Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park was a massive hit that immediately spawned several sequels, video games, and all sorts of merchandise, but there was very nearly an animated TV series as well. Now we're getting a look at what could have been.
Artist William Stout posted some amazing concept art for the series on his website, and he also shared the story behind the show's development and eventual death. Stout writes that the Jurassic Park show was not thought of as a children's series, although audiences both young and old could enjoy it. Instead, the show would have been a mature, prime time series using state-of-the-art animation combined with some CG animation. He also writes that they wanted the show to have a "graphic novel" look, which was why he was hired to work on it.
The series would have featured all of the characters from the original film: Alan Grant, Ellie Sattler, Ian Malcolm, John Hammond, as well as the children, Lex and Tim Murphy. Some of the concept art even includes a scene with the Mosasaurus, the water dinosaur which would see its debut over 20 years later in Jurassic World.
So why didn't it happen? Stout said that it was totally ready to go and they even had a trailer, but Spielberg was so burnt out by all the Jurassic Park merchandising that he never approved it. In fact, he apparently never even watched the trailer at all. It all sounds amazing, and we absolutely need to see a copy of that footage now.
After the franchise was dormant for 14 years, Jurassic Park returned this summer, and the fourth installment instantly became the biggest film of the year. Maybe now the idea of an animated show will be seriously reconsidered.
image courtesy of INFphoto.com
Image via Twitter from Jurassic World