Jurassic World Dominionmight have been critically panned, but it did finally get some key details right about dinosaurs, according to one expert in paleontology. Spinning off from the wildly successfulJurassic Parktrilogy,Jurassic Worldupped the ante with bigger dinosaurs and even more mayhem. The newJurassic Parkbrought back the formally extinct creatures, and they eventually became a global phenomenon after escaping the confines of the park.Dominionfinished the first trilogy ofJurassic Worldmovies, and said goodbye to the new heroes while bringing back the classic characters from the original films too.
There was a lot thatJurassic World Dominiondid wrong from a story perspective, and critics generally lambasted the big-budget sequel. Its financial success was also somewhat hampered by a massive budget, and thoughJurassic World Dominion’s box office overshadowed its bad reviews, it was still a disappointment. However, it was the first film in the entireJurassic Parkfranchise to finally get some important facts about dinosaurs correct, and represents the first major amendment to the series' approach to dinosaurs in almost 30 years.Dominionwasn’t perfect, but it earned praise from an expert in the field of paleontology.
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Jurassic World Dominion Fixed A Past Inaccuracy With The Franchise’s Dinosaurs
Dinosaur Feathers Are A Big Deal To Paleontologists
In an interview withVarietyaround the time thatJurassic World Dominionwas released in 2022, paleontologist and movie consultant Steve Brusatte explained the biggest change that the trilogy capper made. “I’m really pleased with the feathers,” said Brusatte, describing howthe raptors in the film finally had a more accurate look after decades of unrealistic depictions.“That’s the biggest thing of all because we’ve known that dinosaurs had feathers for a long time," Brusatte continued, though the discovery of dinosaur feathers did happen after the release of the first movie.
it would take until 1996 for paleontologists to confirm that dinosaurs were not reptilian but avian in appearance
The firstJurassic Parkfilm premiered in 1993 (the book was released in 1990), but it would take until 1996 for paleontologists to confirm that dinosaurs were not reptilian but avian in appearance. The 1993 film explains thatdinosaur DNA was combined with that of frogsin order to clone the extinct animals, and that is perhaps how the franchise could explain away their inaccurate appearance in the first movie. However,twoJurassic Parksequels and all threeJurassic Worldfilms were made after the confirmation that dinosaurs had feathers, and no changes were made.
It’s logical that the franchise wouldn’t want to change the look oftheir most famous dinosaurs, especially since it would directly clash with what the public erroneously believed to be true.Jurassic Parkis a science fiction story, and was therefore able to play fast and loose with the rulesto make a more exciting story. Furthermore, many of the dinosaurs featured in theJurassic Parksequels were from the original project, and would likely look the same. However, the change inJurassic World Dominionis also logical because nearly three decades had passed since the discovery of dinosaur feathers.
The Original Jurassic Park Got Plenty Wrong About Dinosaurs
The Foundation Of The Franchise Is Shaky At Best
In the very sameVarietyarticle, paleontologist Jim Kirkland is also cited alongside Brusatte, and he was a lot less lenient with the dinosaur-run-amok franchise. According to Kirkland, author Michael Crichton’s research while writingJurassic Parkwas built on incorrect information, and that had a trickle-down effect across the entire series. Crichton used Greg Paul’s bookPredatory Dinosaurs of the Worldfor research, which incorrectly lumped together the species Deinonychus antirrhopus into the Velociraptor category. As Kirkland mentioned, they are similar but not the same. In fact,Jurassic Park’s dastardly Velociraptors are actually closer to Deinonychus.
Real Velociraptors were small, and weren’t the massive beasts seen in movies.Jurassic Park’s approach to the Velociraptor was based on another species, the Utahraptor, which had only been named the same year that the film premiered. Utahraptor is the largest of the group, and has the same massive claws shown in the movie. Unfortunately,Jurassic Parkis still wrong in the way that the raptors' behavior is shown, andKirkland noted that “They show them a little too smart.“While the raptors were certainly intelligent for the time, they weren’t capable of the higher thinking shown in the films.
Paleontologist Jim Kirkland named Utahraptor in 1993.
As with the appearance of the dinos, the intelligence of the raptors can also be easily waved away becauseJurassic Parkis a science fiction franchise. However, the changes made forJurassic World Dominionare important because they show that even past inaccuracies can be rectified with time. It’s highly unlikely that the films will ever become fully accurate to science, especially since new discoveries are bound to come along and change previously-held beliefs. TheJurassic Worldfilms are about entertainment first and foremost, so some changes are inevitable.
