Three dads from the “Jurassic Park” generation talk about the various ways they’ll be sharing “Jurassic World” with their children…
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This post is brought to you by Target.
The release of Jurassic World really is a generational pop culture event. When Jurassic Park first came out in 1993, it blew kids’ minds. Every child spends a certain portion of their childhood vaguely obsessed with dinosaurs and here was a movie that depicted those terrifying thunder-lizards with such a fascinating level of detail that it was hard to be 100% certain whether or not Steven Spielberg had actually found a way to clone velociraptors from ancient DNA. Kids stumbled out of the theatres, giddy on terror and adrenaline, and went back for more. Now, eighteen years later, those kids have their own kids and the Jurassic Park generation is getting ready to share that legacy of excitement with the Jurassic World generation.
Fortunately, there are many ways that old-school Jurassic Park fans can impart their love of all things dino and Spielberg with their kids, even beyond just going to see Jurassic World (hits theatres on June 12th). We gave three of our staff writers—three nerdy dads, who were all impressionable tweens and teens when the first movie came out—some of the fantastic Jurassic World merchandise that’s now available at Target and asked them what it meant to share the Jurassic tradition with their kids. Here’s what they said:
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When Jurassic Park came out, it was one of the first movies that left me in awe. Steven Spielberg, along with Industrial Light and Magic and Stan Winston’s studio, put so much time into details that you couldn’t help but believe that the dinosaurs in the movie were real. ILM made sure the CGI was top-notch, but Winston’s studio provided animatronic and puppeted dinosaurs that were actually in the scenes with actors. You ever watch a movie and your eyes can tell that something is animated, CGI’d or otherwise put into the scene? Jurassic Park did an impeccable job blurring that line. I caught Jurassic Park on television six months ago with my son and he didn’t get it. It was a little too scary for him—and I was okay with that. But he saw “the dinosaur movie” go by recently as we flipped through channels and he wanted to watch. This time, he went through the whole rainbow of emotions—he was still a little scared, but also interested. He invested himself in the fantasy of the film. It was great. When Target sent us a couple of items from the new Jurassic World, we decided we’d pay homage to Jurassic Park and remake some classic scenes from it. My son got to pretend he was Tim, running from the raptor in the kitchen scene. I got to pretend I was Robert Muldoon in his classic “clever girl” scene.
Jurassic World Chomping Indominus Rex Figure
I love sharing these moments with my son—and when a movie franchise spans both of our childhoods, I get a second chance to buy the toys I missed when the first movie came out. Everyone wins.
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All kids are dinosaur crazy to some degree and mine are no exception. My kids need little excuse to roam the neighborhood, gleefully attacking each other and their dad with their Jurassic World toys. The dress-up toys were particularly fun — we got all dino-ed up and created our own dino-diorama (dinorama?) in our backyard. Here’s our own little prequel to Jurassic World:
Jurassic World Velociraptor Claws
Jurassic World Chomping Tyrannosaurus Rex Figure
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I have an embarrassing confession to make.
I was sixteen when the original Jurassic Park came out and yet I still rushed to the store and made sure to buy my very own T-Rex toy. Why did I do this?
The broad answer is: I was a nerd. The specific answer is… sigh… I knew that Batman’s Batcave always featured three main trophies from his crime-fighting career—a giant penny, a giant Joker card, and a giant T-Rex robot—and, well, I already had a big penny and playing card. The big T-Rex was just the final thing I needed to make my bedroom the coolest in the land and the Jurassic Park toy version was PERFECT.
So, yeah, like you, I’m really, really surprised that I ever impregnated anyone, but it did happen, which gave me the chance to pass along my Jurassic Park T-Rex to my daughter.
Which was great. She’s always loved it and I’ve spent years answering every question she ever had about Jurassic Park… without actually letting her see the movie, because, you know, nightmares. But now she’s older and braver and she couldn’t be more excited about the new Jurassic World movie. She has a million questions about all the new dino-toys, she proudly wears her new Jurassic World shirt, and she’s particularly interested in the new Indominus Rex—the new “alpha” predator in the park. My daughter isn’t entirely sure that Indominus can really beat the T-Rex. (She’s grown up with the T-Rex—she’s not going to abandon an old friend.) However, she’s definitely excited to see them together, roaming the park, munching on folks in the Fast Pass line, and, hopefully, somehow explaining why her grown father felt the need to hang on to his old dinosaur toys for eighteen years.
I don’t think she’ll be disappointed.
Jurassic World Chomping Indominus Rex Figure
Jurassic World Dinosaur Graphic Tee
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The Target products featured in these photos include: Jurassic World Chomping Indominus Rex Figure, Jurassic World Velociraptor Claws, Jurassic World Dinosaur Graphic Tee, Jurassic World Chomping Velociraptor Head, Jurassic World Bashers & Biters Ankylosaurus Figure, and Jurassic World Chomping Tyrannosaurus Rex Figure.
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Share your own Jurassic World creations using #JurassicWorldatTarget on social media!
Terrific! We are taking our son tonight to drive-in!