Dinosaurs have been interesting for as long as we can remember, but Michael Crichton's novels, Jurassic Park and The Lost World, were game changers for how prehistoric creatures were looked at and brought into the spotlight.
Once the first Jurassic Park movie came out, things changed drastically. People of all ages flocked to the theater to embrace the action and thrilling suspense Spielberg's classic provided. These days, the franchise has evolved into Jurassic World, and all three movies have received a rather divided reaction.
Meanwhile, Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous has been running alongside the films, and with five seasons under its belt, will soon come to a close. We spoke to the showrunner about the animated series, and learned why the original Jurassic Park trilogy was the biggest source of inspiration.
Take a listen to what Showrunner and Executive Producer Scott Kreamer has to say below, and scroll down for the transcript.
Scott Kreamer: I wasn't a kid when I saw Jurassic Park for the first time, but I remember going with a buddy of mine to see it in the theater and just being blown away. And then it was also shown in the theater opposite the walkway aisle. So we actually finished the movie and snuck across the way and got there just in time for the T-Rex to be breaking out again out of the enclosure, and we watched it. If it had been running a third time we probably would have tried to sneak in. It made a really big impact on me.
I gotta say I love what Colin has done with the Jurassic World trilogy. But at that point, when I got involved, it was just Jurassic World that was there. If I'm being honest, everything always goes back to Jurassic Park. Also, I was a big fan of the book too. So when we got going on this, it definitely harkened back to that.
When Zack Stenz was first developing the show with Dreamworks, and then when I came on, the diversity was pretty much in place, but that's exactly how I would've done it too. If you're doing it right, you want everybody watching the show to see themselves in these characters. And that's not just gender or race, or whatever it might be.
You're trying to create characters to root for. The dinosaurs are going to be there, but if your audience isn't rooting for any of these characters, then none of that really matters because you're not going to be invested. So our cast and characters are a small representation of the world, and everybody watching should be able to hopefully latch on to something inside all of these characters and give them something to relate to.
These kids, if you think back to Season 1, with Ben with his hand sanitizer and Kenji wanting more hair product. These kids have come a long way, and they're pretty capable at this point. So from everything we've seen, they're able to deal with most everything that's thrown at them. This is the final season, and we're closing this chapter on that. As far as what they would be capable of doing in the future, I don't know. They're pretty capable kids so I think they could at least give it a shot.
We start with the characters every season and every episode when we're breaking things down. It begins with the characters, so at the beginning of a season, we think about where they haven't been taken before and where it would be cool to take them. You know, things start to change and shift once we get going, but it starts with what we want to put these poor kids through and where we want to see them go and above. And then after we get that, then we sort of figure out, okay, well what's the overall plot arc of the season.
We have to have an idea of where we're going if we want to build to that. One of the things I love about doing animation is that it's such a collaborative medium. So we break a story in the writer's room, and then that writer will go write an outline and a draft and bring their own special sauce for that, and then we do it, and the outline is like a blueprint for the script.
Then the script is a blueprint for the animatic. Because then when you get our artists and our directors involved then they'll find moments, or perhaps it would be better if it goes this direction specifically, or we play this different. And then we get into the animation and that team. The more ownership everybody takes over this, the richer it is. So things have changed between episodes more radically, but we need an idea of where we're ending a season so we can see that we're building to the climax of the season.
I will say when I first started this show, like so many little boys, the T-Rex was the beginning and the end for me. But then once we had gotten going, having seen her hatch and growing up, Bumpy is a special dinosaur to me. Seeing her grow up, Bumpy, it's hard not to focus on her because I feel like we know her the best and she's sort of our seventh camper.
And thanks to everyone for watching. Thanks for embracing the show. The people who are watching the show are a part of the show as much as those who make it, so thanks for watching and enjoying it.
What do you guys think of these comments from Showrunner and Executive Producer Scott Kreamer? Do you think you'll be tuning in tomorrow for some dino action?
Be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments, and don't forget to check out the full video interview below.
Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous Season 5 hits Netflix tomorrow, July 21st.