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In 2015, Jurassic World introduced newcomers to a fantastical yet dangerous world where dinosaurs had returned. It also brought back, for longtime fans, the nostalgia of the franchise on the big screen. While the first film of this trilogy received great reviews and ranked in the top 10 of the highest-grossing movies of all time, its sequels did not fare that well.
The second film in the trilogy, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, was criticized for its pacing, amidst other issues. The third one, Jurassic World Dominion, failed as a legacy film and did little to escape the wrath of critics.
However, the future of the franchise is not as dark as the narrative where the Indoraptor lurks. The story that garnered lots of great reviews was the animated Netflix spinoff series, Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous.
The success of Camp Cretaceous led fans to be hyped for its sequel series, Jurassic World: Chaos Theory, which features the adult versions of the same cast.
Disclaimer: The following article has spoilers about the Jurassic Park/ World franchise. Reader's discretion is advised.
What is Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous about?
Chronologically, Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous takes place at around the same time that the events of the first film took place. The story follows six teens, handpicked for different reasons, who are brought to Isla Nublar before the Indominus Rex break-out, as part of a summer camp.
However, as the film's events unfold, the children are trapped in a dinosaur-infested world with time running out for escape. The first season details their attempts to escape from the island, with succeeding seasons focussing on their attempts to survive on the island.
A longer episodic format enables more character development
The events of Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous happen through five seasons, with three of them taking place on the original Isla Nublar. The main cast remains the same for the most part, with the six children spending considerable time with each other (and dinosaurs).
Ample screen time is dedicated to each character and the group dynamics, as well as their attempts to come to terms with their families and past lives. This allows the fleshing out of the characters. For instance, Darius grows from the stereotypical nerd to the survivalist leader. Kenji learns responsibility while Brooklyn showcases that she has more grit than people first assume.
Yazmina learns to open up. Sammy learns to trust her friends, while Ben transforms from a scared little kid to a character who can face off against a medium-sized carnivore with the help of his Ankylosaurus Bumpy.
In contrast, despite being in two films, Maisie Lockwood in the Jurassic World sequels barely gets a chance to show different dimensions to her, partially due to the lack of screen time attributed to her.
Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous explores new grounds
While each Jurassic World sequel attempted to bring out bigger monsters and dangerous hybrids as concluding villains, the climax of Camp Cretaceous explores a different aspect of the franchise's themes. Season 2 deals with two poachers attempting to shoot the dinosaurs, with the children attempting to save them.
On the other hand, seasons 4 and 5 take place on a different island and focus on themes of corporate corruption. Kenji receives a character arc where he has to choose between the family he was born into (the family being part of said corruption) and the family he had found in his companions.
Camp Cretaceous features different sides of the dinosaurs too, portraying them as nurturing caregivers, intelligent survivors, and unique creatures from a time and place we do not know, rather than simply monsters craving the blood of human beings. Hence, despite its lack of reliance on legacy characters, Camp Cretaceous is viewed as successful.
Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous explores interspecies relationships better
While the relationship between Owen Grady and the Velociraptor Blue was the primary interspecies relationship of the Jurassic World films, the limited screentime offered to the same implied that viewers could not watch the relationship blossom except in flashbacks.
This was especially prominent in Fallen Kingdom when Owen was training the Velociraptors, and shared a tender moment with a hatchling Blue, who was deemed unique in her ability to showcase empathy.
However, what this relationship left wanting in viewers, was fulfilled by the first three seasons of Camp Cretaceous. Bumpy was portrayed to be an Ankylosaurus hatchling with a deformity, one who was deemed weak and possibly unfit to survive. Ben, as the most anxiety-ridden of the protagonists could empathize with that, and immediately took a liking to her.
Their relationship only grew from then on, from Bumpy finding Ben when the latter was alone and knocked out, to the two fighting against a Carnotaurus together, to Ben's final, tear-jerking decision to leave Bumpy as he sailed away from the island with his friends.
What lies in the future?
Jurassic World: Chaos Theory is in the works, and, according to the trailer, seems to be a distant sequel to Camp Cretaceous. The latter concluded with the characters all grown up and talking to each other over an online video call when a long-necked Sauropod ambled past Darius' window. This shows that the ending of Camp Cretaceous happened after the conclusion of Fallen Kingdom when Maisie had let the dinosaurs out.
Chaos Theory is set to pick up from there, and the teaser features the characters seemingly being hunted and chased by a mysterious organization. The responses to the trailer have been largely and overwhelmingly positive. In contrast, viewers had largely criticized Jurassic World Dominion, with many even considering it a poor end to the trilogy despite the return of Alan Grant, Ian Malcolm, and Ellie Sattler.
As such, while some have expressed skepticism about Jurassic City, the sequel series to Jurassic World, it might be too early to judge something we know little of. Only time will tell whether Jurassic City and Jurassic World: Chaos Theory will continue to thrive like the dinosaurs they portray, or spell the extinction of the franchise.
Both the animated and live-action storylines can be found on Netflix.
