From how the Velociraptors were made to the various changes made over the years, there is a lot to learn about the Jurassic Saga creatures.
When it comes to dinosaurs in the Jurassic Saga, the Tyrannosaurus Rex is the main poster child for the series. However, the runner-up for that spot would be the Velociraptors. Each film in the long-running franchise features at least one of these pack hunters and brings something new.
Whether it is behind the scenes or within the vastly expanded lore of the Jurassic Saga, the Velociraptors have been given a lot of layers. Over the years, fans have come to view them as interesting as some of the human cast that they are hunting as a result of the attention to detail.
The Females Are Always The Leader
Similar to lions, Velociraptors always operate in packs and leading them is always a matriarch (even in packs entirely comprised of females). In the first Jurassic Park, the Raptors were led by an intelligent but villainous female that was simply labeled as The Big One. This female was the personal rival of park warden Robert Muldoon, whom she killed later.
In Jurassic Park III, the brightly colored female commanded multiple males in her pack. They weren't allowed to attack unless she told them to and she was even capable of reason, only wanting to get her eggs back. Finally, there is Blue, who was the beta of the Raptor Squad in Jurassic World.
Actors In Suits
Many methods were used to bring dinosaurs to life in Jurassic Park, from groundbreaking CGI of the 1990s to animatronics. One of the more effective practical effects was simply a man wearing a velociraptor suit for shots that needed the creatures to move in the wide view of the camera.
All methods were used to make iconic Velociraptor scenes (including the famous kitchen scene). A similar method was used for Jurassic World, with actors in Raptor-shaped motion-capture suits were used in certain shots.
Animals, Not Monsters
Due to the horrific events of the first Jurassic Park, it's easy to view carnivores (such as the Raptors) as man-eating monsters. This is particularly because the Raptors are behind some of the grisliest deaths in the franchise. Both Jurassic Park III and the Jurassic World movies show that creatures are simply animals acting on instinct.
In real-life, a bear or a cheetah can be trained and even tamed. Even wild animals are not born with the urge to kill on sight and that is best shown with Blue and her sisters. Owen raised the Raptors to bond with and respect him, whereas Muldoon and the staff of the old park treated them as monsters (so they became monsters).
Their Roars Are Unique
Each of the now-famous dinosaur calls was made from mixing and distorting different animal calls. Raptor calls were no different, as sound designer Gary Rydstrom confirms. The noise used when Raptors are barking for each other is, humorously enough, the sound of a turtle engaging in coitus.
Other sounds, such as their roars, snarls, and screeches are combinations of dogs, dolphins, African cranes, horses, geese, walrus, and various other animals used over the years. There was even a bit of human used to create the soft growls of a velociraptor.
Each Movie Radically Changes The Raptors
The Raptor packs in the first four films each feature different designs. In Jurassic Park, they are dull in color, skinny, and feature cat-like eyes. The Lost World: Jurassic Park gave the Raptors tiger-like stripes across their back, with brighter colors and amphibian eyes akin to the frogs they were made from. Jurassic Park III featured rounder eyes, similar to that of a bird but their skull structure was much broader.
The biggest change was with the males having dark purple hides, with red eyes and feather-like quills on their heads. Meanwhile, the matriarch had an almost snow-white hide with yellow eyes. Finally, the Jurassic World Raptors had brightly colored green and blue hides. Jurassic World also made the Raptors much beefier.
One Of The Raptors Wounded An Actor
In the famous Raptors in the kitchen scene, Tim lures and traps a velociraptor inside a freezer. Well, a practical Raptor was used in the chase which helped in adding to the fear factor both on and off-screen. However, did fans know that one actually caused an injury?
In an interview, actor Joseph Mazzello, who played Tim, explained that the animatronic ended up wounding him (via CinemaBlend). Due to an error, the Raptor turned the wrong way and the metal claw it had ended up slashing at his head. Thankfully, it was nothing worth going to the hospital over but it just goes to show that even fake Raptors are dangerous.
The Forgotten Fifth Raptor Squad Member
In Jurassic World, fans were introduced to Blue, Charlie, Delta, and Echo. These four were part of Owen Grady's Integrated Behavioral Raptor Intelligence Study. However, the IBRIS project originally had five raptors. According to the official Masrani Backdoor website, IBRIS featured another Raptor known simply as Subject V2.
V2 was highly intelligent and hostile, proving to be more trouble than she was worth (which led to her being euthanized). From the one picture of V2, it's clear that she was based on The Big One from the original park, both in design and characterization, hinting that V2 might have been related or a clone.
Blue Is Not Related To Raptor Squad
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom showed more of Owen's bond with Blue, even showing the Raptor Squad in their infantile stage through found footage. It's in these bits of footage that it's revealed that Raptor Squad were raised as sisters but were not born from the same litter.
Owen Grady mentions that Blue comes from a newer group of Raptors, whereas the other three are from what Owen calls "the second group" of Raptors. It's a possibility that Blue is from the same bloodline of the Jurassic Park III Raptor pack, whereas her sisters were from the Raptor pack of The Lost World.
The Movie Raptors Are Way Too Big
Due to the popularity of the Jurassic Saga, many kids have grown up with the idea that Velociraptors are these massive six-foot-tall pack hunters. The truth is that the Raptors in those films are more akin to Deinonychus as a means to make Raptors more terrifying than the actual creatures.
Jurassic Saga movies have gotten many things scientifically wrong, raptors only being one of them. The majority of Velociraptors skeletons found are barely bigger than a coyote. In a pack, they might have been threatening but one or two are barely threatening.
The Super Raptor
Much like Jurassic Park III, the production for The Lost World went through many different changes and script drafts. One of the changes made was the discarding of a "Super Raptor" which Steven Spielberg commented on as being too much out of a horror movie.
Later on, the Super Raptor concept would be implemented into the franchise with the Indoraptor from Fallen Kingdom. It's not the first time a scrapped concept would later be reused in later films.
NEXT: 10 Abandoned Jurassic Park/World Scenes That Fans Would Love To Have Seen
