Jurassic World and Other Fascinations with Dinosaurs by Jeff Totey l Dinosaur Movies l Dinosaur Films l Jurassic Park l Jurassic World l Popular Dinosaurs

When Steven Spielberg introduced us to Jurassic Park for the first time in 1993, it was epic filmmaking. Like Spielberg’s other huge movie, Jaws, the dinosaurs featured in the “park” were not shown in the movie previews. Like the characters in the film, the audience had to guess what they would find behind those large wooden doors. We really had no idea on what to expect, and most of us were not disappointed. The film did so well that three sequels have been made with the fourth, Jurassic World, coming to theaters this summer. This time around, there is a rumored “new” man-designed dinosaur to star in the film with no image of it in the trailer which helps to continue the tradition.

We humans have a fascination with dinosaurs and Hollywood has been happy to oblige our curiosity. Over the years we have met a variety of them. Here is a short dinosaur and pre-historic “Who’s Who.”

Barney

The other famous purple dinosaur is that of Barney, a costumed Tyrannosaurus Rex who played with school age children without any fear of being eaten. He was He was originally created in 1987 by Sheryl Leach who created a series of home video that starred Sandy Duncan. Later, he was brought on PBS to air a successful run from 1991 to 2010. Over the years, the show introduced other dinosaurs including Baby Bop, a green Triceratops who wore ballet shoes in 1991, B.J., a yellow Protocertatops in 1993 and Riff, an orange Hadrosaur who arrived on the scene in 2006. Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato starred as children in the show in seasons 7 and 8. Barney also had his time in movie theaters with the 1998 movie, Barney’s Great Adventure.

Land of the Lost

Next to H. R. Pufnstuf, The Land of the Lost is probably the most popular and successful show from Sid & Marty Krofft. The intended young audience didn’t seem to mind the cheesy special effects featuring live actors running in front of a green screen to get away from giant stop-motion dinosaurs during its initial run from 1974-1976.The show featured Rick Marshall and his children Will and Holly landing in the Land of the Lost during a river rafting trip. The show was so popular that reruns of the series continued to air for many years. In 1991, a new revamped version of the show was created with better special effects followed by a theatrical comedy film in 2009 that starred Will Ferrell. Meant to be a parody of the series, the comedy didn’t sit well with many in the audience.

Godzilla

Though not actually a dinosaur, Godzilla is often mistaken as one. He first appeared in the 1954 Japanese film, Godzilla. Since that time, the giant lizard-like beast has appeared in 28 films all produced by Toho Co., Ltd. Godzilla is described as being a cross between a gorilla and whale who is able to spit out fire. In 1988, Tri-Star Pictures created their own version that starred Matthew Broderick. It was generally panned by critics as well as hardcore fans of the original films. Last year, a second U.S. version was created by Legendary Pictures and released on May 16, 2014. Even with the star power of Bryan Cranston, the film failed to become a huge hit. Will there be more Godzilla in our future? We’ll have to wait and see.

Jurassic Park

Based on the novel of the same name by Michael Crichton, Steven Spielberg had a field day recreating this land of dinosaurs for the big screen. Debuting in 1993, the film grossed more than $914 million worldwide becoming the most successful movie released up until that time. The film starred Richard Attenborough, Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, BD Wong and a fairly little-known actor named Samuel L. Jackson. It was followed by two sequels, The Lost World: Jurassic Park in 1997 (which brought back Goldblum’s character, but no one else and was much more action-focused) and Jurassic Park III in 2001 (which brought back Sam Neill and (briefly) Laura Dern. They were joined by William H. Macy and Tea Leoni.)The third sequel, Jurassic World comes to theaters on June 12, 2015. This time around, only BD Wong, from the first movie, will be the only returning character. This film stars Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard and Jake Johnson.

Rex

In 1993, Steven Spielberg’s Amblimation animation studio released We’re Back: A Dinosaurs Story based on the children’s book of the same name by Hudson Talbott. The bizarre story is told by Rex who explains that he was once captured by a green alien who took him on his space ship and fed him “brain grain” to help boost up his intelligence. There, he is introduced other other dinosaurs eating the same cereal. Somehow the dinosaurs are brought to present time and dropped off in the East River in Manhattan in which hilarity was to ensue. Receiving mixed reviews (and no sequel) the film used an odd combination of voice talent including Walter Cronkite, Jay Leno, Julia Child, Rhea Perlman and Larry King!