visual History’ is not mentioned anywhere on this book’s packaging or inside the book itself.
Also, the product’s marketing text calls this a “box set,” which doesn’t make any sense. There is only one book here, and there are no other ‘Jurassic’ VHS books published. Calling something a “box set” usually implies you’re getting more than one of something, and this is 100% not the case here.
So, what does this book have that makes it even a little worthwhile? Well, it is definitely a much smaller, handbook-sized approach to the same (abridged) material. At about 170 pages, you’re still getting a decent amount of material to thumb through. If you never owned the ‘Visual History’ book due to either its size or price, this one is certainly more affordable and takes up way less space.
The VHS gimmick that this “series” is going for is cute and executed in a fun-enough way. The VHS-style slipcase is fun, and the book itself mimics the appearance of a VHS cassette tape once you pull it out (complete with fun faux-stickers on the front and back, as if some ten-year-old from the 1990s got a hold of it). Does any of this resemble an actual ‘Jurassic Park’ VHS from the time? Not at all: it was much simpler, and bulkier, than this book attempts to imitate. But I don’t think they were aiming for accuracy, just nostalgia. So, for that, it’s cool enough.
The interior layout of the book continues this vintage approach by making it appear to be a scrapbook of sorts. Some of the images are even made to look “taped on” to the page. Other images even look a little blurred on purpose, with some faux dirt and dust particles around them. It’s an appealing and fun approach.
There’s that word again, “fun.” Basically, the editors of this new book were clearly out to have fun, and it shows. But when the materials are largely all the same, merely assembled differently, I stopped having fun and became disappointed. There was zero promotion from Insight Editions during the release of ‘Jurassic Park: The Official Script Book’ (although I certainly helped them out with my own crazy video production). That was a book that actually had a wealth of new material across the board, yet was given no fanfare. Now, it almost feels like, “Oh yeah, we do still have that ‘Jurassic Park’ license, don’t we?” This ‘VHS Book’ is the result: a regurgitated, fun, but ultimately pointless addition for ‘Jurassic Park’ collectors.
I recommend this book if you don’t have any of the other Insight Editions ‘Jurassic’ books, or if you really just love its size and aesthetic. For those reasons, it is an affordable-enough option. For everyone else, especially those who have ‘Jurassic Park: The Ultimate Visual History’: I’d skip it. You’ll likely be as disappointed as I am that this was the next thing they gave fans after almost three years.
We all know they can deliver great books related to ‘Jurassic Park.’ My hope is that this was a one-off, quirky addition to their catalogue that will soon be joined by some new, upcoming books. How about a book for ‘Jurassic World: Rebirth’ (which didn’t even get a junior novelization), or hell, how about a “Script Book” for ‘The Lost World: Jurassic Park,’ or any of the other films?
Life will hopefully find a way… to give us something new.
There actually is a new book of sorts that is going to be released by Insight Editions on June 2nd: ‘Jurassic World: The Very Sleepy Dinosaur.’ This is their second child-friendly book after 2022’s ‘Jurassic World: The Very Hungry Dinosaur.’ While that book taught counting to kids, this new book teaches the alphabet. Cute and pleasing illustrations are again featured throughout and it is a fun way to introduce the franchise to kids who are far too young to actually watch any of the movies. All ‘Jurassic’ families will enjoy it, printed on thick cardboard pages.
Teach little ones the ABCs of Isla Nublar in this adorable alphabet board book featuring the sleepy dinosaurs of Jurassic World.
It’s bedtime on Isla Nublar, and Blue the velociraptor is heading to her nesting place. As she goes home, she sees all the island dinosaurs getting ready to sleep. Follow along with Blue as she says good night to the island (from A to Zzz).
Grown-up fans of Jurassic World can introduce little ones to the films in an age-appropriate way with this colorful book. Sturdy board book pages will stand up to repeated readings and curious hands and mouths (even dinosaur teeth!). With simple prompts and picture clues that reinforce early concept learning and language structure, this is the perfect gift for dinosaur fans everywhere!
It’s still a mystery why neither of these books came out last year when ‘Jurassic World Rebirth’ was in theaters, or why neither connect to that film at all. I had an early look at this ‘Sleepy Dinosaur’ book in its entirety, and none of the illustrations feature dinosaurs from ‘Rebirth’; not even the cute aquilops, Dolores. It’s almost like that film didn’t exist, and we are still stuck in the past. Instead, Blue from the original three ‘Jurassic World’ films remains the focal point. Kids of course won’t care in the end, but it’s still worth noting that we just can’t seem to move forward.
Are you interested in getting either of these new books from Insight Editions? Or are you disappointed? Share your comments below, and stay tuned to Jurassic Outpost for the latest.
