Monthly Archives: August 2018

Any kid who grew up in the 90s will give you a different list of the best movies of that decade. Some will say Titanic, others will say GoodFellas or The Silence of the Lambs…some might even throw out Toy Story…but chances are Jurassic Park will be the movie mentioned on everyone’s list.

With more money and awards than a T-Rex could eat in one sitting, Jurassic Park has joined the ranks of outstanding movies that never fail to entertain. It’s spurred 5 sequels, with a 6^th due out in 2021, and won three Academy Awards for sound editing, mixing and visual effects. Numbers don’t lie, yo. THIS MOVIE IS DA BOMB.

Based on Michael Crichton’s best-selling novel of the same name (which is awesome if you haven’t read it), Jurassic Park has become a bit of a cult classic, setting the bar for computer animation and animatronics, as well as inspiring handfuls of students to give up that business degree and focus on studying paleontology.

Jurassic Park recently celebrated its 25^th anniversary, and what better way to celebrate this monumental movie than with these 25 fun facts about Jurassic Park?!

So grab some snacks…

get in some comfy clothes and – most importantly –

25 Fun Facts about Jurassic Park

When director Steven Spielberg and Jurassic Park author Michael Crichton were working on a little TV screenplay (which would eventually become ER), Spielberg asked Crichton about his next writing project. Crichton told him about Jurassic Park and Spielberg was so excited about it that he approached Universal directly to buy the film rights. Spielberg was storyboarding scenes before the screenplay was even written.

Spielberg’s other pet project, Schindler’s List, was also in the works at the time, and Universal wouldn’t let Schindler’s List continue without making Jurassic Park first…so Super Spielberg actually ended up releasing both movies in 1993. Quite the feat!

To get a better idea of how dinosaurs moved, special effects crew members built raptor suits…and got into them.

Richard Attenborough (John Hammond) is the brother of the voice of Planet Earth narrator, David Attenborough.

For the most realistic and fact-forward portrayal of dinos, Spielberg had paleontologists serve as consultants on the film, giving feedback on movement, skin texture and teeth.

The sound of the T Rex roar was reportedly a composite of tiger, alligator and baby elephant sounds.

The “bark” of the velociraptors was made by using the sounds of mating tortoises. HOT.

After Jurassic Park was released, researchers took a deeper dive into the sight and smell capabilities of the T Rex. Turns out the T Rex probably had excellent vision in addition to fabulous olfactory glands.

Since both Jurassic Park and Schindler’s List were running pretty much at the same time, Spielberg had to quickly shift gears once JP wrapped so he could finish SL. He handed the post-production responsibilities over to his friend, George Lucas, who was given a “special thanks” credit in the final Jurassic Park film.

Due to the near constant rain, some of the robotic dinos would malfunction on set, causing them to “come to life”. The crew would be eating lunch and the massive T Rex would turn itself on, terrifying the crew.

The T Rex robot was actually quite dangerous in real life. It weighed about 12,000 pounds and had to use flashing lights to announce when it was about to come on.

Perhaps the scariest scene in Jurassic Park was when the T Rex breaks through the glass in the roof of the car. The reaction from the kids is pretty genuine, as the glass was not supposed to break. Spielberg liked the shot so much that he kept it in the film.

Ariana Richards (Lex) won her role in the film after her audition (a blood-curdling scream) woke a sleeping Kate Capshaw and sent her into a tizzy to see if her children were okay.

In this scene in the control room, you can see Jaws playing on the computer:

Having Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) distract the T Rex with a light so Grant could save the kids in the car was totally Goldblum’s idea. What a hero!

The helicopter scene where Grant ties two seatbelts together (two latches and no latch plate) foreshadows a later scene where the dinosaurs are suddenly able to breed, despite the fact that they were all originally female.

In 2005, paleontologist Dr. Mary Schweitzer discovered red blood cells and soft tissue in the fossilized bones of a T Rex, meaning dinosaur cloning may someday become a reality.

There are only 15 minutes of dinosaurs in the first Jurassic Park film.

In its initial release, Jurassic Park earned $357 million domestically and $914 million worldwide. It held the record for highest grossing movie of all time until 1997, when it was beat out by Titanic.

The Jurassic Park ride at Universal Studios cost about 2x more to make than the film did.

Michael Crichton has said that his views on science and genetic engineering are largely expressed by Ian Malcolm. Spielberg saw many parallels to himself in the character of John Hammond. Both Malcolm and Hammond wear black and white, respectively, throughout the film, to better showcase their opposing views.

There’s no evidence to suggest that the screaming dilophosaurus was venomous…or had a frill to distract victims. Recent illustrations of the dinosaur have adopted those qualities thanks in part to Jurassic Park. Spielberg: 1. Science: 0.

Jeff Goldblum and Laura Dern began a romantic relationship after meeting on set. They actually got engaged after Jurassic Park, but split up about 2 years later. Love…UH…finds a way.

Not surprisingly, the movie and the book generated so much interest in dinosaurs that the study of paleontology has had a record increase in students. Ross would be so happy!

During filming and rehearsal, this is what the scary T Rex looked like:

Celebrate creativity every Wednesday with a “Creativi-bee” post, where I share easy craft tutorials, project ideas, and craft collections.

There are tons of shows I’ll happily binge watch over and over again: Breaking Bad, Pushing Daisies, New Girl, The Office, Parks and Rec, The Wonder Years, Dawson’s Creek…but few shows, or even movies for that matter, continue to amaze me and educate me every damn time I watch them.

The first time I watched Mad Men, I was transfixed. It was filled with flawed, realistic characters, amazing costumes and set design, and brought to life some of the most popular ads of the 20^th century. You couldn’t help but be in awe of the attention to detail and the dedication of the production team to make each episode as historically accurate as possible…not to mention all the pretty people!

I mean, seriously…

I’m now on my second full binge of Mad Men and I really think I love it even more this time around. I have a better appreciation of office life, family politics, and growing up in a world resistant to change. I can relate to characters in a whole new way, and I can appreciate flaws in characters that I was quick to judge just 10 years ago.

After working on The Sopranos for several years, creator Matthew Weiner took a risk in bringing this era back to life, shedding light on the drinking, the smoking, the sexism, the violence, the racism, the genius, that made the 50s, 60s and 70s some of the most influential years of the century.

Not surprisingly, it took a whole lot of time, manpower and money to keep Mad Men on the air, but what resulted was one of the most well-received, highly-rated programs ever seen on TV. Throughout it’s run, Mad Men took home 7 American Film Institute Awards (Program of the Year for every year the show ran), 4 Critics’ Choice Awards, 8 Emmy Awards (and 52 Emmy nominations), 5 Golden Globe Awards (it won Best Drama TV Series 3 of those times), and so, so many more that it’s just impossible to name them all here. Needless to say, people loved this show.

Want to learn more about Don Draper, Peggy Olsen, Joan Harris, Roger Sterling and the rest of the crew? Check out these 35 fun facts about AMC’s Mad Men!

• Curious what it was like to be a female copywriter in a 1960s ad agency? Check out Mad Women, inspired by a real-life Peggy Olsen story!
• For more info about where the cast of Mad Men is now, check out this Where Are They Now post!

35 Fun Facts about Mad Men

Creator Matt Weiner dreamed up the idea for Mad Men while working as a writer on the Ted Danson sitcom, Becker. He wrote the pilot in 1999.

Three years later, Weiner submitted the pilot to David Chase, creator of The Sopranos, as a writing sample. Chase loved it so much that he hired him to work on his show.

When Weiner was ready to make Mad Men a series, he thought HBO (home to The Sopranos) would be the perfect fit; however, HBO wanted Chase to direct, and Chase wanted to leave weekly TV…so ultimately HBO passed. The show eventually went to AMC.

Parts of Don Draper are actually based on Draper Daniels, the legendary Chicago ad man who invented The Marlboro Man.

The pilot was the only episode actually shot in New York. Though the show takes place in NYC, the rest of the show as shot in Los Angeles.

The first and second episodes of the first season were shot nearly ONE YEAR APART. After the pilot was shot, Weiner took some time to explore whether or not the show was going in the direction he wanted.

John Slattery (Roger Sterling) was actually gunning for the lead role of Don Draper. When asked if he secretly hated Jon Hamm for getting the part, Slattery laughed and said, “…it was apparent from the beginning how annoyingly good he was in that role. I don’t think people appreciate how difficult it is to play something as subtle as he does.”

January Jones (Betty Draper) was hoping for another part, too. She auditioned twice for the part of Peggy Olsen, but that role eventually went to Elisabeth Moss.

The fictional Sterling Cooper ad agency made most of its money with its partnership with Lucky Strike. Throughout the duration of the show, Lucky Strike actually benefited from the involvement, nearly doubling its sales during the show’s run.

Weiner tried hard to incorporate The Beatles into the show, but it came at a steep price. He had to pay $250,000 to license the rights to the song “Tomorrow Never Knows” for the “Lady Lazarus” episode…and it wasn’t even an authentic recording.

Jessica Pare’s (Megan Draper) rendition of “Zou Bisou Bisou” eventually became the number one song on the Billboard’s World Digital chart.

Joel Murray, who plays the booze-loving ad man Freddy Rumsen, is Bill Murray’s brother.

Throughout the duration of Mad Men, there are a lot of cigarettes smoked…a LOT. However (and thankfully for everyone on set!), they are not real…they’re herbal cigarettes and taste disgusting, according to Christina Hendricks (Joan Holloway).

Sally’s friend Glen is played by Weiner’s son, Marten.

Speaking of Sally, the actress who plays her, Kiernan Shipka, has supposedly never seen one episode of Mad Men.

In a recent interview she said she’s gonna hold out until she’s 16 or 17, then binge them all on Netflix. How crazy would that be?!

You may not believe it, but 7 of the 9 writers on Mad Men are women. Take that, sexism!

Can you imagine Mad Men without Jon Hamm? Or 30 Rock without Alec Baldwin? Well Hamm actually auditioned for the roll of Jack Donaghy, which eventually went to Baldwin. Hamm said there’s a tape of him somewhere talking about “three kinds of heat”.

Mona Sterling, the ex-wife of Roger Sterling, is actually John Slattery’s wife IRL.

Peggy left Sterling Cooper Draper Price to work as copy chief at another agency. She left for a $19,000 a year salary, which equates to about $131,000 today. Damn, girl!

Each episode of Mad Men cost about $2.84 million to produce.

The storyline of Peggy and Pete’s baby pretty much disappears after Peggy gives birth…but Weiner has said in an interview that their baby, at first raised by Peggy’s sister, was eventually given up for adoption.

Mad Men became the first basic-cable show to be nominated for Best Drama at the Emmy Awards in 2008.

Don Draper tried to get The Rolling Stones to endorse Heinz beans; however, in 1967 it was actually The Who band who bathed in beans.

Much of season 3 revolves around a commercial parody of “Bye Bye Birdie”. Birdie is also the nickname Don has for Betty. By the end of the season, he and Betty are divorced.

Christina Hendricks at first auditioned for a much smaller role: the part of Don’s lover, Midge. I can’t even imagine Sterling Cooper without her!

The father of Jared Harris (Lane Pryce) is Richard Harris – the man who played the original Dumbledore.

Vincent Kartheiser (Pete Campbell) is married to fellow actress, Alexis Bledel (Gilmore Girls). Bledel had a small role on Mad Men as well, playing Campbell’s crazy mistress.

Elisabeth Moss (Peggy Olsen) is a Scientologist.

Before making it big in Hollywood, Jon Hamm was Ellie Kemper’s (The Office, Bridesmaids) high school drama teacher.

Robert Morse (Bert Cooper) won a Tony Award in 1961 for his role in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

Costume designer Janie Bryant said that she always repeats one of Peggy’s costumes from the previous season during the next season’s premiere.

Like his character Don Draper, Jon Hamm was not raised by his own parents. Hamm’s mom died of colon cancer when he was 10 and his father passed away 10 years after that.

Joan’s signature walk originated because of Hendricks’ struggle to actually move in her dress.

Slattery was nervous that his famous black-face scene would end his career. Several of the writers of the show didn’t even want to be associated with it.

Hamm was also careful not to make Draper a loveable drunk. He wanted viewers to see what alcohol could really do to a person.

Sometimes you just need a little fun in your life! Check back every week for a new “Just Bee-cause” post, where I discuss everything from celebrity news to favorite videos and websites!