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This article refers to Tyrannosaurus in the Jurassic Park film canon. You may be looking for the novel canon.


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"The most ferocious and insatiable carnivore ever to step on the face of the planet."
Ed Regis(src)

Tyrannosaurus rex, commonly known as T. rex, is a species of theropod dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous Period, 68 to 66 million years ago. Arguably the most famous species of dinosaur, T. rex lived in what is now North America, alongside species such as Ankylosaurus, Edmontosaurus, Pachycephalosaurus and Triceratops. Tyrannosaurus was among many dinosaur species cloned by InGen and settled on the Costa Rican islands of Isla Sorna and Isla Nublar, for use as an attraction for Jurassic Park, and later, Jurassic World.

An apex predator capable of reaching twelve meters in length, Tyrannosaurus was the largest species of Tyrannosaurids, and was intended to be the star attraction of John Hammond's vision for the original Jurassic Park.[1][2] During the Isla Nublar Incident in 1993, a female Tyrannosaurus escaped from her enclosure, and became wild on the island.[2][3]

Four known Tyrannosaurs existed on Isla Sorna, an island in the Muertes Archipelago originally used by InGen as a cloning facility for their dinosaurs. A family unit consisting of an adult male, an adult female and an infant were encountered during the Isla Sorna Incident in 1997, during which the male was captured and brought to San Diego, where it was intended to be used in the failed park, that Hammond had originally envisioned before acquiring Isla Nublar.[4] The animal promptly escaped and wrecked havoc on the city, before being returned to Site B. Three years later, another male Tyrannosaur was encountered on Isla Sorna, where it fought and was killed by a Spinosaurus.[5]

The individual from the original park, known as Rexy, was eventually captured in 2002 and placed in captivity in Jurassic World on Nublar, residing in T. rex Kingdom. During the climactic events of the 2015 Isla Nublar Incident, Rexy was released from captivity, and fought, and helped defeat, the genetically modified hybrid Indominus rex.[6] Rexy became wild once more, though became threatened four years later during the volcanic eruption of Mount Sibo.[7]

Wikipedia
Wikipedia has a more detailed and comprehensive article on Tyrannosaurus rex/Films


History

Isla Nublar Incident and aftermath (1993)

"We have a T. rex!"
John Hammond, to Ellie Sattler and Alan Grant.(src)

Tyrannosaurus rex was first cloned by InGen scientists in their compound on Isla Sorna, circa 1990.[4][5][8] A female Tyrannosaurus, dubbed Rexy, was transported to Isla Nublar to star as the main attraction of Jurassic Park, inhabiting the Tyrannosaur Paddock.[2] The paddock was originally intended to be inhabited by an adult, and a juvenile Rex, though it is unknown if a juvenile was ever transported there.[9]

Trexfreedomjp1

The Tyrannosaurus breaks out of its paddock during the Isla Nublar Incident.

Nublar's Tyrannosaurus was supposed to have been seen by InGen's endorsement team on their tour of Jurassic Park. However, despite attempts by Ray Arnold to lure her out of her paddock with a live goat, Rexy did not originally reveal herself to the visitors.[2] When Dennis Nedry disabled most of Jurassic Park's security with a sophisticated virus, Rexy was one of the dinosaurs that were able to roam the island freely. One of the embryos Nedry stole from the Cold Storage Room was Tyrannosaurus.[2] Upon eating the goat that was left for her, the Tyrannosaur escaped her exhibit and attacked the endorsement team, who were stranded near her paddock, killing Donald Gennaro. After pushing the tour vehicle of Lex and Tim Murphy off a cliff with Tim inside the vehicle, Re attacked Dr. Ellie Sattler and Robert Muldoon who were searching for the survivors.[2]

T-Rex vs Trike JP Telltale

Rexy and Lady Margaret battle.

The same night, Rexy attacked Lady Margaret, the alpha Triceratops close to the Triceratops Maintenance Building, managing to seriously injure the animal.[10] In the morning, Rexy arrived in the Gallimimus Enclosure and killed an individual that lived there. Her next destination was the Visitor Center where inside she killed The Big One, a violent Velociraptor, and her remaining subordinate. This battle gave her scars on her neck, which remained for the rest of her life.[2][6] Now free on the island, the T. rex began to hunt Parasaurolophus, as well as a group of stragglers including Gerry Harding, his daughter Jess and a team of mercenaries.[11] After the Isla Nublar Incident, Rexy became wild on Isla Nublar, living off surviving dinosaurs as a source of food and as a way to counter the Lysine contingency.[8]

San Diego Incident (1997)

"I'm trying to change 100 years of entrenched dogma. Dinosaurs were characterized very early on as vicious lizards. There's a great deal of resistance to the idea of them as nurturing parents. Robert Burke said that the T. rex was a rogue, who would abandon its young at the earliest opportunity... I know can prove otherwise."
—Dr. Sarah Harding, to Ian Malcolm during the Isla Sorna Incident(src)

The Tyrannosaurus rex on Isla Sorna became wild after Hurricane Clarissa struck the island, soon after the abandonment of Isla Nublar. They were freed by either breaking out of their cages, or by the workers on the island before they fled. As with Rexy on Nublar, to counter the Lysine contingency, T. rex and the other carnivorous dinosaurs ate herbivores who in turn ate lysine rich plants as one of their sources of lysine.[4] Tyrannosaurus rex had varying levels of success on Isla Sorna. In the island's south, they were the apex predator of the region, but in the north they were undermined by Spinosaurus.[4][5]

JPTLWBothRexesEddie

The male and female Tyrannosaurs moments before killing Eddie Carr.

A Tyrannosaur family was involved in both the Isla Sorna Incident of 1997 and the following San Diego Incident. Their involvement began when the son was taken from the parents by InGen Hunters Roland Tembo and his hunting partner Ajay Sidhu, who intended to use the infant as bait to lure the father, whom Tembo, a seasoned hunter, aspired to kill.[4] While the infant called for his parents to rescue, Peter Ludlow accidentally broke his leg while drunk, when he was startled by the sound of an animal moving through the undergrowth.[12]

After the Gatherers freed the dinosaurs captured by the InGen Hunters, Nick Van Owen discovered the infant T. rex. He decided to take him back to his team's mobile laboratory, where he and Dr. Sarah Harding mended the juvenile's leg. However, his parents arrived after first aid was applied, and began to corner the laboratory. Dr. Harding realized that the two Tyrannosaurs weren't exhibiting hunting behavior so she convinced her fellow Gatherers to hand the young T. rex to his parents.[4] Upon returning the infant to safety, the adult Tyrannosaursreturned to the mobile lab and began to push it over a cliff. However, Eddie Carr saved his fellow Gatherers from falling with the RV, but was promptly killed by the predators. Attracted by the smell of blood on Dr. Harding's shirt, the Tyrannosaurs parents traveled to the new camp of the Gatherers and the Hunters, and attacked the camp.[4]

JPTLWRexRoarSanDiego

The Buck, moments after being freed in San Diego.

While the Hunters fled, the female Tyrannosaur followed, killing many of them in the process. As the Tyrannosaur Buck continued his search, he was tranquilized by Roland Tembo. After the female Tyrannosaur's attack, Peter Ludlow ordered the remaining InGen Hunters to confiscate the Tyrannosaur Buck and recapture the juvenile T. rex for Jurassic Park: San Diego. But his plan went astray when the Tyrannosaur Buck escaped confinement upon reaching San Diego, California and went rampaging throughout the city, killing several civilians.[4]

To stop the chaos, gatherers Sarah Harding and Ian Malcolm broke into Jurassic Park: San Diego to steal the baby Tyrannosaur so they use him to lure his father back into the docks. The plan worked, but Peter Ludlow was killed by the Tyrannosaurs when he tried to recapture the juvenile. The Tyrannosaur Buck's rampage ended when Dr. Harding tranquilized him before the San Diego police could shoot him. Both Tyrannosaurus father and son were reunited once more with the female when they were transported back to Isla Sorna.[4]

Isla Sorna Incident (2001)

As a result of the San Diego Incident, Isla Sorna, and presumably Isla Nublar, were designated as restricted areas. In 2001, Eric Kirby, a teenage boy marooned on the island from illegal sight-seeing, collected T. rex urine that he used to deter small carnivorous dinosaurs such as Compsognathus though he also learned that it attracted the island's intensely territorial Spinosaurus.[5] Weeks later, a smaller male T. rex encountered a group of people led by Dr. Alan Grant, who travelled to Isla Sorna to rescue Kirby, while eating a Parasaurolophus.[13][5]

Rexvsspino01

The male T. rex faces off against the Spinosaurus.

Grant tried to avoid the T. rex by standing still, but the Tyrannosaur noticed them and gave chase, bringing him into contact with the Spinosaurus. The two theropods sized each other up, and began to fight.[5] The Tyrannosaurus was the first to attack in the dual, biting down on the neck of the Spinosaurus and bringing it down to the forest floor. The Spinosaurus regained balance, however, and began to snap at his flanks After the Spinosaurus swiped at him, the T. rex rammed his opponent head first, resulting in the Spinosaur biting down on the T. rex's neck. As the Rex roared in agony, the Spinosaur, with support from its arms, proceeded to snap its neck. The T. rex's body collapsed to the ground, nearly crushing Dr. Grant while escaping. [5] The Spinosaurus then claimed the corpse of its fallen foe triumphantly.[5]

Jurassic World (2004 - 2015)

"We need more teeth!"
Gray Mitchell, inspiring Claire Dearing to release Rexy on the Indominus(src)

On April 19, 2002, during the planning stages for the construction of a new park on Isla Nublar known as Jurassic World, Rexy, the female Tyrannosaurus bred for the original park was captured by an InGen security team led by Vic Hoskins.[14] The Tyrannosaur was placed in the T. rex Kingdom attraction, where she was intended to serve as one of Jurassic World's most popular animals once the park was open in 2004.[8] Though Rexy was the only Tyrannosaurus known to live in the park, there was a Cold Storage room for Tyrannosaurus present in the Hammond Creation Lab in the mid-2010s.[15]

Rexy preparing for battle with Indominus rex

Rexy smashes through the Spinosaurus skeleton prior to her fight with the Indominus rex.

The base genome of the Indominus rex, a genetically engineered hybrid that caused the second incident on Isla Nublar was Tyrannosaur.[6] During the hybrid's rampage across the island, Rexy remained in her enclosure, though was released by Lowery Cruthers and lured by Claire Dearing to fight against the Indominus. Smashing through the skeleton of a Spinosaurus, Rexy bellowed threateningly at the Indominus, and the two began a vicious fight.

Though the Indominus overpowered Rexy with her strong forearms, the Velociraptor Blue attacked the hybrid, allowing the veteran Tyrannosaur to overpower the Indominus, pushing it to the side of the Jurassic World Lagoon, where the park's Mosasaurus leaped from the water, and dragged the hybrid into the depths. Briefly looking at Blue, Rexy turned away and slowly made her way into the jungle.[6] Free on the island once more, Rexy made her way to the top of the Jurassic World's control center, and bellowed triumphantly.[6]

Eruption of Mount Sibo (2019)

JurassicWorldFallenKingdom - Rexy

Rexy subdues a Carnotaurus during the eruption of Mount Sibo.

After the Indominus rampage throughout Jurassic World, Isla Nublar was once again abandoned to the dinosaurs, left to their own devices without human interference. However, four years after the abandonment of the park, Mount Sibo, the volcano which provided geothermal power to the original park, began to erupt, prompting Claire Dearing to organise a mission to rescue the dinosaurs from the doomed island. At some point during the mission, in the midst of a stampede away from the eruption, Rexy attacked and subdued a Carnotaurus, inadvertently saving Dearing and Owen Grady.[16] The Tyrannosaur was later captured.[16]

Characteristics

Physical attributes

Tyrannosaurus had fully scaled skin as juveniles and as adults,[4] when it is considered by scientists that Tyrannosaurus was feathered at least some parts of its body. Its skin was thick, being able to withstand the razor-sharp toe claws of a Velociraptor,[2] and the sharp claws of the hybrid Indominus rex that were able to debilitate a full grown Apatosaurus as well as the strong bite of the Indominus, which was able to crack the bulletproof glass of a Gyrosphere.[6] However, many of the adult Tyrannosaurs encountered by humans would bear at least one scar that would be found on their head or neck. Two adult males had a single scar on the side of their face.[4][5] The individual known as "Rexy" had several scars on her neck from a cloned Velociraptor that pounced on her.[6]

Tyrannosaurus-family

A Tyrannosaur family unit on Isla Sorna in 1997.

Sexual dimorphism was present in the recreated Tyrannosaurus, such as the males having a throat wattle and much more prominent brows.[17] The males also had deeper vocalizations than the females[4][5], though the female Rexy also had deepened vocalizations when she got older.[6] Every adult Tyrannosaur encountered each had their own unique skin color and pattern. Males tended to have a green skin color and females tended to have a brown color while the juvenile known as Junior was a mix of the two aforementioned colors.[18]

According to founder and former CEO of InGen John Hammond, the cloned T. rex could run at speeds of 32 mph.[2] The clones seemed to have had an accelerated growth cycle as the Tyrannosaurus rex Rexy was the size of a 28-year-old when she was only three[8][19] and the only juvenile observed, Junior, was the size of a two-year-old tyrannosaurid yet was still highly dependent on his parents.[4]

Behaviour

Unlike their prehistoric forebears, Tyrannosaurs bred by InGen were known to hunt prey by seeing movement, likely considering stationary objects to be less of a threat.[2][4][5][6][20] From what has been observed of wild Tyrannosaurs, they were solitary animals, though a breeding pair on Isla Sorna roamed in the island in a pack.[5]

TLWFemRex

Both male and female Tyrannosaurs were fiercely protective of their infants.

Though Robert Burke postulated otherwise, Tyrannosaurs were great parents to their young, with Dr. Sarah Harding correctly theorising that T. rex cared for their young.[4] They would have one offspring at a time who would stay in a nest while the parents would provide food for it for about two weeks until the juvenile learned to hunt on its own. If a Tyrannosaurus baby went missing, its parents would go search for it by hearing its cries or by smelling its blood. Even if they had retrieved their juvenile, Tyrannosaur parents smelled their offspring's blood on a potential threat, they would confront it.[4]

Tyrannosaurs reflected a high level of intelligence in several instances. The individual known as Rexy in particular has shown a good deal of intelligence during both the Isla Nublar incidents in both 1993 and 2015. In the former, she tested the electrical fences after the power outage, seemingly aware of the lack of power before attempting to escape.[2] During the incident in 2015, Rexy showed enough intelligence not to attack Blue during and after their fight with the Indominus, aware of key role the Velociraptor played in distracting the hybrid as it attempted to kill her.[6] Both the male and female Tyrannosaurus during the Isla Sorna Incident in 1997 also showed a high degree of intelligence, seen in their efforts to protect their infant from the humans, even going so far as to push a trailer over a cliff and hunt in a familial pack.[4]

Behind the Scenes

Jurassic Park (1993)

Design

Mark "Crash" McCreery created the design of the T. rex that was used in the film. McCreery was working on Terminator 2: Judgment Day when the late Stan Winston moved him from that project to create sketches of the T. rex to generate interest in the film for Universal Studios.[21] His first drawing was of the T. rex running against a plain white background as a motion study. His second was of the T. rex in a jungle setting lifting its left leg high in an attack stance reminiscent of a bird of prey.[22] McCreery created the designs without a reference to go by, creating the drawings with what he remembered in his mind of then current information and new paleontological findings. After these sketches were done, Winston showed Steven Spielberg what McCreery had created and Spielberg gave his suggestions for the design of the animal. He felt that the design depicted in McCreery's drawings should have longer legs to hold the weight of it and that the feet were too small and bird-like. Spielberg also felt that the forearms looked weak.[21]

Snapshot 23

Character study by Mark Hallett from 1990.

Several paleoartists were contacted in 1990, notably to design the T. rex. Among those consulted were Mark Hallett, Gregory S. Paul, and John Gurche. As his first assignment from production designer Rick Carter, Mark Hallet created concept art of the T. rex breakout. Afterward, Hallett created concept art of the Tyrannosaur's attack on the explorers and then storyboards of the Tyrannosaur's attack from the driver's side view of one of the tour vehicles. Finally, he created a character study of the T. rex.[23] Concept art of scenes featured of the T. rex by Craig Mullins,[24] David Negron,[25] John Bell,[26] and Tom Cranham,[27] resemble Hallet's design. Paleontologist Gregory S. Paul created skeletal and muscle studies of the Tyrannosaurus rex to be used as the base form of the dinosaur.[28][29] Paleoartist John Gurche also did concept art of the T. rex, these concepts being its anatomy and reconstructions that were accurate for its time.[30] Paleontologist Dr. Robert Bakker sent the filmmakers diagrams of Tyrannosaurus teeth, but according to Bakker "the powers that be didn't like the real tooth shape" and used a different, inaccurate design for its teeth.[31] The eyes of the T. rex were kept party by director Steven Spielberg because he felt it looked better when she was running toward the camera.[32]

JurassicPark-TRexRampage

The second concept art made of Tyrannosaurus by Mark "Crash" McCreery.

Winston and McCreery would spend months redesigning the T. rex multiple times until a finalized design was reached.[21] When sculpting the 1/5 scale maquettes, Stan Winston and Mike Trcic spent time focusing on the design of the Tyrannosaurus' head, with the maquettes going through over thirteen different head designs as according to Paul Mejias, "[The dinosaurs] had to be perfect."[33] Trcic created several anatomically accurate T. rex head sculpts as a potential design, but this would go unused in favor of a broader head and exposed front teeth.[34] According to Gregory S. Paul, Trcic also used one of Paul's T. rex skeletals when designing the T. rex,[35] but director Steven Spielberg and Stan Winston ordered the dinosaurs to receive alternations from the current scientific knowledge of the dinosaurs Paul created skeletals for to copyright their designs, even though Trcic wanted to strictly use Gregory S. Paul's diagrams.[36][28][35] However, Trcic has said that after many arguments with Winston over the design of the T. rex, the T. rex design was "60% where [he] wanted it to be." McCreery then created another design of the T. rex based on what the maquette.[37]

JurassicPark-TRexSide

Concept art of a design of the Tyrannosaurus by McCreery from 1991.

Early concepts of the T. rex depicted her as having a green coloration with black striping.[25][27][38] The final coloration of the T. rex chosen for the first film was a dark brown color. McCreery explained that the reasoning behind this was because an animal as large as T. rex would not need camouflage and that the team feared that too strong of a coloration might make it look fake.[39] A green coloration would later be used for the males in The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III. The design that "Crash" McCreery first created would later be colored and used in promotional material for Jurassic Park and its sequel The Lost World: Jurassic Park.

Portrayal

Stop-motion to CGI

Originally, most of the wide shots of the dinosaurs were to be portrayed by go motion animation created by Phil Tippett.[40] With consultation from Mark Hallett,[41] Stefan Dechant had created digital animatics featuring a computer generated T. rex, but these were replaced by the go motion animatics created by Tippett Studio.[42] An animatic was even created of the breakout sequence featuring the go motion T. rex. Tippit and his team sent Spielberg animation tests of Tyrannosaurus and Velociraptor. Though a motion blur was added to the make the stop motion dinosaurs more realistic, Spielberg felt that the movements of the dinosaurs were still jerky. Dennis Muren then suggested to Spielberg that Industrial Light and Magic create computer generated full-sized dinosaurs. Interested, Spielberg requested a test be made featuring CGI dinosaurs.[40]

Clay motion rex

The go motion Tyrannosaurus.

After ILM created a herd of Gallimimus skeletons running,[40] Steve 'Spaz' Williams with support and assistance from Mark AZ Dippe, his friend and confidant, created a running Tyrannosaurus skeleton during off-hours and in-between assignments at ILM. The reference he used for the skeleton came from page 341 of Gregory S. Paul's 1988 book Predatory Dinosaurs of the World.[43] Spielberg was not fully convinced to use CGI for the dinosaurs until ILM made more tests featuring a fully fleshed T. rex and said T. rex chasing a herd of fully fleshed Gallimimus.[40] This skin was rendered by Stefan Fangmeier.[44] Though the dinosaurs were to be now CGI in the film, the stop motion animatics and tests would be used as a reference for the animatronic dinosaurs.[45]

Animatronics

A full-sized Tyrannosaurus animatronic was created by Stan Winston Studio for the filming of the dinosaur's breakout. Taking two years to make, the animatronic was the first animatronic to be mounted on a motion simulator to achieve gross body movements and at the time was the largest animatronic the studio ever produced[46] only being surpassed by the Spinosaurus animatronic created for Jurassic Park III.[47] Powered primarily by hydraulics,[48] a 1/5 scale telemetry device shaped like the dinosaur was used to provide the movements of the full sized animatronic[45] with the eyes being radio controlled.[49] Another animatronic was also used for shots of its feet that was an underbelly on a rolling platform with hydraulic legs and tail.[49][50] Another prop was a separate head with extra detailing and added mechanics used for close-up photography.[49]

There had been plans to create a full-sized sleeping T. rex that was later conceived as a miniature when Stan Winston proposed to the studio that the money that was to be used for this animatronic be used to create the full-sized Tyrannosaurus instead until the sleeping T. rex was scrapped altogether.[51] Concept art was even created by "Crash" McCreery of this cut prop.[52] Stan Winston Studio also considered using a 1/5 scale rod puppet before the full-sized animatronic was conceived.[51] This concept would later be put to life for the sequel Jurassic Park III, but only as a test.[53] Speilberg had also originally wanted the animatronic Tyrannosaurus to be a freestanding and that was able to walk until it was discovered that it was not possible and he realized how impractical it would be.[54]

The animatronics were filmed on set at Warner Brothers Studio Stage 16.[55] For the filming of the attack sequence, the animatronic with legs [50][45] and the insert head were used. The insert head in particular was manipulated by a highly poseable hydraulic powered crane as well as man-power.[56]

There were troubles while filming the scene as both the animatronics began to shiver due to their latex skin absorbing the rain,[45] requiring the crew to dry the animatronics down after every shot.[57] Filming also received a major setback when the head-turn cylinder of the full-sized animatronic broke, though this was quickly repaired.[58] Overall, shooting of the scene was finished four days ahead of schedule.[59]

In the original endings for Jurassic Park, one raptor was to be crushed by one of the falling skeletons while the other would either be moved and crushed to the jaws of the T. rex skeleton by Dr. Grant using a crane or by Hammond shooting the raptor.[60][61][62] Another ending would have also featured Hammond coming killing the first raptor with a bazooka while Dr. Grant used a crane to kill the remaining raptor like one of the other ending.[63]Rexy was even scripted to die like her novel counterpart at one point.[64] These endings and her death were scrapped from the film because Spielberg believed the T. rex to be the star of the film alongside the smaller Velociraptor.[61]

Phil Tippit worked with ILM in post production to create the dinosaur input device or DID for short; an armature like that seen in go motion models that could be manipulated by Tippit and his team of stop-motion animators.[65] Out of the four DIDs created, two were for T. rex while other two were for the raptors.[66] The T. rex DIDs was only used for the road attack sequence while ILM created the rest of the shots featuring T. rex as Tippitt's team and ILM were originally going to work together until it was decided that both would be split into two teams.[67] The digital model for the T. rex received several changes from Spielberg that differed from the animatronic, these changes being a different arm length, larger and stockier feet, and a more streamlined jaw as well as adjustments to her eyes.[32] Years later, ILM would modify the T. rex model for lip sync tests for the 1996 film Dragonheart.[68]

Vocalizations

The female roars were created from crocodiles, lions, alligators, dog, penguin, tiger, and elephant layered together.[69][45] Whale blowholes were also used looped to create the sound of the dinosaur breathing.[69] The sound of Rexy as it kills the Gallimimus was simply Rydstrom's dog, a Jack Russell Terrier named "Buster",[70] playing with a rope toy.[40] The footsteps of the T. rex were of redwood trees being cut down and falling to the ground.[45] The iconic high-frequency "scream" originates from a baby elephant that Gary Rydstrom and his team recorded. It was only recorded once creating this sound and the team tried to get the elephant to create the sound again, but it refused to do so. Because of this, Rydstrom used the same elephant sound for each take.[71] This elephant sound was used for mid-range frequencies with an alligator's growl and tiger's roar added.[69]

The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)

Design

For the The Lost World: Jurassic Park, a female, male, and juvenile Tyrannosaurus were set to appear in the film. In the digital storyboards by Stefan Dechant the male was depicted as either yellow and gray or as the same color as the female.[72] John Rosengrant later devised the green color scheme for the male.[73] One such concept by Rosengrant was a colored version of the 1991 T. rex concept art for the first film.[74] Another color scheme applied to this same concept art would be widely used in promotional material for the film. Even though the Buck was given a different skin color to differentiate it from the female, Stan Winston Studio was concerned that this would be difficult to see in low-light conditions. So Shane Mahan began to manipulate images of the T. rex from the first film, creating a series of eight head designs that he sent to Speilberg. The design chosen by Speilberg featured larger brows, a scarred face, and a neck wattle.[17]

Joey Orosco created the concept art for the juvenile.[75] The juvenile went through many changes in his color scheme, such as one of his maquettes depicting him as brown,[76] another maquette depicting him as bright green,[77] and one paint scheme of his animatronic depicting him as a duller green.[78] However, evidence in the film and promotional photos of the animatronic suggest that Junior is actually a mix of brown and green.[79] The female also received a new skin color as well, her skin being lighter than the previous female that appeared in the first film.[18] However, promotional material depicted her as a darker brown and sometimes with a bluish tent to her head.

Portrayal

Animatronics
Tyrannosaurparentsonset

The two animatronic adults created for The Lost World: Jurassic Park.

For close-up shots in the film, two animatronics were used to primarily to depict the tyrannosaur parents using the armatures of the full-body animatronic and insert-head of the first T. rex, the female in particularly using the insert-head armature. Unlike the first full-sized T. rex animatronic, the animatronics for the parents was from head to mid-torso with arms and were mounted on rail powered dolly carts.[80] This was done because Stan Winston Studio discovered there no need to make a full sized animatronic like in Jurassic Park as the audience only the head and half the body could be seen. Furthermore, the carts provided more mobility and freedom when compared to the motion platform.[81] The most notable usages of the animatronics were when the parents approach the trailer and when they attack Eddie Carr.[82] Two animatronics were used to portray the juvenile. One was a mixture of hydraulics and cables used when he was laying on his side while the other was remote controlled and used when someone was carrying him.[82]

From Pteranodons to San Diego

In one of the original endings for The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Pteranodon or Geosternbergia (then classified as a species of Pteranodon) were to attack the rescue helicopter at the end of the film.[83] While at his vacation home in the Hamptons for the Fourth of July, director Steven Spielberg suddenly saw an image in his mind of a boy looking out of his bedroom to seen a T. rex drinking from the family swimming pool. Prompted by the image he saw, Spielberg changed the ending to what is seen in the completed film[84] and included the image he saw as the scene where the Buck approaches the house of young Benjamin and his family. In one concept of the T. rex being transported, it appears the mother was to be captured instead of the father as this T. rex is brown instead if green.[85]

Vocalizations

For the male, pigs and "weird Costa Rican mammals", mammals that Gary Rydstrom and his team recorded but never knew what their identities were, had a similar screech like the baby elephant used for the females and were used in place of the latter. The juvenile's vocalizations were of a baby camel crying for its mother.[83] The original T. rex roars were also reused for the female.

Jurassic Park III (2001)

The Replacement

In early logo designs for the film, Tyrannosaurus was to be featured like in the previous two films. Many of the logos had the same T. rex design used in the logos for the previous films, but there were different designs exhibited in the preliminary logos such as the T. rex with a more widened mouth,[86] the T. rex more upright and looking straight ahead,[87] and a full skeleton of T. rex roaring.[88] For Jurassic Park III, the filmmakers wanted to have another dinosaur to replace Tyrannosaurus from the previous two films[89] and searched through many candidates in the process.[90] Eventually Spinosaurus was chosen after Paleontologist Jack Horner suggested Spinosaurus to the filmmakers as a replacement[91] and from the discovery of a Spinosaur skull during the pre-production of the film.[47]

During early development of the film, Stan Winston Studio created a 1/5 scale rod-puppet T. rex. They filmed this rod-puppet in forced perspective to create several tests to see if they could prove a concept that would work.[53] This rod-puppet would ultimately go unused in the film.

T. rex versus Spinosaurus
Jptribluray

The Spinosaurus and Tyrannosaurus animatronics on set.

Director Joe Johnston created the famous Spino vs T. rex as an homage to Ray Harryhausen's go motion dinosaurs and wanted to recreate a modern version of those fights.[92] In one draft of the script the carcass the Tyrannosaurus was eating was a sauropod[93] when the actual prop used in the film is the Parasaurolophus carcass used in The Lost World: Jurassic Park repainted[94] and the carcass itself is left unidentified in the film.

For the battle, the animatronic of the Buck was refurbished.[95] Due to how powerful the mechanical Spinosaur was, the Spino destroyed the Tyrannosaurus with one final blow that broke its neck which in turn caused its head to collapse, releasing hydraulic fluid that John Rosengrant described as being "almost like blood spewing". Rosengrant further described the destruction of the animatronic as "[A] really sad ending to a long night of shooting".[47] Over 20 seconds of footage of the fight, particularly of the animatronics, was cut from the film.[96] Despite this, a shot of the animatronic fight where the Spinosaur slaps the Tyrannosaur was still present in the theatrical trailer.[97] For the CG T. rex, the model of the Buck from the previous film was reused with some updates. New geometry was created for its surfaces so that it would work better in ILM's simulations. New animation controls were added as well that were up to date at the time the computer graphics were created for the film and the model's UV Maps were reworked, though originally the ones from The Lost World were to be used.[98]

Jurassic World (2015) and Fallen Kingdom (2018)

JURASSIC-WORLD-Vfx-Break(4)

The Jurassic World CG model.

Jurassic World saw the return of Rexy, the T. rex that appeared in Jurassic Park. Director Colin Trevorrow described the film "This is [the Tyrannosaur's] Unforgiven."[99] The T. rex model was created by Steve Jubinville and the director aimed to make the model look as close as possible to its design in the first film.[100] The Jurassic World Tyrannosaurus was made to look older by giving her the scars she received from the end of Jurassic Park as well as tightened skin. The T. rex was primarily portrayed with performance capture technology rather than life-sized animatronics.[99]

In Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, the Tyrannosaurus will be recreated through a mixture of traditional animatronics and CGI.[101]

Trivia

Cultural Impact

In popular culture, Tyrannosaurus has an iconic status shared by few other species, helped in no small part by the prominent role of the T. rex in all four films in the Jurassic Park franchise. The design of the Jurassic Park franchise's Tyrannosaurus is a notably popular way to depict Tyrannosaurus in media.[102]

Mike Trcic expressed disappointment with the popularity of this design in an interview with Shannon Shea (who worked with Trcic on Jurassic Park). In the interview, he said regarding how popular the design had become, “Whenever I search Google images for a Tyrannosaurus Rex [sic], most of the art I see is based on the original JP Rex. It’s a shame that people just accept that somehow it IS what a T-Rex [sic] looked like. It’s limiting because unless someone can travel back 65 million years, how can anyone be completely sure?”[103]

The vocalizations that were created by Gary Rydstrom are also a popularly used sound effect. Jurassic World sound designer Al Nelson said regarding how famous its roars were in the films: "The T. rex is one of the most iconic sounds in all of film history. Every sound designer knows it. Almost any kid knows it. When you hear it you're like 'That's the T. rex!'"[104]

Paleontology

Section for real-life paleontology Like other tyrannosaurids, Tyrannosaurus had very short arms with only two fingers. Despite the limbs' size, each were able to bench-press about 400 pounds. Although these were probably nearly useless while hunting, its jaws were not: Tyrannosaurus has an enormous skull armed with teeth the size of bananas. Unlike the teeth of most theropods, the teeth of tyrannosaurids are very thick and capable of crushing bones and with a bite force of a minimum 4 tons of force and probably more, crushing bone, ripping flesh, and bursting blood vessels of the victim.  The skull and neck bones show that T. rex had the largest neck muscles of any meat-eating dinosaur. It probably used its strong neck to twist and pull off big chunks of meat that it grasped with its jaws while supporting the huge head. Tyrannosaurus could bite with extremely strong force - one fossilized skeleton shows that it crushed and swallowed the bones of a smaller plant-eating dinosaur while another shows a Tyrannosaurus coprolite with the crushed frill of a Triceratops.[1]

Gallery

Appearances

See also

Novels
Games
Individuals

Notes and references

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Holtz T.R., Brett-Surman M., Jurassic World Dinosaur Field Guide, page 126-127.
  2. 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 Jurassic Park
  3. Jurassic Park: The Game: "T. rex Chase"
  4. 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 The Lost World: Jurassic Park
  5. 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 Jurassic Park III
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 6.9 Jurassic World
  7. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named FK
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 The Tyrannosaurus Rexy, according to JurassicWorld.com, had lived on Isla Nublar for 25 years, so Tyrannosaurus was probably recreated around 1990 or before. This also means that Rexy would have been 3 years old of age at time of the Isla Nublar Incident of 1993. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Rexy" defined multiple times with different content
  9. Trexpaddockoldjw
  10. Jurassic Park: The Game: "Triceratops Trouble"
  11. Jurassic Park: The Game: "T. rex Chase"
  12. The Lost World: Jurassic Park Deleted Scene
  13. CG Supervisor of Jurassic Park III Christophe Hery identifies the carcass as Parasaurolophus. Furthermore, the prop used is the carcass from The Lost World: Jurassic Park repainted.
  14. In the archived message "WEEK 3" of the Masrani backdoor Vic Hoskins writes about "staring a seven-ton predator in the eyes" in the first year of construction of Jurassic World, in which InGen Security was on Isla Nublar to defend the construction workers there. The only predator known on Isla Nublar that reaches this weight is Tyrannosaurus and since there was no other T. rex confirmed to have been on the island at the time of the 1993 Isla Nublar Incident the creature encountered by Hoskins was Rexy.
  15. Jurassic World - Inside the Hammond Creation Lab (HD)
  16. 16.0 16.1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn9mMeWcgoM
  17. 17.0 17.1 The Making of The Lost World: Jurassic Park by Don Shay and Jody Duncan, pp. 45-46
  18. 18.0 18.1 Comparison between Rexy, (young and old) the Buck, the Doe, Junior (additional shot), and finally, the Jurassic Park III T. rex.
  19. Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow as well as Industrial Light and Magic members Geoff Campbell and Steve Jubinville have stated that the T. rex from Jurassic World was indeed the same individual that appeared in Jurassic Park.
  20. Cohn, Paulette. (June 12, 2015) Jurassic World's Dinosaur Expert Talks Facts vs. Fiction (INTERVIEW). Biography
  21. 21.0 21.1 21.2 Duncan, Jody. (1993) Beauty in the Beasts. Cinefex, 55, p. 48.
  22. The Making of Jurassic Park by Don Shay and Jody Duncan, p. 20
  23. Hallet, Mark. (Spring 2013) Sketch me a Spitter! Prehistoric Times Magazine, 105, pp. 47-48
  24. The Making of Jurassic Park by Don Shay and Jody Duncan, p. 7
  25. 25.0 25.1 The Making of Jurassic Park by Don Shay and Jody Duncan, p. 9
  26. The Making of Jurassic Park by Don Shay and Jody Duncan, p. 13
  27. 27.0 27.1 The Making of Jurassic Park by Don Shay and Jody Duncan, p. 10
  28. 28.0 28.1 Gregory S. Paul: The Full Autobiography Part 4. gspauldino.com
  29. Curriculum Vitae - Gregory S. Paul: Books, Articles, Abstracts & Other Projects. gspauldino.com
  30. Kartzman, Mark. John Gurche Interview Artzar (archived from the original)
  31. Kushner, David. (January 17, 2012) Meet the Scientists Who Make Science Fiction Believeable. Popular Mechanics.
  32. 32.0 32.1 zbrushcentral.com - Interview: ILM on Jurassic World (February 3, 2016) Retrieved from http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?198673-Interview-ILM-on-Jurassic-World
  33. Duncan, Jody. (December 15, 2012) Jurassic Park's T-Rex - Constructing a Full-Size Dinosaur. Stan Winston School, excerpted from The Winston Effect: The Art and History of Stan Winston Studio.
  34. Hallet, Mark. (Spring 2013) Sketch me a Spitter! Prehistoric Times Magazine, 105, pp. 48
  35. 35.0 35.1 Morales, Bob. (April/May 1999) The PT Interview: Gregory S. Paul Part I. Prehistoric Times, 35, p. 10. Retrieved from http://gspauldino.com/PTinterview1999.pdf
  36. Paul, Gregory S. (Fall 2013) A Little More On Jurassic Park. Prehistoric Times, 107, p. 46
  37. Michael Trcic Discusses Creating the Jurassic Park T-Rex. YouTube
  38. Hallet, Mark. (Spring 2013) Sketch me a Spitter! Prehistoric Times Magazine, 105, p. 49
  39. Duncan, Jody. (1993) Beauty in the Beasts. Cinefex, 55, p. 73.
  40. 40.0 40.1 40.2 40.3 40.4 The Making of Jurassic Park documentary
  41. Hallet, Mark. (Spring 2013) "Sketch me a Spitter! An Artist Remembers Jurassic Park". Prehistoric Times Magazine, 105, pp. 49
  42. Duncan, Jody. (1993) Beauty in the Beasts. Cinefex, 55, p. 52.
  43. Failes, Ian. (April 4, 2013) Welcome (back) to Jurassic Park. fxgudie.
  44. The Making of Jurassic Park by Don Shay and Jody Duncan, p. 137
  45. 45.0 45.1 45.2 45.3 45.4 45.5 Return to Jurassic Park: Making Prehistory
  46. The Making of Jurassic Park by Don Shay and Jody Duncan, p. 104
  47. 47.0 47.1 47.2 Duncan, Jody. (September 29, 2012) Jurassic Park III's T-rex Killer: Spinosaurus. Stan Winston School of Character Arts.
  48. Duncan, Jody. (1993) Beauty in the Beasts. Cinefex, 72, p. 73.
  49. 49.0 49.1 49.2 The Making of Jurassic Park by Don Shay and Jody Duncan, p. 31
  50. 50.0 50.1 The Making of Jurassic Park by Don Shay and Jody Duncan, p. 107
  51. 51.0 51.1 Duncan, Jody. (1993) Beauty in the Beasts. Cinefex, 55, p. 72.
  52. Jurassic Park Topps trading cards: #84 - Sleeping Tyrannosaurus
  53. 53.0 53.1 JURASSIC PARK III T-Rex Rod Puppet Tests & More.
  54. Duncan, Jody. (1993) Beauty in the Beasts. Cinefex, 55, p. 48.
  55. The Making of Jurassic Park by Jody Duncan, p. 106
  56. Duncan, Jody. (1993) Beauty in the Beasts. Cinefex, 55, p. 76.
  57. The Making of Jurassic Park by Don Shay and Jody Duncan, p. 111
  58. Duncan, Jody. (1993) Beauty in the Beasts. Cinefex, 55, p. 79.
  59. The Making of Jurassic Park by Don Shay and Jody Duncan, p. 112
  60. Return to Jurassic Park: Making Prehistory
  61. 61.0 61.1 The Making of Jurassic Park by Don Shay and Jody Duncan, p. 118.
  62. Sharpio, Mark. (1993, August) In the Shadow of the Dinosaurs. Fangoria, 27. Retrieved from http://www.jurassicworlduniverse.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/199308-fangoria-125.pdf
  63. Freer, Ian (October 8, 2014) Steven Spielberg And Special Effects. Empire.
  64. Nerdist Podcast - Episode 772: Kathleen Kennedy (December 16, 2015) Retrieved from http://nerdist.com/nerdist-podcast-kathleen-kennedy/
  65. The Making of Jurassic Park by Don Shay and Jody Duncan, p. 132
  66. Duncan, Jody. (1993) Beauty in the Beasts. Cinefex, 55, p. 58.
  67. The Making of Jurassic Park by Don Shay and Jody Duncan, p. 133
  68. Failes, Ian. (May 31, 2016) An Oral History of ILM’s ‘Dragonheart’ On Its 20th Anniversary. Cartoonbrew.
  69. 69.0 69.1 69.2 The Making of Jurassic Park by Don Shay and Jody Duncan, p. 144
  70. Buachann, Kyle. (June 9, 2015) You’ll Never Guess How the Dinosaur Sounds in Jurassic Park Were Made. Vulture.
  71. Sullivan, Becky. (April 13, 2013) Jurassic Bark: How Sound Design Changed Our Imaginations. NPR
  72. The Making of The Lost World: Jurassic Park by Don Shay and Jody Duncan, p. 26
  73. The Making of The Lost World: Jurassic Park by Don Shay and Jody Duncan, p. 47
  74. Mark “Crash” McCreery and John Rosengrant T-Rex artwork from The Lost World: Jurassic Park II icollector.com
  75. The Making of The Lost World: Jurassic Park by Don Shay and Jody Duncan, p. 25
  76. Making the 'Lost World'
  77. 2712801510 a87495402a
  78. Twitter@SWinstonSchool From concept art to the real thing (with a lot of hard work in between by amazing artists) #30daysofdinosaurs. (June 14, 2016)
  79. The-lost-world-t-rex-babyJuniorbetter5467818 3 l-1-
  80. The Making of The Lost World: Jurassic Park by Don Shay and Jody Duncan, p. 46
  81. Duncan, Jody. (May 29, 2012) The Lost World Jurassic Park 2's T-rexs. Stan Winston School of Character Arts, excerpted from The Winston Effect: The Art and History of Stan Winston Studio.
  82. 82.0 82.1 Return to Jurassic Park: Finding The Lost World
  83. 83.0 83.1 Return to Jurassic Park: Something Survived (...and came to San Diego)
  84. The Making of The Lost World: Jurassic Park by Don Shay and Jody Duncan, pp. 71-72
  85. Lostwolrdtrexconcept
  86. JPIII poster 19
  87. JPIII poster 21
  88. JPIII poster 20
  89. The Making of Jurassic Park III
  90. Return to Jurassic Park: The Third Adventure
  91. jp3.jurassicpark.com
  92. Berry, Mark F. (January 1, 2005) The Dinosaur Filmography, p. 172. (Google Books) Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=KoeACgAAQBAJ&dq=joe+johnston+ray+harryhausen&source=gbs_navlinks_s
  93. Jurassic Park III film script: Scene 40: Int. Plane
  94. This can be proven due to it having exposed ribs like the dead Parasaurolophus made for TLW and has a greenish skin color with a dark green splotch on its back like the repainted latter.
  95. Jody Duncan writes that the T. rex animatronic was simply one of the Tyrannosaurus built for The Lost World: Jurassic Park albeit refurbished. The identity of the TLW Tyrannosaur that was reused for Jurassic Park III is the Buck due to the presence of a scar on the side of its face, neck wattle, more prominent brows, and bearing dark yellow striping on its neck and upper back.
  96. Goldwasser, Dan. (July 9, 2001) Don Davis - Interview. Soundtrack.net.
  97. Youtube - Jurassic Park III (2001) Theatrical Trailer
  98. Deckel, Larry. (October 2001) Jurassic Park III: Bigger, Faster, Meaner. Cinefex, 87, p. 37.
  99. 99.0 99.1 Sciretta, Peter. (April 29, 2015) Original T. rex Returns in ‘Jurassic World,’ This Film “Is Her Unforgiven”. Slashfilm.
  100. Jurassic World stevejubinville.com.
  101. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
  102. Dinosaurs. www.bbc.co.uk.
  103. Shea, Shannon. (June 11, 2015) How We Made The Iconic T-Rex of Jurassic Park. Filmschool Rejects.
  104. Making Tyrannosaurus Rex Sound. Youtube

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Template:JPI Dinosaurs

The Lost World Jurassic Park - Logo The Lost World: Jurassic Park Prehistoric Creatures The Lost World Jurassic Park - Logo
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