Jurassic World has already managed to break box office records on its opening weekend, but here are some Easter eggs hidden throughout the film that pay tribute to the movie's predecessors.
One of the most comprehensive, Jurassic-sized Easter egg roundups was uploaded to YouTube by Mr. Sunday Movies. In his summary, he points out the following tribute to the film that started it all, Jurassic Park:
Park Details:
A statue of InGen founder John Hammond is shown at the entrance to Jurassic World. The gates of Jurassic World are clearly modeled after the original entrance to Jurassic Park.
Another of the few references to Jurassic Park was made in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance of a Spinosaurus skeleton in one of the main visitor areas of the new park.
Cameos:
Hey, it's Mr. DNA! This animated guy helped explain DNA and RNA to a generation of movie goers much better than any science class ever could.
A holographic Dilophosaurus is shown. Remember them? The little dinos that spit poison killed Newman as he tried to smuggle out some dino embryos in the first movie, leading to the power failure that caused all the dinos to wreak havoc on the island in the first place.
Jake Johnson is seen wearing an original Jurassic Park shirt (and is given grievance for his messy desk habits, just like Newman).
B.D. Wong is the only returning cast member. He reprises his role as a scientist who explains in the first movie that all the dinosaurs were female. This time, he explains why dinosaurs don't look like dinosaurs. (Recent scientific discoveries are beginning to prove that dinosaurs were likely covered in plumage and bright colors, just like some of their modern-day bird descendants.)
Ian Malcolm featured prominently in the viral marketing of the film. He supposedly wrote a book, God Creates Dinosaurs, which is being read on the monorail.
The T-Rex in the new movie is the same one from the first film. It is fed a goat on a chain: check. It is easily lured by flares: check. It bears the scars from its momentous battle with the raptors at the original visitors center: triple check!
Chilean Sea Bass is on the menu featured in the movie. This was what Newman recommended InGen's rivals try when they met and made plans in Costa Rica to steal Jurassic Park's embryos and technology.
Chaos theory, explained Ian Malcolm with a drop of water, was visually represented with two drops of blood on the wrist of one of the containment unit soldiers.
The original Jurassic Park visitor's center is retaken by the jungle but still shows elements that many fans still remember from the first film, including the T-Rex sculpture in shambles, the banners, some of the original jeeps and the night vision goggles.
Jeep 29, the vehicle that gets repaired in the film, is the same one John Hammond and Donald Gennaro rode when they were being transported from the helipad to the Brachiosaurus Enclosure.
Planned Coincidences:
Jurassic World premiered in theaters 22 years and a day after the premiere of the original Jurassic Park. JP1 debuted on June 11, 1993 and Jurassic World opened to box office-breaking records on June 12 this year.
The scene with the massacred dinosaurs was filmed 200 yards away from where the Gallimimus Stampede was filmed more than two decades earlier.
The sphere attack is an homage to the original T-Rex attack. The kids were protecting themselves with their vehicle's safety glass roof against the jaws of the T-Rex. The broken sphere also crashes down on top the same way the car collapses on top of Allan Grant and Hammond's grandson.
The Fan Theory Everyone is Talking About:
One of my personal favorite fan theories is that Chris Pratt's character is actually the same boy who was at Dr. Grant's dino dig who said raptors were lame. For his part, Pratt has refused to confirm or deny the claim, saying that the speculation was too much fun. Whit Hertford, the actor who played the boy, tweeted his opinion that the character is not a grown-up version of his.
for the record, @prattprattpratt is not playing a grown up version of my character in @JurrasicWorld. that role is mine, dammit!
— Whit Hertford (@whithertford) June 11, 2015
Inspiration:
A few gray scale images of old-time dinosaurs shown in the film were taken from the original black and white movie, The Lost World, which heavily influenced director Steven Spielberg growing up. It is also the title of the second Jurassic Park movie and book by Michael Crichton.
Speaking of Spielberg, his first hit movie, Jaws, was given tribute in the scene where a Great White Shark was dangled as dino food in front of spectators.
Check out Mr. Sunday Movies' video explaining these Easter eggs and more in Jurassic World:
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