{"id":2414,"date":"2018-08-04T09:09:52","date_gmt":"2018-08-04T17:09:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thomas-hopp.com\/blog\/?p=2414"},"modified":"2023-08-12T06:42:03","modified_gmt":"2023-08-12T14:42:03","slug":"jurassic-world-vs-dinosaur-wars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thomas-hopp.com\/blog\/2018\/08\/04\/jurassic-world-vs-dinosaur-wars\/","title":{"rendered":"Jurassic World vs Dinosaur Wars"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ever get the feeling someone was looking over your shoulder while you were reading a book?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, these days I\u2019m getting that feeling as I WRITE my books. I have a sneaking suspicion that some of the people writing the scripts for the Jurassic Park movie series have been keeping an eye on my Dinosaur Wars stories for some time now. That would explain how they keep using scenes I published years earlier in one or another of my books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Want proof, so you can get into my not-so-paranoid view of things? Have a look at the image above, an out-take from Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, now playing at a theater near you. Wait a minute! That\u2019s an exact copy of a scene I published six years ago in Dinosaur Wars: Blood on the Moon, the third novel in my Dinosaur Wars trilogy. Imagine my surprise when I went to a theater and saw something I came up with years ago appearing on the silver screen!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For comparison, here is the scene as it appeared in my novel:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They watched two wet-suited young men ride on the face of a huge North Pacific swell as it rose in the shallows between two sea stacks. \u201cThey\u2019ve gotta be crazy to surf in that cold water,\u201d Hebert said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve gotta be crazy to surf in the middle of dinosaur territory,\u201d Suarez corrected. Just then, one of the surfers hooked his board hard in an effort to miss an obstacle hidden beneath the surface while the other raced on. Before the first could complete his kick-out, the water near him frothed up and the snout of a big sea creature emerged. The man dove to one side as the beast\u2019s head rose from the water. It was covered with dark green reptilian scales and possessed long jaws lined with savage-looking crocodile teeth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHoo-wee!\u201d Hebert exclaimed. The surfer vanished beneath the water and the tylosaur bit the surfboard at its center, snapping it in two. The monstrous, snakelike creature swirled around in the water and came back to seize, not the surfer, who remained underwater, but the front half of the board. It gulped the mouthful down in a single swallow and then slid smoothly beneath the blue-green surface of the ocean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A moment later, the surfer came to the surface and swam toward shore at what looked like an Olympic-record pace. And wisely so. The huge sea reptile rose again, riding up and over a swell. It did not, however, go after the unlucky surfer. Instead, it made several convulsive retching motions and coughed up the half surfboard. Meanwhile, the surfer caught a wave and body surfed to shore where his partner awaited him with his board tucked under an arm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The drama wasn\u2019t over yet, however. As the unlucky surfer stood up and splashed toward the beach, struggling against the undertow, his buddy shouted and pointed beyond him. The man turned in time to see the tylosaur also surfing a big wave to shore. Its jaws were wide open and its thrashing, snake-like body propelled it straight at him!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The man splashed up-beach in the wave wash but went down in the shallows. Then he stood and high-stepped in the shallows like a football player avoiding a tackler, angling slightly to avoid the onrushing jaws, which snapped shut just behind his buttocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNice moves!\u201d cried Suarez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGah!\u201d Tlatalko agreed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the tylosaur plowed into the sand and came to a halt, both surfers retreated up the beach, no doubt thanking their lucky stars to be alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow it\u2019s stranded,\u201d said Hebert, watching the tylosaur thrash in the shallow water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d Suarez replied as the animal carved its long serpentine tail across the face of an incoming wave and deftly leveraged itself off the sand and back toward the sea. \u201cThat thing\u2019s got some good moves of its own!\u201d One more tail slash and the immense reptile vanished into the surf as swiftly as it had appeared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWow!\u201d Hebert exclaimed as the two surfers made for the safety of the driftwood and dunes above the wave-wash. \u201cI guess surfers have a whole new animal to worry about besides great white sharks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah,\u201d Suarez agreed. \u201cAnd I\u2019d say great white sharks have a whole new animal to worry about too\u2014great green lizards!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

***<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, as Oscar Wilde once said, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But I\u2019m starting to get annoyed by the frequency with which Steven Spielberg and his team tap my ideas without so much as a byline in the credits at the end of the movie. Not only have they grabbed my Mosasaur vs surfer scene, but there are more instances, and I get the feeling the rate of tapping my ideas is escalating.<\/p>\n\n\n

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In the previous Jurassic World movie, back in 2015, they did their first grab of Dinosaur Wars by introducing their Mosasaur. Also in that movie, they introduced Chris Pratt\u2019s character, Owen Grady, who is a dinosaur trainer. Well, excuse me, but you should read my Tyrannosaur-training scene right up front at the beginning of Dinosaur Wars: Blood on the Moon (2012), if you want some real heart-pounding, life-or-death dino-training drama. Here it is. Try it on for size, Steven:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tyrannosaurus was a big one. It stalked across the brushy grassland of the Montana high plains smoothly on two towering legs that somehow moved gracefully despite their tree-like size. The huge carnivore placed one three-clawed foot on the ground almost gently, followed slowly by the other foot in a stealthy fluid motion. The immense tawny-furred animal blended into the tan colors of the grasslands so well as to be almost unnoticeable despite its size. Keeping its head low and its long tail stretched out behind, it was stalking something it smelled on the warm morning air currents. The brown and tan zebra-striped mane along the crest of its neck stood tall with anticipation of a kill. Its nose came up slightly each time it sniffed the light breeze. Then it would adjust its course a little to follow the scent it was homing in on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That scent was far too faint for a human nose to detect but was easily traced by the powerful sensory system within the rex\u2019s snout, one that rivaled or surpassed that of a wolf\u2019s nose. After a few more paces into the wind the rex sniffed again, adjusted its direction once more\u2014and caught sight of its quarry. Now the big beast accelerated its pace, tracking visually but still moving fluidly and silently on its well-padded feet. It obviously hoped to reach its prey without causing it to flee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That prey, Chase Armstrong, adjusted the bill of his green National Park Service ball cap to keep the sun out of his eyes. \u201cHe\u2019s seen us,\u201d he murmured with just the hint of an edge on his voice. \u201cHere he comes!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh my God,\u201d Kit Daniels whispered from just behind Chase\u2019s shoulder. \u201cAre you sure this is a good idea?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI guess we\u2019ll see.\u201d Chase rose from his exposed driver\u2019s seat to face the oncoming rex. \u201cHey you!\u201d he shouted at it. \u201cWant some of this?\u201d He waved his arms to be certain the rex was fixated on him. It was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the rex accelerated to a full charge with its feet thundering on the ground, Chase turned around, bent over, and slapped a butt cheek provocatively. \u201cNice and meaty!\u201d he shouted. \u201cCome and get it!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChase!\u201d Kit cried, watching the rex loom larger with each stride. \u201cI don\u2019t think you should be doing that!\u201d She peered around Chase from where she sat behind him in the second seat of the Kra walking machine. She had planned to stand up with Chase when this moment came, but something about a tyrannosaurus charging in her direction made her too shaky to rise without her knees buckling. After all, it had been she, not Chase, who had escaped the jaws of one of these huge carnivores twice in a single day. And those memories were recent enough that their terror hadn\u2019t faded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the rex was within twenty paces, it let out a piercing shriek like the battle cry of a titanic eagle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEnough is enough, Chase!\u201d Kit cried. \u201cI\u2019ve been here, done this!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe\u2019s gotta get closer.\u201d Chase\u2019s voice remained calm somehow, though Kit\u2019s heart was racing crazily. Maybe Chase\u2019s years as a park ranger dealing with angry grizzly bears had prepared him for this challenge. \u201cGar says we need to give him a good look at us and make sure he knows it\u2019s humans he\u2019s trying to eat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll be humans he does eat<\/em> if you don\u2019t do something, quick!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust let him get a bit closer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

***<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And you might have noticed another story element that Jurassic World lifted from me. In contrast to the older, dry and loveless Jurassic Park movies, Jurassic World introduces a budding romance between two characters, Owen Grady and Claire Dearing, played by Bryce Dallas Howard. Yeah. Uh-huh. That would be like harkening back to my original Dinosaur Wars story from 2000. In Earthfall, I immediately introduced both Chase Armstrong and Kit Daniels right up front as the lead characters, who very quickly became romantically involved. A little slow on that one, Jurassic World, but okay, you\u2019re catching on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And finally, there\u2019s that bit toward the end of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, showing dinosaurs escaping Isla Nublar and invading the mainland. Jeez, JP. What took you so long? As I sat in the theater watching Jeff Goldblum speak Ian Malcolm\u2019s last line, \u201cWelcome to Jurassic World,\u201d I felt a strong sense of irony and just a little irritation. My whole concept for my Dinosaur Wars series has been \u201cDinosaurs in your backyard!\u201d And now we see the velociraptor, Blue, overlooking the glittering lights of Los Angeles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, I guess Mr. Spielberg and his buddies are making me a promise. After twenty-five years of dallying around on a tropical island, they are finally going to come ashore and take over the space my dinosaurs have been occupying since 2000. The least they could do is recognize the source of their idea. Or better yet, engage my services to help them do a really good job of it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hey, Steven Spielberg! Why don\u2019t you just go ahead and hire me as one of your writers? That way you won\u2019t have to bring up the rear anymore. You won\u2019t have to eat my tyrannosaur dust. You can stay up to date with my latest ideas. I wouldn\u2019t mind. Especially at YOUR pay scale!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ever get the feeling someone was looking over your shoulder while you were reading a book? Well, these days I\u2019m getting that feeling as I WRITE my books. I have a sneaking suspicion that some of the people writing the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64,9],"tags":[423,422,9,354,35,353,421],"class_list":["post-2414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-author","category-dinosaur-country","tag-bryce-dallas-howard","tag-chris-pratt","tag-dinosaur-country","tag-dinosaur-trainer","tag-dinosaur-wars","tag-owen-grady","tag-velociraptor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thomas-hopp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thomas-hopp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thomas-hopp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thomas-hopp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thomas-hopp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2414"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"http:\/\/thomas-hopp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2916,"href":"http:\/\/thomas-hopp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2414\/revisions\/2916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thomas-hopp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thomas-hopp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thomas-hopp.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}