The Unfilmed Jurassic Park Lagoon Scene Shows T-Rexes Can Doggie Paddle
It has gotten to the point where it's impossible to think of dinosaurs without thinking of the "Jurassic Park" film series. Naturally, plenty of fans would point to the original 1993 film, which follows a selected group of people brought to an island to test out a new live-dinosaur tourist site, as what kicked the dino franchise off. Well, the truth is, the story first came from a Michael Crichton novel of the same name.
Steven Spielberg surely found a great story to make into a movie; however, just like every novel that gets turned into a film, there were many scenes and sequences within the book to squeeze into the flick. Those who read the book know that there were many moments worthy for the big screen, but cuts needed to be made in order to make the movie work with its runtime. Some of these moments even made it to the storyboard process, with each beat having been illustrated out. Popular fan group Jurassic Time has compiled one group of these boards. The storyboard involves the series' most thrilling creature, the infamous T-Rex.
In the original movie, the T-Rex is first introduced when she bursts through her nonfunctioning electric fence, quickly attacking the tour group. She also chases a Jeep down a dark road and later catches and devours a smaller dinosaur. The film's finale' features the T-Rex indirectly rescuing the remaining people by fighting off a couple of attacking raptors. Now, with this storyboard sequence, fans can see that there could've been another iconic scene involving the T-Rex, which would've also revealed a hidden ability that many didn't know she possessed.
The T-Rex's little arms work perfectly in water
The original "Jurassic Park" movie starring Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum, included plenty of excellent action scenes, but the potential for more memorable moments stands to this day. The storyboard sequence showcases a moment from Michael Crichton's book that almost made it, featuring Dr. Grant (Neill) and the kids, Lex (Ariana Richards) and Tim (Joseph Mazzello). In it, Dr. Grant is trying to get the kids back to the home base. However, during their hike they across the T-Rex lounging in front of a lagoon.
Based on the storyboard beats, the scene starts with the group coming upon a sleeping T-Rex, who is blocking their way to the lagoon docks. They slowly creep their way past the beast, as to not to disturb it. The T-Rex's tail, obviously with a mind of its own, violently wags around, nearly crushing one of the kids. Shortly after, Dr. Grant instructs the young ones to wait by the water, while he walks on the dock to inflate an escape raft. Of course, this is when things go wrong.
Despite successfully inflating the raft and prepping it to cast off, a loose board on the dock creeks under Lex's foot, awakening the T-Rex, who promptly arises to attack. The group manages to cast off into the safety of the water. While the kids argue about whether or not the T-Rex can swim, the beast proves Tim's argument to be true. It's at this point where fans would've learned that the T-Rex can quietly stalk its prey in water by dog-paddling her giant body, despite the short arms. Despite another terrifying close call, the set of these illustrations reveal that Dr. Grant and the kids nearly escape, yet again.