How Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous Connects to the Movies

It was never an option for the Jurassic Park franchise to simply be lost in the abyss of time without having a few sequls and spinoffs. Fortunately, when the Jurassic World trilogy kick-started in 2015 with a new cast, it paved the way for the franchise’s rebirth. Without discrediting the original story or characters, Jurassic World continued with a whole new park that has the same old problems. With the unprecedented success of the Chris Pratt-led dinosaur movies, the franchise decided to expand its branches into other mediums.

This led to the creation of the popular Netflix animated series Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous. The series was canon to the stories of both the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World trilogies and explored the details of what happened on the sidelines after the escape of the Indominus Rex. With five seasons and an upcoming sequel under its belt, here’s how the series connects to the movie franchise.

Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous Pays Homage to Several Jurassic Park Mainstays

• Camp Cretaceous references to the original protagonists of the first movie.
• The animated series is canon to the events of the original franchise and mentions a few things from the first movie.
• Mr. DNA makes a cameo in the first episode of Camp Cretaceous.

It was an appreciable decision to keep the Jurassic World franchise connected to the original story as it showed that crossovers could work. Fans had waited for the longest time to have a more pronounced affiliation with the Jurassic Park characters in the reboot trilogy rather than just passing references. And then, Jurassic World Dominion happened, and the main characters from both trilogies finally met. Similarly, Camp Cretaceous never failed to pay homage to the Jurassic Park lore and started the series by subtly referencing the pioneer characters of the first movie. Dr. Alan Grant and Dr. Ellie Sattler are mentioned in Season 1 as authors of an academic paper on dinosaur fossils.

Right after that, Darius is introduced as a huge dino nerd playing an impossibly difficult dinosaur video game. The famous goofy Mr. DNA cartoon character makes a cameo in the game when Darius wins his trip to Camp Cretaceous. It’s the same iconic character that appeared in the first movie when John Hammond gave his presentation to Grant, Sattler, and Ian Malcolm when he invited them to visit and review his park. A little down the road in the series, another Jurassic Park mainstay makes a surprising appearance, and it is none other than the misguided Dr. Henry Wu.

Jurassic World and Camp Cretaceous Take Place Simultaneously

• Zach and Gray were initially supposed to join Camp Cretaceous.
• They were later handed to Zara because of a disagreement with counselors Dave and Roxie.
• The campers meet the Indominus Rex after its escape from containment, like in the Jurassic World movie.

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Jurassic World kicks off with Claire Dearing’s nephews visiting Jurassic World, and the six campers are also invited to join Camp Cretaceous at the same time. It’s unclear whether they arrive on the same day or earlier, but the kids are present when the fateful incident takes place, and the events of the movie are shown from their perspective. Played by Bryce Dallas Howard, Claire Dearing works for Masrani and is tasked with entertaining her nephews, Zach and Gray, for the week. Although it’s not exclusively mentioned in the movie whether they were campers or just visitors, their characters were hinted at in Season 1. Roxie briefly mentions Dearing’s nephews in the series during her phone call with her.

Claire had planned to put her nephews in the camp, but by that time, the main campers had started trouble. So, the counselors went to talk to her to grant them more manpower if there were supposed to be more children. On the phone call, Roxie said that she knew Claire’s nephews were supposed to join the camp. However, they were later left in Zara’s care while Claire dealt with the Indominus Rex. The ruckus caused by the dinosaur’s escape was the reason why the campers were stranded on the island in the first place.

The main antagonist of Jurassic World is the Indominus Rex, which is only one of the few dinosaurs that appear to terrorize the campers but aren’t specifically focused. Camp Cretaceous impressively follows Jurassic World’s main events without making the connection too obvious. For instance, when Roxie and Dave go out to complain to Claire about the lack of manpower, she isn’t available at the moment because she’s already out dealing with the “asset” that escaped.

Camp Cretaceous Recreates Several Jurassic World Scenes

• Camp Cretaceous subtly recreates a few Jurassic World iconic scenes.
• Both Masrani and Wu first appeared in Jurassic World.
• Dr. Wu later came back as an antagonist in the animated series, while Masrani was only mentioned.

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One of the earliest scenes that immediately reminds the audience of the Jurassic World movie is the appearance of Dr. Henry Wu. The famous geneticist briefly appeared in the 1993 Jurassic Park movie but later took a central role in the Jurassic World trilogy. He’s introduced as the leading authority in Jurassic World’s dinosaur engineering and cloning division. In the series, he’s introduced to a similar environment where he gives the campers a brief tour of his lab and even catches Brooklynn snooping around. Dr. Wu later returns in Season 3, which sets up his later appearances in the movies.

Another scene that the animated series recreates without being too obvious is Masrani’s stunt with the helicopter. In the movie, Masrani takes the helicopter to chase down the Indominus Rex and kill it. However, his piloting goes horribly wrong, and the chopper crashes into the Pteranodon dome. The iconic scene is witnessed from afar by the campers, but it’s brief since the accident lets loose the Pteranodons, and the kids have to rush to safety immediately.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Connects to Season 3

• Fallen Kingdom’s prologue takes place in the last few episodes of Camp Cretaceous Season 3.
• Wu returns to the island before going to the Lockwood manor auction or creating the Indoraptor.

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Although the Indominus Rex was taken care of by Claire and Owen in the movies, the campers had more challenges on the island than just a rogue dinosaur. While everyone in Jurassic World was safely evacuated, it’s revealed through the animated series that it was not the case for the campers. They were stranded on the island for about a year before being rescued, and surprisingly, the series becomes canon with Fallen Kingdom as well during its third season. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’s prologue, where the mercenaries try to retrieve the Indominus Rex’s DNA and Dr. Wu’s remaining research, takes place during the last two episodes of Season 3.

Before Henry Wu was at Lockwood Manor, he made a short trip to Isla Nublar. Instead of rescuing the campers, he blackmailed them to hand over the research. Besides Dr. Wu’s return, the series also recreates Fallen Kingdom’s iconic opening scene where a mercenary is trying to escape the T-Rex but then eventually gets eaten by the Mosasurus. Since the volcanic eruption of Mt. Sibo took place around 2018, and the kids were rescued in 2016, they could not have witnessed the destruction of the island when being rescued.

Jurassic World Dominion’s Big Bad Makes a Cameo in Season 5

• Camp Cretaceous offers several references to past characters and props.
• Lewis Dodgson is introduced in Season 5 as Daniel’s ally.
• The end of Camp Cretaceous connects directly to the end of Fallen Kingdom.

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It’s safe to say that Camp Cretaceous is a separate story from the movie franchise, but it takes place in the same reality. The animated series is more focused on the details of the things that happened behind the main movie timeline. Camp Cretaceous offers a buildup that isn’t in the movies but connects key characters right into the story. For instance, Biosyn’s head, Lewis Dodgson, appears in the final season of the series as an ally of Mantah Corp and Kenji’s dad. Dodgson is the main villain in Jurassic World Dominion, which takes place four years after the events of the first movie.

Another canon event that connects Camp Cretaceous to the original franchise is the iconic Barbasol shaving cream can that was used in the first Jurassic Park movie to steal dinosaur DNA which was lost in Jurassic Park. Dodgson is seen holding the can in Camp Cretaceous and later in Dominion, which proves the series’ dedication to sticking to the source material. Besides Dodgson, one of the most obvious things that connects Camp Cretaceous, specifically to the Jurassic World trilogy, is the final scene of Season 5. When an older Darius looks out his window, he sees a Brachiosaurus out in the open.

The scene connects the series to the end of Fallen Kingdom when the dinosaurs escaped from Lockwood Manor and scattered across the globe as free entities. This proved that the series took place in the same world as in the movies, especially when Brooklynn mentioned in her video call that she was investigating mysterious events happening at Lockwood Manor. This coincides with the auction of the stolen dinosaurs happening there.

With Jurassic World: Chaos Theory about to debut on Netflix, fans are anticipating how the Camp Fam’s next adventure would connect to the movies. The last that the fans heard, Brooklynn was out investigating what happened at Lockwood Manor. That would mean that it’s possible the series might take place during the time of the Fallen Kingdom or the four-year gap between the former and Dominion. Just like in the original animated series, Chaos Theory might reveal the details of what happened behind the scenes of the great dinosaur escape at the end of Fallen Kingdom and how it affected the world.

Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous

Six teenagers win a competition and land a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend Camp Cretaceous, an exclusive dinosaur adventure camp on Isla Nublar, the island featured in the Jurassic World movies. Their excitement soon turns to chaos when the Indominus rex wreaks havoc, leading to power outages, dinosaur escapes, and complete isolation. Stranded on the island with limited resources and no way to contact the mainland, the campers must rely on their wit, courage, and newfound friendships to survive the dangers lurking in the jungle. They encounter various dinosaurs, both familiar and new, face internal conflicts, and ultimately learn to trust and support each other as they strive to find a way off the island.

Genre

Animated Action-Adventure, Sci-Fi Drama

Language

TV-PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)

Number of Seasons

5

Debut Date

September 18, 2020

Studio

DreamWorks Animation Television