Jurassic Park fans celebrate the film’s 25th anniversary at Universal Studios Hollywood

Complete with a movie screening, costume contests, raptor encounters and dinosaur treats, Jurassic Park superfans celebrated the 25th anniversary at Universal Studios Hollywood.

Marking the 25th anniversary of the first Jurassic Park film, Universal Studios Hollywood hosted a special event in the park’s lower lot for super-fans of the beloved franchise. Kicking off each day with a screening of the original 1993 movie in the new Universal Cinema in CityWalk, attendees watched Jurassic Park on the big screen surrounded by other fans, and were then treated to the first five minutes of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, which won’t hit theaters until June 22.

The party then moved to the Lower Lot at Universal Studios Hollywood where attendees, many of whom were dressed up as their favorite character from the movies (including dinosaurs), could go on Jurassic Park The Ride, The Mummy indoor coaster and the 3D Transformers ride. Behind the ride, Universal had set up fun photo ops with props from the films, along with interactive games, a VR experience and a green screen that put you inside a dinosaur-attacked vehicle in Jurassic Park.

At Saturday’s event, special guest and panel moderator Colin Trevorrow welcomed four other panelists to the stage: Laura Dern, Frank Marshall, Phil Tippet, Jack Horner to talk all things Jurassic! Trevorrow wanted to hear more about the process of creating the first animatronic dinosaurs, and Phil Tippet shared his memories of what it was like to develop the dinosaurs in the first film of the franchise. “The T-Rex was incredible, and with the puppeteers all working it, it was scary,” he said. “We all want to bring dinosaurs back, and as far as I was concerned, in 1993 we did.”

It was also revealed that creating the T-Rex was more about troubleshooting and problem solving. “Steven [Spielberg] wanted to build a life-size T-Rex and that’s kind of where we started… and he wanted it to run,” Frank Marshall shared. The team had doubts that it would be able to happen, and so Spielberg wrote a very specific “bible” that described which parts of the dinosaur would be shown in every single shot. It allowed the T-Rex to truly come to life on screen. “Everybody was working on the problem, and that’s what created the breakthrough… creativity comes from solving a problem.”

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Colin Trevorrow spoke to the panelists as a voice of gratitude and appreciation for the team behind Jurassic Park. “There are other movies with dinosaurs in them, but to me, there’s a humility in these movies of us in the shadow of these creatures that were here before us that are so magnificent. They just remind us how small we are and how new we are,” Trevorrow said to the crowd. “That humility is infused into the film and we recognize how the story you’re telling is bigger than us. The legacy that all of you have left behind is evidenced here, and it’s evidenced in all of [the] kids who are going to watch this movie… it’s humbling for me to be up here with you.”

Even though it was incredibly cool to hear from the panelists about the making of Jurassic Park, including lots of trivia about how they evacuated Hawaii during a hurricane, the star of the event was the second raptor onto the Lower Lot. As you can imagine, a lot of drama ensued. Controlling one raptor on the loose is a bit of a nightmare for park employees and rangers, but when 2 of them are released into the park with so many guests around, special units and helicopter patrols were called in (against the wishes of the rangers of course). Check out the full show below:

The evening concluded with several costume contests and a trivia contest — and the fans did not disappoint! While many were dressed up as dinosaurs and fan-favorite rangers, our personal favorite character on the stage was a guy dressed as Jimmy Buffet, and yes, he did have two margaritas in his hand as he looked to flee Jurassic World.

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Are you excited for the new Jurassic World ride coming to Universal Studios Hollywood in 2019?  Visit the park’s site for the latest information about other news, events and happenings!