‘Jurassic Park’ Movie Franchise Totally Screwed Up T-Rex’s Roar; Here’s What It Really Sounds Like
There aren’t many older movies that can reach beyond their years and grasp even a fraction of a more than 230 million-year-old concept like dinosaurs. In fact, there aren’t even very many people who can.
And yet, the Jurassic Park movie series’ still brought prehistoric reptiles to life for millions of fans. What you may not know, however, is that the Jurassic Park movie franchise totally screwed up the T-Rex’s roar. You’ll be shocked when you hear what it actually sounded like!
The role of the T-rex in the ‘Jurassic Park’ series
Manipulating scientific discoveries beyond their control, scientists in Jurassic Park created, hatched, and took care of what would soon become the largest prehistoric reptile in the movie. Not to mention one of the top predators to fear for its malicious intent and incomprehensible strength.
The female Tyrannosaurus Rex makes its appearance throughout the entire film as leading characters try to hide and survive the wrath of the scariest dinosaur on the loose, unable to gain an ounce of control over her.
Although it was not intentional, the movie’s leading antagonist, T-Rex, ironically had a hand in saving many of the film’s leading characters with her own predator-like behavior towards smaller dinosaurs.
Fandom describes her as “the largest carnivore living on Isla Nublar; as such, she is a fearless, bold, and domineering beast that walks the line between heroine and villainess, largely motivated by two goals: Keep intruders off her territory and eat any prey that she finds there.”
They recreated the T-Rex to look so realistic even in the ’90s
You most likely already know how realistic the T-Rex managed to look in the ’90s from your own experience, but it’s still shocking what Steven Spielberg and his crew were able to do with what they had at the time. It was monumental, really.
Believe it or not, the amazing T-Rex special effects you remember only made their way into less than five minutes of CGI dinosaur filming. It was just enough time to build a lasting legacy with several hours of work behind its small features — starting with animation drawings and ending with frame-by-frame detailing.
Of course, there were also animatronic dinos on the set that were brought to life with CGI’s help. In fact, it was one of these animatronic dinosaurs that would come close to killing a crew member at one point while they were trapped in the belly of the beast.
Unfortunately, putting so much special attention on T-Rex and CGI allowed other small mistakes in Jurassic Park, including misplaced sparks where Tim’s hands were when he touched the electric fence and the misspelling of “Tyrannosaurus” on a label when Nedry is trying to steal the embryos.
They missed the mark with the T-Rex roar in the movie franchise
You likely remember that T-Rex roar and had many nightmares when you were a child where it made its appearance, but the truth has come out, and it has found that the roar we remember is, in fact, NOT the right roar.
According to DangerVille, the roar you recognize most is a mixture of a baby elephant, crocodile, and tiger roar. However, the actual sound of a T-Rex wouldn’t have been a roar, but rather “a sound that is less loud and much more unsettling.” And it wouldn’t be something that humans would just hear but feel, sounding more like something in the Jaws theme!
“There is sort of a primal fear that is associated with sounds like that,” Chris Packham of BBC said. “And when you think about it, T-Rex didn’t need to roar, it needed to be able to communicate over the huge areas in which it hunted.”
Nonetheless, Jurassic Park will forever remain an essential part of movie history and the go-to for almost anyone’s movie night. So, set aside time and find the Jurassic Park movies on one of your favorite streaming platforms for a refresher on movies beyond their years but a little off on the T-Rex roar. Who knows, maybe it can prepare you for what scientists predict will be the recreation of dinosaurs by 2025.
