Steven Spielberg’s Jurᴀssic Park is full of Jurᴀssic-sized Easter eggs ready to be unearthed by dedicated viewers (even after an uncountable number of rewatches). Since its release in 1993, long-time enthusiasts have been digging up many subtle nods to other movies, and subtle foreshadowing of the plot, in Jurᴀssic Park. With practical and CGI dinosaurs that are still impressive to look at, it’s no wonder the film has been referenced in dozens of other movies. Jurᴀssic Park was ground-breaking at the time of its release. It masterfully blended family-friendly magic with downright horrifying moments of suspense, as well as introducing audiences to some of the most awe-inspiring dinosaurs ever featured on screen.

However, while filled to the brim with spectacle, Jurᴀssic Park is also a clever film. From the start, small details alluded to the main themes of the movie. Background details also reveal the broader impact of Hammond’s attempt to create a vacation spot that “spared no expense.” Jurᴀssic Park is the film adaptation of Michael Crichton’s bestselling novel. While it’s the first in the franchise and so cannot reference any other films in the series, this doesn’t mean that Spielberg didn’t bury any hidden gems and playful nods to other projects. The original Jurᴀssic Park film has plenty of Easter eggs of its own, and each is more entertaining than the last.

The Sign In Dr. Ellie Sattler And Dr. Alan Grant’s Trailer

The First Act Of Jurᴀssic Park Smartly Foreshadows The Third

The ending of Jurᴀssic Park was intense, but also something of a foregone conclusion. Even the Jurᴀssic Park trailers made no secret of the fact that the dinosaurs would be running rampant across the island of Isla Nublar by the time the credits rolled. However, this didn’t stop Steven Spielberg including a tease of the action of the climax during the earlier scenes in Jurᴀssic Park.

When Hammond first arrives to speak to Ellie and Alan, they find him in their trailer. In the scene, there is a sign above Hammond’s shoulder that reads, “No animal released without paperwork completely filled out.“ The pair of paleo scientists only study extinct species, but this sign cleverly foreshadows the dinosaurs’ escape later on, which was brought about by Dennis Nedry’s haphazard release of the animals.

Nedry Dresses Like He’s In The Goonies

Spielberg Pays Homage To An Earlier Success

Steven Spielberg is best known as a director, but many of his most iconic projects didn’t see him at the helm but, instead, being a purely creative force. In several scenes, Nedry wears outfits that look like they’re straight out of another film Spielberg took part in, The Goonies. In recent decades, the 1985 cult gem has seen a resurgence in popularity since The Goonies is heavily referenced in Stranger Things, but it was also given a nod decades earlier in Jurᴀssic Park.

The blatant The Goonies reference in Jurᴀssic Park can be seen in most of the scenes featuring Wayne Knight’s Nedry, the traitorous computer programmer working for John Hammond. Nedry’s Hawaiian shirt, yellow raincoat, and Members-Only jacket look almost exactly like the clothes Mouth, Chunk, and Mickey are seen wearing in The Goonies – a clear nod given that The Goonies was beloved, in part, because of the colorful clothing choices of the characters. This reference in Jurᴀssic Park doesn’t seem to have any deeper significance, but it is a fun comparison for viewers to spot if they look closely enough.

Dr. Grant’s Seatbelt

A Fleeting Moment That Explains The Entire Narrative

Upon first viewing Jurᴀssic Park, most audience members may have found Alan’s seatbelt conundrum a bit odd, but most of them won’t realize the deeper symbolism of the defective safety feature until another viewing. The fact that his seatbelt doesn’t work properly is initially ironic because he is so nervous, to begin with, but it means a lot more than that.

This moment is incredibly important on two levels. Firstly, it’s a sure sign that corners have been cut at the park when it comes to safety, despite John Hammond’s insistence that everything is up to code. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, it’s a clever representation of one of the central themes in Jurᴀssic Park. Alan’s seatbelt has two female ends. He finds a way to connect the two sides by tying them together. This mirrors the way life managed to find a way at the original park in the Jurᴀssic Park franchise as the all-female dinosaur population managed to breed on the island.

Jurᴀssic Park’s Projected Success

The Eccentric Billionaire May Not Be The Best Businessman

John Hammond is lovable as far as movie billionaires go, and he’s clearly capable of making great things happen (as evidenced by the dozens of dinosaurs he orchestrated the creation of). However, many Jurᴀssic Park Easter eggs hint that he’s, at the very least, overconfident. While the most obvious example is the fact that the dinosaurs inevitably escape, there are subtler ones too. These are especially apparent when Hammond is attempting to sell the idea of the park to Alan, Ellie, and Dr. Ian Malcolm.

During a projector show, Hammond displays a slide with a bar graph. Without revealing any exact numbers, the graph shows that he believes Jurᴀssic Park will be more popular than sports and zoos. While it’s unclear exactly how he is measuring the generic popularity of sports, the seemingly guesstimated chart is another example of the childlike wonder Hammond has regarding his park. Considering how much he ᴀssured his visitor that not expense had been spared and that everything was carefully calculated, this laughable projected sales display suggests he’s not as business-savvy as he makes himself out to be.

Jurᴀssic Park Europe

A Hint At Dangers To Come

In another slide that emphasizes his presumption of Jurᴀssic Park’s success, it’s revealed that Hammond is already planning to expand. He’s attempting to earn the support of the three visiting scientists (including Jeff Goldblum’s hilarious meme-inspiring character) and his lawyer, so it makes sense he would hit them with just how special this park will be right from the outset, but a particular slide seen reflected behind Ellie, shows he has put all his eggs into one basket by deciding he will build a Jurᴀssic Park Europe before the main location has even opened.

Of course, this Jurᴀssic Park Easter-egg also cleverly (and inadvertantly) foreshadows a future film in the Jurᴀssic franchise. Jurᴀssic World: Dominion was released in 2022, almost three decades after Jurᴀssic Park. It may have taken nearly 30 years, but the 6th Jurᴀssic movie made good on John Hammond’s promise of dinosaurs in Europe. However, like many of Hammond’s idealized predictions, it wasn’t in the safe, fun, and family-friendly way he envisioned. There were indeed dinosaurs in Europe by the 2020s in the Jurᴀssic Park timeline, but none were safely contained in a theme park.

Tim’s Book References

The Jurᴀssic Park Creative Team Were Given A Moment

Jurᴀssic Park was based on Michael Crichton’s novel, but it holds references to other books as well. In a scene meant to once again display the childlike wonder originally surrounding the park, Tim begins trying to show off to Dr. Grant by arguing with him about whether or not modern-day birds evolved from dinosaurs.

Tim references a real book written by paleontologist Robert T. Bakker, who happened to be an advisor on the film. During the discussion, Tim is holding a different book. The book is meant to have been written by Alan and Michael Backes. Backes is a software developer who worked as the chief programmer for the film. This is an incredibly lighthearted and subtle Easter-egg, but was also a great way to tribute the many talented professionals who put their heart and soul into making Jurᴀssic Park such a magical cinematic experience.

Richard Kiley As The Virtual Tour Guide

A Nod To A Legend Or A Sign Of Spared Expenses?

Not only did Richard Kiley provide the voice for the tour guide in the Jurᴀssic Park film – as announced by Hammond – Michael Crichton’s book also credited Kiley as the virtual guide. Hammond once again echoes that they spared no expense. This is a nod to the high acclaim granted to the award-winning actor. However, it’s also another subtle nod to Hammond actually sparing several expenses.

Richard Kiley was a legend in his day, but by the time Jurᴀssic Park opened (on the page or the screen), he’d long since faded from contemporary relevance. It’s safe to ᴀssume that Hammond could have afforded to pay a more well-known celebrity to voice the tour. By the 1990s, Richard Kiley was in the last years of his career, with the peak of his fame several decades behind him. If Hammond had wanted to truly impress, then the likes of Tom Hanks, Kevin Costner, or Eddie Murphy would have been the perfect choices at the time (and given Hammond’s wealth, he could definitely have afforded them).

Nedry Watches Other Spielberg Films on the Job

The Flamboyant Programmer Relaxes In Front Of Jaws

Nedry’s dress code referencing The Goonies isn’t the only Jurᴀssic Park Easter egg that references other Steven Spielberg projects. While at work, Dennis Nedry is watching a movie on his computer – and the movie just so happens to be Jaws. Jaws is another Steven Spielberg movie and was the first-ever summer blockbuster.

It’s also significant because Jaws, like Jurᴀssic Park, is another Spielberg movie that pits humanity against a colossal force of nature.

The reference might have predicted the future success of Jurᴀssic Park, another summer blockbuster Spielberg directed, which became the highest-grossing film of all time (at the time) after its release. It’s also significant because Jaws, like Jurᴀssic Park, is another Spielberg movie that pits humanity against a colossal force of nature. It’s a subtle yet clever thematic link, and there’s no doubt that this was a deliberate choice on Steven Spielberg’s part.

Alan Grant’s Hat

The Paleontologist Gets His Look From An Archaeologist

Spielberg references The Goonies and Jaws in Jurᴀssic Park, but he doesn’t stop with only two films from his impressive filmography when it comes to Easter-eggs. While Alan Grant has become a household name in his own right, his attire throughout Jurᴀssic Park has an obvious similarity to another iconic Spielberg character.

Grant’s signature fedora is a direct reference to famed archaeologist Indiana Jones, whose own acclaimed trilogy established Spielberg as the pre-eminent blockbuster director. Furthermore, the similarities between the two hats establish Grant’s credentials as a leading character from the outset with the use of a subtle call-back. It’s yet another way that Spielberg uses costume design both to pay homage to the projects that established his career, and to ease the audience in with Jurᴀssic Park’s personalities by leaning into similarities to other, more well-known, characters and films.

Nedry’s Office PH๏τos

The Dangers Of Progress On Full Display

Jurᴀssic Park has a lot of thematic depth, and it manages to balance this perfectly with dino-centric action scenes. A key concept in Jurᴀssic Park is the idea of technology and scientific progress being just as dangerous as they are world-changing. This is represented visually in many clever ways, among them a very specific picture Nedry keeps on his desk.

The Jurᴀssic Park Easter egg found on the desk of Dennis Nedry is a pH๏τo of J. Robert Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer was a physicist who took part in designing the atomic bomb. It’s easy for viewers to understand how the groundbreaking physicist relates to Jurᴀssic Park’s own scientists who also made great leaps with ᴅᴇᴀᴅly effects. Just as Oppenheimer opened a pandora’s box when he created the atomic bomb, Hammond and his team changed the world forever, for better or worse, when they brought dinosaurs back from extinction.

Rexy Lost a Tooth

A Technical Fault Led To The Iconic Look

The infamous T-rex in Jurᴀssic Park has been praised for its realism, with many minor details being lovingly picked up on by the most enthusiastic fans of the film. However, one of the most famous instances of attention to detail with the T-rex was actually a sheer fluke. In an unintentional Easter egg, the T-rex is seen without one of her front teeth.

Water pouring down in the infamous Jeep scene created problems for the giant electronic, which would sometimes jerk around all by itself due to the rain. At one point, the Jurᴀssic Park franchise’s original t-rex hit the transparent roof of the car a little too hard and knocked one of her teeth out. This adds to the realism, but it also wasn’t at all deliberate.

The Book in the Giftshop

A Real Book About The Movie Is Seen In The Movie

Of all the Jurᴀssic Park Easter eggs, this one is the most meta (even when compared to Nedry dressing like a Steven Spielberg character while watching Steven Spielberg movies in a film directed by Steven Spielberg). In the Jurᴀssic Park gift shop, there is a book written by Don Shay and Jody Duncan sitting on a shelf. The book, called The Making of Jurᴀssic Park, was actually released when the movie came out.

A few copies of the book are still floating around, even though it’s no longer in production. The book itself was a behind-the-scenes exploration of the production process for Jurᴀssic Park, one of many that used to dominate bookshelves in the years before the internet.

Nothing Worked at Disneyland

The Sly Dig At Disney Was Factually Accurate

Movies made by studios other than Disney including subtle jabs at the House of Mouse is nothing new, and Jurᴀssic Park contains its own sly dig at the world’s most well-known studio. While it’s one of many, Jurᴀssic Park’s Disney joke stands out because it’s incredibly accurate. It’s fairly obvious that Hammond was inspired by the most magical place on Earth – Disneyland

. In one scene, he even relays to Ellie that “nothing worked” when Disneyland first opened either. He has the year wrong, saying the park opened in 1956 when it actually opened its gates in 1955. However, he is correct that many of Disneyland’s attractions were not in working order at the park’s grand opening.

The Shining Inspired the Raptors

A Nod To One Of The Most Respected Directors Of All Time

Steven Spielberg referenced several of his own movies in Jurᴀssic Park, but he paid homage to other directors too. The raptors in Jurᴀssic Park must’ve seen Kubrick’s Steven King adaptation The Shining because, in a scene that elicits as much horror as it does wonder, they mirror a few moments from the classic horror.

The kids evade the intelligent pack-hunters by trapping one in a freezer, the way Wendy locks up Jack Torrance. Lex also manages to trick the raptors by hiding in a kitchen cabinet, referencing the way Danny hid from Jack inside a cupboard. The inspiration from The Shining is clear, and Spielberg did a great job of paying tribute without directly copying in Jurᴀssic Park.

The DNA Code Projected on a Raptor

Spielberg Never Let Viewers Forget The True Villain Of The Story

One of the most visually striking scenes in Jurᴀssic Park is also a clever thematic Easter egg, reminding audiences that the true villain of the film isn’t the dinosaurs, but the science and scientists who recklessly reversed their extinction. Almost as if to mock the Park’s creators for ignoring Dr. Malcolm, a DNA sequence is projected onto a raptor’s face during the final chance.

It also symbolically shows that the dinosaurs were created using computers rather than being born in the traditional sense.

Malcolm had previously made a comment about the unintentional implications of what the scientists had done, particularly by collecting prehistoric DNA. The code being projected onto the raptor shows one of the direct consequences of Jurᴀssic Park using frog DNA and creating dinosaurs to begin with. It also symbolically shows that the dinosaurs were created using computers rather than being born in the traditional sense.

John William’s Reference to Close Encounters of the Third Kind

There Aren’t Only Visual References In Jurᴀssic Park

Steven Spielberg wasn’t the only one in Jurᴀssic Park who managed to sneak in an Easter egg or two, as acclaimed director John Williams also left a little gem for scrupulous viewers to find. In the closing scene of Jurᴀssic Park, a variation of the well-remembered five tones in Close Encounters of the Third Kind plays over Spielberg’s name in the credits.

Close Encounters is another Spielberg sci-fi adventure flick that was released about 16 years earlier. Much like Jurᴀssic Park, it contains its own share of frightening moments as the characters attempt to get to know the creatures they’ve never seen before.