November 30, 2001

• Part 1 - 16mb - Stan talks about the history of animatronics in the JP movies: "If you go back through to watershed products Stan Winston studios has done, they've each been R+D for the next project. When we first did Terminator, no one had done a life-like puppet animatronic like that before. When Steven came to us with Jurassic Park, it was, well, you did the Queen Alien in Alien, can you do a dinosaur? It's just a little bit different.. What's the problem? It just wasn't something we haven't touched before.. we've touched hydraulics.. so we weren't afraid, we were too stupid to be afraid. We hired people who had experience in theme park rides, but I knew we had to go way behind anything that had been done in a theme park. "
• Part 2 - 17mb - More on the history of JP and TLW: "[We created a telemetry device] that actually matched the body of the t-rex for JP. And so then when it came to actually controlling the movements of this huge machine, puppeteers could grab a hold of the neck and tail and create a performance. We've been doing it like that every since."
• Part 3 - 2.6mb - Stan calls the compy at the beginning of TLW "so alive" and talks about how animatronics interacted with the CG.
• Part 4 - 17mb - Stan and John relate the "no water on the animatronics" anecdotes from all three films, and an amusing story from TLW where Spielberg told Stan to ready the shot where the Rex rips off the roof of the car despite protests from Mr. Winston that they'd "break the Rex".
• Part 5 - 2.5mb - They all debate the name of the "little girl" in TLW. Very nice shot of a guy eating a Rice Krispies Treat. "6 or 7 people have died," from Stan's animatronics.
• Part 6 - 17mb - Stan talks about making characters and desperately tries to defend his beloved animatronics. "I adore animated films. When you are dealing with a film based in reality.. meaning human performance... the greatest actors in the world will give their best performance they're acting with another great actor. You have to give the actor the most in the way of tools to get their best performance."
• Part 7 - 2.6mb - About the new raptor, Roesengarten says: "In the first movie, it'd take a crew of us to set up for a raptor shot, especially if we had to put him up on a desk.. it could take hours. in JP3 two guys would pick up that raptor, move it, hookp up the hydraulics, and then we're ready to go." Stan goes back to his "my goal is to create better actors" spiel.
• Part 8 - 8mb - A bunch of jumpy video then: "Will CG ever replace live action? No, because you won't allow it. You would be so pissed off as an audience, when suddenly every time you went ot the movie and there was a fantasy character you knew it was animated. You want to know it's life. You want us to be able to jump up on that table. We want to make better actors by giving them something to act with."

More Props Up for Bid
Premiere Props has added several items to the list of JP3 promps up for bid on Ebay: Some of these are very very cool, including the Dino Voice Box Dr. Grant uses in the film, Amanda's yellow shirt, and my personal favorite: a huge dinosaur incubator (with hatched dino eggs). Also note that many of the previous items posted last week will be ending today.. Dr. Grant's sunglasses are still only going for a measly $172.50!

November 29, 2001

First Disposible Cell Phone Features JP3
Well add this one to the "weird new technology that features JP3" file: Some lucky owners of the upcoming JP3 DVD will crack open the case to find a mail-in offer for a telephone technology inside: A wafer-thin, disposable cell-phone, with a "branded Jurassic Park Survival (no connection to the PS2 game) faceplate to enhance collectability". Called the "Best Invention of 2001" by Time Magazine, the "Hop-On Phone" is the latest in our society's fascination with throw-away technology, and will come with 60 minutes of free long-distance calling time. Why promote the phone with JP3? "Because a cell phone played such a crucial role in JP3, we were looking to find a unique telecommunications partner to help celebrate the film's release on DVD," says a Universal spokesperson. More info at the

Chat With Trevor Morgan
'jurassicraptor' noticed Seventeen.com will be hosting a chat with JP3's Trevor Morgan next Wednesday December 5th, at 7pmET (4pmPT) at Chat.Yahoo.com, so start thinking of some burning questions to ask JP3's Eric Kirby now. Trevor will next appear in The Rookie in March 2002.

Universal Passes $1 Billion Overseas
Money money money.. MON-ey! In what looks to be yet another a amazing year for Hollywood, studios are breaking box-office records left and right. In this Hollywood Reporter article about how Warner has hit the elusive $1 billion (US) mark thanks to Potter, they also mention that Universal has passed $1 billion internationally (thanks to JP3 and other successful Uni films), only the second time in the studios history that has occurred.

November 28, 2001

Stan Tour
Two interesting behind-the-scenes reports tonight from journalists who attended that press day Stan Winston Studio held awhile back: One from DVD Review features a recount of the group chat with Stan Winston and effects supervisor John Rosengrant, who mostly give out their generic JP stories we've heard before (We get it Stan, you hate CG!). Also be sure to check out Jed's blow-by-blow report of the event at AICN, who seems to really have been ultra-impressed with what he saw (Who wouldn't!). Anyway, two good reads. (Thanks Dan)

More JP3 DVD Reviews
Two new positive reviews of the upcoming JP3 DVD for your perusal: The first is from DVDReview.com, with the reviewer concluding that "With all the cool and exciting extras on this incredible disc, it is clear that this release should go on everyone’s shopping list." DVDShrine.com is similarly pleased with the disc, giving both the audio and video a 5 out of 5, and the disc an overall rating of 4 of 5. (Thanks 'Embryo' and Dan)

November 27, 2001

Get Yer JP3 Cardz Here
Here's another interesting piece of merchandise timed for release to coincide with the upcoming JP3 DVD: Called "Cardz", these are cute little CD-ROMS that feature fun JP3 stuff on then. Says their manufacturer, the serious-sounding SeriousUSA, Inc.: "[Each card is] fully loaded with [the JP3 movie] trailer, fossil dig site, observation room, screensavers, dinosaur sound effects, and packed with info on T-Rex, Velociraptor, Spinosaurus, or Pteranodons." The set of 4 JP3 Cardz can be ordered for $20 at the SeriousUSA website.

November 26, 2001

JP3 DVD Commercial Spotted
Be on the lookout for a new JP3 commercial hawking the upcoming JP3 DVD: Several people, 'Vader' and 'SnakeEyeJP' among them, reported seeing a new spot during last night's "Phantom Menace" showing on FOX. The spot features all our favorite friends from JP3 along with the tag line "On Dec 11th you can bring Jurassic-sized thrills into your home!" It also mentions the free DVD offer (buy the JP3 DVD and get a free title direct from Universal) which seems popular with retailers.

More JP3 Toys
Just when you thought you had bought every single JP3 toy, it looks like Hasbro has readied yet another wave of JP3 action figures for your collection. According to Entertainment Earth, at least 12 new toys are due in Feburary. They include a Jungle Spinosaurus, Night Raptor, Arctic T-Rex, "Ultra Re-Ak A-tak Death Valley Tyrannosaurus Rex" (phew!), Lava T-Rex + Velociraptor, Arctic Spinosaurus + Stegosaurus, Swamp Spinosaurus + T-Rex, and Desert Spinosaurus + Velociraptor. (Thanks Chase and 'raptor1982', among others)

November 23, 2001

New DVD Reviews
Looks like everyone except me has gotten a chance to review the JP3 DVD (grr.. Universal), as both DVDVerdict.com and DVDauthority.com have posted their positive reviews of the upcoming disc (both reviewers really loved the movie too!). A bit of a disagreement over the video quality of the disc, with DVDVerdict saying that the disc is indeed "reference quality" (i.e. the best video you can get on a DVD), with DVDAuthority pointing out the subtle flaws other reviewers have mentioned, saying it's "not quite reference quality". Fun tid-bit from the "JP3 Photo Archive" section of the disc: "One of the proposed titles for Jurassic Park III was Jurassic Park: Evolution, and a few of the posters show a human baby skeleton around the red JP symbol, possibly hinting that the storyline was somewhat different than what ended up on screen." (Thanks Ryan and 'JPwonderboy')

November 21, 2001

'Survival' Fans Might Be in For a Long Wait
Asked about Universal's (unofficial) comments that the company may be in the process of looking for a new developer for the canceled Jurassic Park 3 PS2 game, "Survival", a Savage spokesperson commented to DansJP3Page that, "[The new developer] would probably starting over, [and] I'm guessing that they haven't found that developer yet, so you could be in for a long wait." The game, which Savage stopped developing after a dispute with Universal over payment, was to be a 3-D action adventure game set on Isla Sorna. "Universal has crunched the development cycles of some of its titles in the past and failed to realize that carries with it a necessary compromise on quality," the spokesperson said. "It would be good for them to give the team working on the title sufficient time to do the franchise justice."

Pakistan Like JP3
Interesting little feature article from Reuters today, talking about the success (or lack thereof) of Hollywood movies in the Middle East since Sept. 11. JP3 is mentioned as performing well in the United Arab Emirates ($339K), Turkey ($600K), and Pakistan, where it ironically is still showing despite anti-American protestors burning down two Karachi movie theaters back in September (No word if they were showing JP3 -- or, more likely, POTA -- at the time they were burned).

November 19, 2001

Potter Smashes TLW Record
Well you've probably heard it by now: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone destroyed the US box office record held by TLW this weekend, taking in an estimated $93.5 million in three days (beating TLW's $72.1 million). It also broke records in England, broke the single-day gross for Friday and Sunday, and is due to beat "Phantom Menace" in the race to hit $100 million. Upset about the downfall of the dinos? Check out this Forbes.com article by Muggle Dan Ackman, who calls Potter a "box office fraud" since ticket prices have been rising in recent years. (Thanks David)

November 17, 2001

Hasbro Credits JP3 For Earnings
In an indication that kids love their toys more than ever, Reuters is reporting that toy stocks are up substantially this year, thanks to successful lines like JP3 and Star Wars. Hasbro, the company that released the JP3 toys, has recovered from a previous record low last year to a new record high.

Back to JP Land
Well, hope you enjoyed Harry day. Personally, I loved the movie, despite the kid behind me who constantly whispered everything that happened, about 3 or 4 seconds before it actually did. Highly reccomended. Anyway, back to JP3 news. And for those of you who sent me angry emails about how you hate Potter and hate me, lighten up.

[News From Potter Day]
[JP3 News from October 30th through November 13th]