Jurassic Park 30th Anniversary Challenge!
I assume every dinosaur enthusiast out there is well aware that this year of 2023 marks the 30th anniversary of the Jurassic Park movie. I was 13 back then and its release was a big deal for those of us who were just the right age to be absolutely delighted to see the most believable dinosaurs ever shown on a screen. We had huge expectations, and boy did the film deliver the goods.
Even then I was able to spot some scientific inaccuracies due to artistic license (T. rex had actually excellent eyesight, and those were definitely not Velociraptors) and the plot’s inconsistencies (for instance, the T. rex seems to be heavy enough to make the earth shake with every step and form waves in the kids’ water cups, but the earth conveniently forgets to shake later on when Rexy unexpectedly appears to save Grant and the kids from the raptors… didn’t I already talk about this before?). And yet, it remains a wonderful adventure movie, thanks mainly to Spielberg’s masterful storytelling. I wish he would have applied that talent to the sequel too.
As a fan of the book and movie, I was pleasantly surprised to see that, this late in the year (it was announced in September), print-on-demand site Threadless.com had organized a sponsored design contest (or “challenge”, as they call them there) commemorating the movie’s 30th anniversary. It looked like the perfect opportunity for me to both give use to some of my old drawings (some of which were somewhat influenced by the movie anyway) and to make a few new ones for the contest, adapting the movie’s creature designs to my own style. The prize for the winner is interesting too, as it consists of $2,500 in cash, a $250 gift card, the Jurassic Park/Jurassic World movie collection, two LEGO sets (?), and a 30-minute online meeting with some Jeremiah Schaeffer (??), who apparently is the brand director for the franchise at Universal Products & Experiences.
It’s not winning the challenge that I’m after, though. Of course it would be great to win, but I am honestly more interested in getting exposure for my drawings and maybe, just maybe, being able to finally start earning some money from them. Get some work. Perhaps even be able to sell Jurassic Park related designs with Universal’s approval. That would be awesome. One can dream.
Anyway, this post is just an excuse to show my entries to the challenge here, so there’s really not much else to say. The Gallimimus, Parasaurolophus, Brachiosaurus and Dilophosaurus pieces are old works edited and reworked. The rest are completely new drawings. I’m not 100% happy with them, and I would probably re-draw the Velociraptor and the Triceratops if I had the time. The Rex turned out okay, I think. Reasonably loyal to the movie’s design while trying to be anatomically more accurate regarding its skull’s shape and minimizing its evil look and “angry” eyebrows (which seem to have become an integral part of the animal’s appearance in pop culture since the movie was released). With the Raptor I strayed away from the movie a bit more, but I think the more bird-like eyes I drew look better than the ones with snake pupils from the first two films (the raptors definitely had a more avian look in the third one, and had indeed round pupils there too).
But as in every contest, regardless of how satisfied I am with the results, there was a deadline, so they will all have to do.
Enjoy and wish me luck!
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