On the poster for “Jurassic World: The World After” (in theaters since June 8) the female tyrannosaurus that can be seen in the film is exactly the same as in the first “Jurassic Park”, directed by Steven Spielberg in 1993.
SPOILERS – Warning, the article below reveals potential spoilers. If you don’t want to know the content, please don’t read the following…
Alan Grant, Ellie Sattler, Ian Malcolm, Henry Wu and Lewis Dodgson aren’t the only characters in the first Jurassic Park to be back in Jurassic World: The World Afterthe final installment in the saga in theaters since last Wednesday.
Indeed, the T-Rex of this latest feature film,
who also plays a vital role in resolving the plot by facing the fearsome Giganotosaurus
is exactly the same dinosaur as the one in the original film, directed by Steven Spielberg in 1993.
This female tyrannosaur called Rexy (and nicknamed Roberta by one of its designers, the special effects genius Phil Tippett) has been shaking the ground of the Jurassic Park franchise for nearly 30 years.
After terrorizing Lex and Tim by leaving his pen in the storm, and after unwittingly helping visitors escape the park by confronting raptors at the end of the film, she was back in 2015 in Jurassic Worldrecognizable by the ancient scars that still marred his right flank.
Released by Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), she then fought the Indominus Rex, and thus once again allowed the protagonists to escape. In Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdomreleased two years later, she could be seen again attacking an unwary intruder, at the start of the film, before she was evacuated by Lockwood crews (when the island’s volcano erupted). then released into the wild with the other dinosaurs by Maisie, at the end of the feature film.
Universal Pictures
In Jurassic World: The World Afterit is thus found within the nature reserve founded by Dodgson, in the midst of many other dinosaurs.
On the other hand, in The lost World and in Jurassic Park III, respectively released in 1998 and in 2001, it is not Rexy (or Roberta) that we can see on the screen. Indeed, even if these two films also contain one (or more) T-Rex, the latter are from Isla Sorna (and not Isla Nublar): a second island devoted to the cloning of dinosaurs.
DID YOU KNOW ? REXY HAS BEEN CREATED… IN SECRET!
In 1991, when Steven Spielberg’s teams began working on Jurassic Park, the dinosaurs were supposed to be developed in stop motion, that is to say animated “frame by frame” from models, created by the famous Phil Tippett .
Jurassic Park: the T-Rex was created… in secret
Engaged in order to fluidify the movement of the creatures, the animator Steve Williams from ILM, a computer enthusiast, then suggests pushing the logic further and animating the dinosaur by computer. A feat which – at the time – had never been accomplished, as we learn in the documentary series The Movies That Made Us on Netflix.
Faced with the reluctance of his superiors, Williams decides to carry out his project incognito. After five months of working in secret (and solo), he cleverly manages to show the fruits of his labor to the producer Kathleen Kennedywhich provides it with funding for the rest of its operations.
Universal Pictures
5 more months later, it is before the amazed eyes of Spielberg that Steve Williams’ T-Rex comes to life.
“It’s the future. It will be like this from now on”, exclaims the maestro, amazed by the result. His decision is made: the animatronics of Jurassic Park will be completed with computer animation.
Rexy was born. And with it begins to write a whole new chapter in the history of special effects.
(Re)discover our video dedicated to the T-Rex…