Alan Grant

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"'Ooh, ah,' that's how it always starts. But then later there's running and screaming."   This page contains spoilers from an upcoming, or newly released, installment of the Jurassic Park franchise. If you don't want spoilers, leave the page!

"Grants like me, he's a digger"

—Juanito Rostagno^(src)

Alan Grant
Appearances	Jurassic Park Jurassic Park The Lost World (mentioned) Jurassic Park III Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous (mentioned) Jurassic World: Dominion
Portrayed by	Sam Neill
Role	Paleontologist
Status	Alive
Born	Late 1940's - Mid 1950's

Dr. Alan Grant is one of the main characters in the Jurassic Park franchise and the main protagonist in the first Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III. He is a paleontologist who was invited by John Hammond to his dinosaur park, Jurassic Park. Alan is portrayed very differently over the various canons.

Film Canon

Jurassic Park

In Jurassic Park, Alan Grant is a world-renowned paleontologist working at a dig site just outside Snakewater, Montana. He is described in the script as:

"DR ALAN GRANT, mid-thirties, a ragged-looking guy with intense concentration you wouldn't want to get in the way of."

In an attempt to cheer Timmy up, he asked if his dad ever built him a treehouse, to which he replies "no", Grant's response and tone very slightly implies that he didn't have a good relationship with his father.

He is first seen at the dig site explaining the similarities of raptor anatomy to those of modern birds, however, a bratty little boy makes fun of his work and mocks the velociraptor specimen as a "6 foot turkey". Grant silences the child by explaining the speculative hunting behavior of a raptor, later remarking he hates children, which might allude to why he made the effort to intimidate the boy. Grant also may have fore-shadowed Robert Muldoon's death as Muldoon was killed eyeing down a Velociraptor while another was sitting in a bush to Muldoon's left. In his trailer, Grant is invited by John Hammond, founder and CEO of InGen to a theme park known as Jurassic Park on Isla Nublar. He and his partner Ellie Sattler accept the offer for a further three years of dig funding. When they arrive, Grant is astonished by the sight of a living, breathing Brachiosaurus. The characters see how the DNA was extracted and then witness the birth of a Velociraptor.

"Mr. Hammond, the phones are working."

Alan, Ellie, Lex and Tim

But the day quickly turns into an episode when the Tyrannosaurus rex escapes the paddock. While Lex Murphy and Tim Murphy are in danger when a Tyrannosaurus breaks free from a disabled electric fence (due to Dennis Nedry's sabotage), Dr. Grant remarks to himself that the frantic kids are drawing attention to themselves with a flashlight. He and Ian Malcolm attempt to lure the dinosaur away from the kids, which works, but now Dr. Grant and the children must flee to safety through a series of pitfalls. This includes evading a falling Ford Explorer down a 20-foot tree, running from a herd of Gallimimus and climbing over an electric fence. Lex is able to enter the Visitor Center's computer room and restart all of the systems in the park. Alan and the kids battle raptors but the T. rex kills the raptors before they can attack the protagonists and make it to the front of the Visitor Center where John picks them up. Dr. Grant also changed his attitude towards kids, seeing how the Murphy kids were more resourceful, courageous and moral than the kid he earlier experienced back in the States. Alan tells John that he has decided not to endorse his park and John agrees with this sentiment. They board a helicopter and leave the island, where Dr. Grant and Dr. Sattler look over the island while Mr. Hammond gazes at his walking stick with the amber knob.

Jurassic Park III

Alan appears again in Jurassic Park III. The experience on Isla Nublar has left Alan somewhat openly jaded towards dinosaurs, nearly to the point of post-traumatic stress disorder. Despite this, he continues to work as a paleontologist, this time at a dig site near Fort Peck Lake, Montana. However, the dig is cripplingly underfunded due to public interest in recovering dinosaur fossils growing diminished after the revelation of InGen's cloned dinosaurs, which Grant openly refers to as "circus freaks" and "genetically engineered theme-park monsters", rather than true dinosaurs. His partnership with Ellie has ended, though they remain close friends. Now he has a new partner in Billy Brennan, his paleontology colleague and apparent protege, but it is Alan who must rein in Billy's headstrong and impulsive tendencies.

He visits Ellie and her husband Mark, quite pleased to spend time explaining dinosaurs to Ellie's firstborn, her three-year-old son. In a way, he envies Ellie and her happy family and wonders why he shies away from marriage and fatherhood.

He gives lectures on the intelligence of raptors. However, his listeners are only interested in the events in 1993 and the San Diego incident. He states that nothing could get him to go to The Five Deaths (Isla Sorna/SiteB). He is later bribed into going on an aerial tour of Isla Sorna by wealthy couple, Paul Kirby and Amanda Kirby. Alan invited Billy to accompany him on the trip.

While they are flying over the island, Alan notices that the pilot is going to land. Alan begins to protest but is knocked unconscious by Cooper, one of the mercenaries hired by the Kirbys. When Alan wakes up, they have landed on the island already. Then after a take-off disrupted by a Spinosaurus, Alan and the others are stranded on the island. Alan soon discovers the truth that the Kirbys are not wealthy or married, but a divorced couple who were searching for their son, Eric, who was lost on the island eight weeks before, who sought Grant's help based on his adventures on Isla Nublar, unaware the island Eric had visited was Isla Sorna. Alan, using his knowledge of dinosaurs, survives with the Kirbys and an injured Billy, who had attempted to steal unhatched Raptor Eggs in the pursuit of funding for the dig site resulting in the local raptor pack hunting the humans relentlessly in a bid to recover the stolen eggs. Despite the traumatic events of the film, his love for dinosaurs is ultimately reinvigorated after once more experiencing them firsthand. Not much is known about what happened to Grant after the incident.

Jurassic World Dominion

Alan Grant is set to appear in Jurassic World: Dominion. The photo shows that Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler will become a couple.

During a dig, Alan reunited with Ellie as she tells him that an insect was causing the crops to drop. At first, Alan refused to help Ellie get a sample of the Giant locust that causing the problem. Seeing their old friend Ian on a front cover of a book and that he was the one who invited Ellie to come to Biosyn, Alan was convinced to help and accompanied his oldest friend.

Alan and Ellie were successful in getting the sample but were nearly killed when the insects swarm around them. However, Alan and Ellie managed to escape from them then meet a teenage girl named Maisie Lockwood, who had been kidnapped by Byosin but escaped, as they leave the building together. Through the help of Ramsay Cole, Alan, Ellie and Maisie escape through a hyperloop. However, after the hyperloop came to a stop, Alan, Ellie and Maisie leave it as they discovered that they're in a mine.

While looking for a way to get out of the cave, Alan calmed a panicked Ellie down then tells her that he isn't happy with the life he had, which surprised her. When asked by Maisie if they were together, Alan and Ellie told her they were not but their still friend. Through the help of Ian, Alan, Ellie and Maisie escaped the mine. Alan and the group leave in the car that Ian brought with him. However, they discovered that Biosyn was destroying evidences through a fire in a group of insect, but managed to get away from them.

After falling over inside the car, Alan, Ellie and Ian see three people in front of them but Maisie recognized two of them as her adoptive parents as she exited the car to embraced her family. Alan, Ellie and Ian exited the car as Maisie told her parents that they rescued her, much to their gratitude. However, they were attacked by a Giganotosaurus but got away from it. While regrouping, Alan and Ellie were given some water by Maisie's father as he introduce himself as Owen Grady. Alan was flattered to hear that Owen is a fan of his book then recognized him as one of the employees at Jurassic World.

While Ellie left with Maisie's mother Claire Dearing to bring power back online in order to leave Biosyn, Alan accompanied Owen and Maisie in retrieving Beta, a baby raptor that belong to one of the raptors that Owen trained. Once they found her, Alan witness Maisie use what her father taught about handling raptors to ensure Beta only had her eyes on her. Seeing this, Alan was inspired to help Maisie keep Beta eying on her and himself so Owen can knock her out, which they were able to do. After getting Beta, Alan and the group meet up with Henry Wu as he recognized him as one of the scientist in Jurassic Park. Alan and the group were unsure of trusting Henry but Maisie convinced them to give him a chance.

After leaving Biosyn, Alan and Ellie renew their relationship as they go to Washington D.C. to testify against Biosyn.

TV Series

Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous

Season 1

During a flashback in episode 4, Darius discusses with his dad about someone posting Alan's article in the Jurassic World Forum, sometime before his father's death.

Season 2

The Watering Hole

After discovering the Watering Hole, Darius tells Kenji about Alan theorizing that the Water hole could be a neutral ground for predators and preys, under the right conditions. After leaving the Water Hole, Darius tells Kenji he wishes Alan was here and that he would have written a great article about this (the watering hole in particular). Kenji, however, tells him that he doesn't need Grant and that he could make Alan jealous with what he discovered.

Dr. Grant's hat

Grant's hat

One of the most apparent characteristics of Dr. Grant is his fedora hat. In the first movie, he always wears a hat until it is blown from his head by the T. Rex. In Jurassic Park III, he is again wearing a hat at the dig site, on the plane, and on the island. He loses his hat in the Aviary while fleeing from the Pteranodons. At the end of the movie, when Billy and Alan meet again, Billy hands over Alan's hat. "I rescued your hat." Alan responds rather jokingly, "Well that's the important thing," and immediately puts it on his head.

Grant's habit of wearing a hat and his devotion to it is not just an odd characteristic. For many paleontologists, hats are very important. Jack Horner wrote about it in his book How to build a dinosaur:

"I can't say hats are as precious to paleontologists as they are to Texans, but they can be something of a signature, or talisman... Excavations are never, ever done in the shade. Where there is erosion and exposure, there is inevitable sun, and a hat, which is absolutely necessary, can gather memories and significance."

Alan Grant's book

Tim's book in the movies

In the various canons of the Jurassic Park Series, Alan Grant writes a number of books.

The Lost World of the Dinosaurs

It is clear from the novel Jurassic Park that Dr. Grant argues that dinosaurs evolved into birds. Tim Murphy reads it and agrees with Grant, stating he had "Dinosaurs on the brain".

Dinosaur Detectives

Essentially the film's depiction of The Lost World of the Dinosaurs. The film states that it was fully illustrated and was not as big as Robert Bakker's book. Tim carries a copy of the book around on his trip to Isla Nublar. The book was written by Alan Grant and Michael Backes (Backes was a friend and an occasional collaborator with author Michael Crichton. Backes served as the Display Graphics Supervisor on the movie. In the novel, Michael Crichton also included Backes' name as Chief Programmer of Jurassic Park.). The book also had a foreword by the Lord Richard Attenborough, the actor who portrayed John Hammond.

In Jurassic Park Adventures: Survivor, a couple of quotes from the book appear:

When (the sauropods) ate North America empty, to traveled south to South America until that was empty. They just ate themselves out of existence.

Many scientists believe the dinosaurs never really died out 65 million years ago. These scientists believe dinosaurs live on today - as birds. The dinosaurs were too large and their food supply is too small, so the dinosaurs became a likely example of natural selection - in short, they were forced to adapt or perish.

Book about Jurassic Park

In Jurassic Park III, Eric mentions a book that Alan Grant wrote about the Isla Nublar Incident. Eric sensed from this book that Alan somewhat disliked dinosaurs after the incident.

Pteranodon book

At the end of Jurassic Park Adventures: Flyers, Alan Grants says he's planning to write a book about Pteranodons and their attack of Universal Studios.

Merchandise

The following objects based on Alan Grant appear in the Jurassic Park merchandise:

An I.D. pass contains Dr. Grant's signature.

Dr. Alan Grant I.D. Pass

incomplete list

Trivia

• In the film, Grant dislikes the kids at first, contrary to the father-like figure in the first Jurassic Park novel.
• Grant is based on Jack Horner, a real-life paleontologist who helped the movie crew make dinosaurs based on facts and discoveries in the real world.
• In the Novel, Grant tells the kids he had a wife who died years prior to the novel. This is never mentioned in any of the movies or comics, though he is notably disgusted by Ian Malcolm's flippant attitude toward marriage, even giving him a dirty look when he remarks that he is "Always on the lookout for another ex-Mrs. Malcolm."
• When asked about Alan Grant's whereabouts in a 2016 interview, Sam Neill speculated that Alan Grant might be dead.
• Alan Grant's favorite dinosaur growing up was the Triceratops.
• Harrison Ford was offered and turned down the role of Dr. Alan Grant before Sam Neill was ultimately cast three or four weeks before filming began
• Kurt Russell turned down the role of Dr. Alan Grant due to salary demands.
• William Hurt was offered the role of Dr. Grant, but he turned it down without reading the book or the script.
• Dennis Quaid, Kevin Costner, Mel Gibson, and Robin Williams were considered for the role of Alan Grant.

Quotes

Juarssic Park

• Assistant: "Dr. Grant, Dr. Sattler, we're ready to start again"
  Alan: "I hate computers."
  Ellie: "Feelings mutual (chuckles)"

• Computer Operator: "This new program's incredible. A few more years development and we won't even have to dig anymore "
  Alan: "Where's the fun in that?" Ellie nudges him

• "Now look at the half-moon-shaped bones in the wrists. No wonder these guys learned how to fly. (Everyone Laughs) No, seriously. Uh, well, maybe dinosaurs have more in common with present day birds than they do with reptiles. Look at the pubic bone, turned backwards just like a bird. Look at the vertebrae, full of air-sacks and hollows just like a bird. And even the word 'raptor' means 'bird of prey'" - Grant inspecting the Velociraptor scan and talking about his dinosaur-to-bird theory.

• "Try to imagine yourself in the Cretaceous Period. You get your first look at this "six foot turkey" as you enter a clearing. He moves like a bird, lightly, bobbing his head. And you keep still because you think that maybe his visual acuity is based on movement like T-Rex - he'll lose you if you don't move. But no, not Velociraptor. You stare at him, and he just stares right back. And that's when the attack comes. Not from the front, but from the side, [makes 'whooshing' sound] and the other two 'raptors you didn't even know were there. Because Velociraptor's a pack hunter, you see, he uses coordinated attack patterns and he is out in force today. And he slashes at you with this... a six-inch retractable claw, like a razor, on the middle toe. He doesn't bother to bite your jugular like a lion, say... no. He slashes at you here... or here... or maybe across the belly, spilling your intestines. The point is... you are alive when they start to eat you. So you know... try to show a little respect." - Grant scares the kid that boldly annoyed him

• Alan: "Kids! You want to have one of those?"
  Ellie: "I don't want that kid, but a breed of child, Dr. Grant, could be intriguing. I mean, what's so wrong with kids?"
  Alan: "Oh, Ellie, look, they're noisy, they're messy, they're expensive."
  Ellie: "Cheap... cheap..."
  Alan: "They smell."
  Ellie: "They do not smell!"
  Alan: "Some of them smell."
  Ellie: "Oh, give me a break!"
  Alan: "Babies smell!"

• "It's... It's a dinosaur" - seeing a living dinosaur (Brachiosaur) for the first time

• "Turn the light off, turn the light off" -Grant after seeing Lex turn on a light moments after the T. rex escapes.

• "IAN, FREEZE!" - shouting to Ian, telling him to stand still because of the Trex

• Lex: "He(Gennaro) left us!"
  Alan: "But that's not what's I'm gonna do."

• "Well, the world has changed so radically, and we're all running to catch up. I don't want to jump to any conclusions, but look: Dinosaurs and man, two species separated by sixty-five million years of evolution have just been suddenly thrown back into the mix together. How can we possibly have the slightest idea what to expect?" - criticizing Hammond's choice to recreate dinosaurs

• "Mr. Hammond, the phones are working" - to John Hammond after Lex restores the parks system

• "Mr. Hammond, after careful consideration, I've decided NOT to endorse your park!" - to John Hammond before they go towards the evac chopper

Jurassic Park III

• "Dinosaurs lived 65 million years ago. What is left of them is fossilized in the rocks and it is in the rock that real scientists make real discoveries. Now what John Hammond and InGen did in Jurassic Park is create genetically engineered theme park monsters. Nothing more and nothing less" - to the audience during the presentation on the velociraptors.

• "Mr. Kirby, there's no such thing as Kirby Enterprises is there?" - to Paul Kirby

• "If I lose you, it's just me and the damn tourists" - to Billy Brennan after he had wandered off

• "Billy, as far as I'm concerned, you're no better than the people that built this place"- berating Billy Brennan after he was caught stealing the raptor eggs

• "Well, that's the important thing" - response to Billy saving his hat, trying to hide his joy of seeing him again