Dinosaurs have been interesting for as long as we can remember. Still, Michael Crichton's novels Jurassic Park and The Lost World were a game changer for how prehistoric beings were looked at and brought into the spotlight.
Once the Jurassic Park franchise moved to a film medium things changed drastically. People of all ages flocked to the theater as if it were a Star Wars movie, sometimes more than once, to embrace the action and thrilling suspense the movies provide.
These days the franchise has evolved to Jurassic World by Colin Trevorrow and led by Chris Pratt and receives a rather divided reaction. There is no word on whether that has an end in the future, but the franchise will likely return again in the future, as it transcends time.
Meanwhile, Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous has been running alongside the films from Dreamworks and Netflix, and with five seasons under its belt is coming to a close. We spoke to the showrunner about the show before it ends and learned about why the Jurassic Park trilogy was the source of inspiration and breaks down the script to the animation process for the series.
Take a listen to what Showrunner and Executive Producer Scott Kreamer has to say below and scroll down for the transcript. At the bottom, we've included the full video interview for readers who want to fully immerse themselves in the conversation.
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?
Regardless of your take, be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments. And don't forget to check out the full video interview below.
This episode features the hilarious and outrageously talented Scott Kreamer. Though Scott has been on the show once before, we got him back for the project he is promoting now - Season 5 of Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous.
Kreamer is always an excellent guest, so we chatted about his love for Jurassic Park and Michael Crighton's initial novel. We speak about the diversity in the show with characters like Kenji, Sammy, and Darius and why it's so important for the audience to be able to see some of themselves in the human characters despite the thrilling dinosaurs.
Scott speaks about the children have grown over five seasons and what could potentially be in line for their future, even if it's something after the final season. He mentions that this chapter is closing on them, but their capability has grown a lot through the show.
Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous Season 5 hits Netflix tomorrow, July 21st.