The dromaeosaurid genus, Velociraptor, was popularized by its appearance in the Jurassic Park franchise, which features numerous individuals of the genus. They first appear in Michael Crichton's 1990 novel Jurassic Park, followed by a 1993 film adaptation from director Steven Spielberg, which spawned a series of films. Despite their name, Crichton heavily based the Velociraptors on the larger Deinonychus, and this was carried over into the films. The on-screen raptors were created using several production methods, including animatronics by Stan Winston and CGI by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM).
The 2015 film Jurassic World introduces a group of named raptors who are being trained in a research program. Among these is an individual named Blue, who returns in the sequels Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) and Jurassic World Dominion (2022). The concept of trained raptors was conceived by Spielberg, who served as executive producer on the Jurassic World films. Blue is among the most popular Jurassic Park/World dinosaurs and, alongside Rexy the Tyrannosaurus, has become a fan favorite in the franchise.
Appearances Novels and films In Crichton's original novel and the film adaptation, dinosaurs have been genetically engineered by InGen for a theme park on the fictional Isla Nublar. The Velociraptors are portrayed as highly intelligent, problem-solving pack hunters, able to run at speeds reaching 60 miles per hour. They terrorize the main characters and are responsible for several deaths, including that of Ray Arnold. They also stalk Lex and Tim Murphy in a restaurant kitchen at the park's visitor center. The raptors are overseen by park warden Robert Muldoon, who is killed by them as well in the film.
In the novel, eight raptors were bred by the park, although more are discovered to have been breeding elsewhere on the island. Eight were also bred in the film, although a large female raptor killed five others and became pack leader for the two remaining individuals. One of these raptors gets trapped in the restaurant freezer while the other two are killed by a Tyrannosaurus (known off-screen as Rexy).
Raptors are also featured in Crichton's sequel novel The Lost World and its film adaptation The Lost World: Jurassic Park, both taking place at InGen's abandoned site on Isla Sorna. The raptors again terrorize and kill several characters.
A different group of raptors are featured in the film Jurassic Park III, also set on Isla Sorna. In the film, paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant states that raptor intelligence was superior to that of cetaceans and primates. In Jurassic Park III, the velociraptors are more intellegent that they were in any other Jurassic movies. If not for the extinction of dinosaurs, Grant believes that raptors may have risen to become the dominant species on Earth. He theorizes that their intelligence came from an ability to communicate with each other, using their resonating chambers, a theory that is later proven when he encounters InGen's raptors on the island.
In Jurassic World, Blue is the oldest of the four Velociraptors trained by Owen Grady for a research program on Isla Nublar, the site of a new theme park. She and her three younger sisters, Delta, Echo, and Charlie, are later used to hunt down the escaped hybrid dinosaur Indominus rex, only to turn against their trainer when accepting the Indominus as their new alpha. Later, Blue is the first to change her loyalty back to Owen and fight against the Indominus. After the rest of her pack is killed by the hybrid, Blue joins a battle between a Tyrannosaurus (Rexy) and the Indominus, who is then killed by a Mosasaurus. Blue is free to roam the island after staff and visitors evacuate.
Three years later, in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, the dinosaurs on Isla Nublar face extinction from an impending volcanic eruption. Owen helps rescue Blue from the island, although she is shot and nearly killed in the process. After an operation to save her life, Blue is transported to Lockwood Estate in northern California to provide a blood transfusion to the Indoraptor. However, the latter escapes and goes on a rampage. Blue kills the Indoraptor in battle, saving Owen, Claire Dearing, and Maisie Lockwood. Free once again, Blue shares a moment with Owen before retreating into the wilderness.
Blue returns in Jurassic World Dominion, taking place four years after Fallen Kingdom. She has lived in the Sierra Nevada mountains near Owen's family and now has an asexually reproduced hatchling, who Maisie names Beta. Maisie and Beta are taken by Biosyn mercenaries for research, and Owen promises Blue that he will bring both of them back, eventually following through. After being reunited, Blue and Beta return to the wilderness.
Two raptors appear briefly in Jurassic World Rebirth, with one killed by a Mutadon.
Other media and attractions
Aside from her appearance in the Jurassic World films, Blue also appears as a major character in the animated show Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous, and makes appearances in video games such as Jurassic World: The Game and Jurassic World Alive. She is also the focus of a two-part virtual reality miniseries, titled Jurassic World: Blue. It was released for Oculus VR headsets as a Fallen Kingdom tie-in, and depicts Blue on Isla Nublar at the time of the volcanic eruption.
Jurassic World: The Ride, opened at Universal Studios Hollywood in 2019, features Blue. VelociCoaster, an attraction opened at Universal Studios Orlando in 2021, has animatronics of Blue and her sisters, who feature prominently throughout the ride. Both Universal parks also include Raptor Encounter, introduced in 2015. The attraction features a raptor, played by a performer in a creature suit, interacting with park visitors. Blue became part of the attraction in 2018.
Scientific accuracy Size
Real Velociraptors measured approximately in height and in length. The franchise, however, depicts the animal as being larger than its real-life counterpart. The raptors' fictitious design is actually based on the larger Deinonychus. In writing Jurassic Park, Crichton was partly inspired by Gregory S. Paul's 1988 book Predatory Dinosaurs of the World, which labeled Deinonychus as a Velociraptor species due to Paul's belief that many dinosaur genera should be combined.
John Ostrom, who discovered Deinonychus, was also consulted by Crichton for the novel, and later by director Steven Spielberg for the film adaptation. Ostrom said that Crichton based the novel's Velociraptors on Deinonychus in "almost every detail", but ultimately chose the name Velociraptor because he thought it sounded more dramatic. Crichton's version of Velociraptor, depicted at tall, was carried over into the film adaptation, the latter also stating the animal's length to be around ."It's five, six feet high. I'm guessing nine feet long." – Character Alan Grant in the film adaptation of Jurassic Park (1993). The Utahraptor, however, was a more accurate dinosaur in size comparison to the franchise's Velociraptors; it was discovered shortly before the 1993 release of Jurassic Parks film adaptation. Special-effects artist Stan Winston, who worked on the raptors, joked: "After we created it, they discovered it".
John Hankla, an advisor for Fallen Kingdom, provided an accurately sized Velociraptor skeleton that appears in the background at Lockwood Estate's library of dinosaur skeletons. It is the first accurately sized Velociraptor to appear in the franchise.
Other traits
Paleontologist Jack Horner served as dinosaur consultant for the films. Part of the kitchen scene in the first film was initially going to depict the raptors with forked tongues, like snakes. Horner objected to this, saying it would have been scientifically inaccurate, in part because it would imply a link with cold-blooded reptiles. Instead, Spielberg opted to feature a raptor snorting onto a kitchen-door window, fogging it up. This would keep with the idea that dinosaurs were warm-blooded.
Like their fictional counterparts, real raptors are believed to have been intelligent, although paleontologist James I. Kirkland, who discovered Utahraptor, considered this trait exaggerated in the films. Their depiction as pack-hunters was inspired by Deinonychus fossils which suggested such behavior. However, later research on fossilized Deinonychus teeth suggests that they did not engage in pack-hunting. Like their real-life counterparts, the franchise's raptors have a large sickle-shaped toe claw, although it is debated whether this was used for disemboweling prey, a characteristic referenced in the novels and first film.
In Jurassic Park III, the concept of raptor communication was inspired by the theory that other dinosaurs, such as Parasaurolophus, were capable of sophisticated communication. Director Joe Johnston said "it's not completely outlandish that a raptor using soft tissue in its nasal area could produce some kind of sound and communicate in much the same way that birds do. There's all kinds of evidence of lots of different species of animals communicating. So, I don't think we were breaking any rules there or creating something that was scientifically impossible".
Before the release of Jurassic Park III, most paleontologists theorized that Velociraptor had feathers like modern birds. For the third film, the appearance of the male raptors was updated to depict them with a row of small quills on their heads and necks, as suggested by Horner. Paleontologist Robert T. Bakker, who was an early pioneer of the dinosaur-bird connection, said in 2004 that the feather quills in Jurassic Park III "looked like a roadrunner's toupee", although he noted that feathers were difficult to animate.Bakker, R. 2004. "Dinosaurs Acting Like Birds, and Vice Versa – An Homage to the Reverend Edward Hitchcock, First Director of the Massachusetts Geological Survey" in Feathered Dragons. Currie, P.; Koppelhus, E.; Shugar, M.; Wright J. eds. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. pp. 1-11.
Jurassic World received criticism for its outdated depiction of featherless Velociraptors, a design choice that was made to maintain consistency with earlier films. Horner said "we knew Velociraptor should have feathers and be more colorful, but we couldn't really change that look because everything goes back to the first movie". Velociraptor is also depicted holding its front limbs in an outdated manner, not supported by scientific findings. Research has also found that the real animal lacked the flexible tails and snarling facial expressions that are depicted in the film.
Production background In the first film, the raptors were created through a combination of animatronics by Winston and CGI by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). A fully functioning raptor head took Winston four months to create. Two raptor animatronics were created; one with a tail and one without a tail. Because the tail required four puppeteers to control, the tailless animatronic was created to save labor when the tail did not have to be within the shot. The eyes of the animatronics were radio-controlled, and the tails were controlled by hidden rods. Because each animatronic required so many puppeteers to operate, no shot in the kitchen sequence ever had both Velociraptors portrayed by animatronics; at most, one would be animatronic, and the other would be portrayed through other means. In addition to the two main animatronics, there were a number of others made for specific purposes, including a floppy puppet, an armatured robot used for CGI reference, and a locking-joint animatronic used when the Velociraptor needed to leap. Additionally, an insert head with extra facial articulation, which was used for all Velociraptor scenes but especially when its head rose into frame, was attached to a Steadicam rig.