One of the most magical parts of the original Jurassic Park was its incredible use of ground-breaking animatronics technology, providing us with some of the most realistic-feeling prehistoric creatures to ever debut in the history of cinema. It’s safe to say that animatronics has been a point of contention for the franchise ever since – with the mix between Computer Generated Images (CGI) and practical effects often walking a very fine line, dividing members of the fan community in the process. Jurassic World was widely renowned for its incredible visual effects – but many felt that it strayed too far from its practical film-making routes, something which we saw Colin Trevorrow and the team behind Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom work to correct with the implementation of more practical effects.
Now, our first look at one of the new animatronics for Jurassic World 3 confirms that we are going all in with the in-depth and ground-breaking practical visual effects first debuted in the nineties.
Things have come a long way since the nineties, however, as this original video the director posted in January of this year shows. The animals now feel much more organic than ever before – with natural movements which help them to feel incredibly lifelike and grounded. Combine this with the incredible levels of detail, depth and texture which you can see on the new Baby Nasutoceratops below, and there are incredible levels of detail throughout this model. Everything from the colours, to the textures and shading, and the incredible level of realism from the glass eyes all help to make this dinosaur feel incredibly real and grounded within the world of Jurassic. Seeing the team doubling down on physical animatronics is very exciting, as hands-on film-making tends to yield incredible results from actors when handled well.
The excitement doesn’t end there, however – as another tweet from Colin seems to hint that this is a separate Baby Nasutoceratops then the one we saw in the short film Battle at Big Rock.
This poses several interesting questions. Where are the Nasutoceratops coming from? Why is this younger Nasutoceratops seen within a cage? And where is this dinosaur going to end up in the future? If we take the cage test video to be a test for the final animatronic, then it is a safe bet that themes like animal trafficking may potentially play into this third instalment – adding a new level of ethical and moral depth to the storytelling as it unfolds.
It’s safe to say that John Nolan and the team have done an incredible job with the Baby Nasutoceratops – so we CANNOT WAIT to see what other animatronics they have up their sleeves! For now, we’d love to hear from you. Where do you think this Baby Nasutoceratops will factor into Jurassic World 3? Are we also going to see the one from Battle at Big Rock, too? Let us know in the comments below and stay tuned to the Jurassic Park Podcast for the latest news and speculation on Jurassic World 3.
Written by:
Tom Fishenden