Obsessive Cinematic Disorder: I’m Obsessed with Jurassic Park

Jurassic Park is the first film I remember seeing in a movie theater (well, that and The Addams Family). I’m sure it’s the case with many of you, but this was the first time I really lost myself in a movie. Watching realistic-looking dinosaurs eat people and joining the movie’s heroes on their quest to survive the island is an escapist experience I’ll always remember.

IMDb

Culture is nothing if not cyclical, as evidenced by the film’s 20th Anniversary 3D re-release. I’m checking it out again on the big screen this Saturday and I couldn’t be more excited.  Hold on to your butts!!!

Wikipedia

If I’m obsessed with any film, it’s probably Jurassic Park. I’ve got some examples of my obsession below, ranked from “Mild” to “Medium” to “Creepy”. Let’s take a look.

Mild

Books

Yep, I’ve read both of the books. The movies and the novels actually encouraged me to read other Michael Chrichton books such as "Congo", "Sphere", and "Timeline". None are as good as "Jurassic Park".

Wikipedia

Soundtrack

I actually can’t remember if I owned the soundtrack for the original film or the sequel (or both), but either way I loved it/them. The CD itself had a pretty bad-ass pop-up case. I don’t think I have it anymore and I can’t find pictures online, but trust me. It was cool.

Sequel

I’m pretty excited for Jurassic Park 4, which is apparently to be directed by Colin Trevorrow, the guy behind Safety Not Guaranteed. No word yet on half-human machine-gun-toting dinos but hopefully it’ll be a step-up from the last two lackluster sequels.

Medium

Theme Park

I live a few hours from Orlando, Florida so of course I’ve been to Universal Studios’ Islands of Adventure and its Jurassic Park section. This one isn’t that weird, but living in Florida near Universal Studios allows me to be a little more movie-obsessed than people outside of the state.

"High fiveOHWAAAIIITTT!!!"

The JP section of the park has a river adventure ride and a few other attractions. One point of interest that (I think) they discontinued was a walking-tour of sorts where you eventually encounter a realistic-looking dinosaur being tended to by one of the park's "vets". You couldn't check the fake dinosaur's droppings for traces of West Indian Lilac, though, so what's the point?

Ringtone

For the longest time I used the T-Rex roar on my cell phone for text alerts. It was assigned to my sister, who loves Jurassic Park as much as me (if not more). I retired it because it started scaring the crap out of me (and others).

*Sidenote - I’m pretty sure someone else in my circle also uses this tone (Nick?). Respect to you, my friend.

Creepy

Dr. Grant Sequels

I’ve given serious thought to how Dr. Alan Grant could have had his own spin-off series. I always thought the third movie should have ended with Dr. Grant as, like, a Jurassic Park tour guide of sorts. It’s what he really wants to do, people! Just let him live his life.

Multiple two hour movies of just this.

I Fished a Jurassic Park Cup out of a McDonald’s Garbage Can

Okay! This is getting embarrassing. Let me explain. I was eight going on nine at the time (when the movie was out in theaters) when I was eating at McDonald’s with my family. I noticed a guy throw a McDonald’s Jurassic Park cup away on his way out of the restaurant. I was like, “WHATAFOOL!!!” and proceeded to pull it back out of the garbage (which is a very, very un-OCD thing to do). I thought it was a rare find at the time but I realize now that it was probably just a cheap plastic cup that came with a combo meal. My dad seemed proud of me for digging it out of the garbage (which is kind of worrisome on its own). I’m sure we washed it before I re-used it. I hope.

So those are the ways I’ve been obsessed with Jurassic Park over the years. Hopefully seeing it again on the big screen won’t cause some sort of relapse. Are you obsessed with the film too? Let me know! We can get through this thing together.