Jurassic World: 25 Essential Elements

Fake product placement

Franchise Appearances: Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park

Why It's Essential: Stuffed dinosaurs, JP t-shirts, lunchboxes... Dr Malcolm derided the Jurassic Park products in the film (“You patented it, and packaged it, and slapped it on a plastic lunchbox”), but that's all part of the fun. And with kids’ toys only getting more complex with every passing year, the gift shop in Jurassic World should be AMAZING.

Cute dinosaurs that are deadly

Franchise Appearances: Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park

Why It's Essential: Dennis Nedry and that little girl at the start of Lost World learned this lesson the hard way – just because it looks adorable (and sort of seems to be smiling) doesn't mean that this dinosaur doesn't want to rip you a few new orifices. We want more of those cute-but-deadly dinos, please. (Those things from Attack The Block were dinosaurs, right?)

All-terrain vehicles

Franchise Appearances: Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park

Why It's Essential: The jeeps were central to the biggest set-piece in the first Jurassic Park and they looked pretty snazzy on-screen, too. We've already been given a glimpse of the all-terrain vehicles in Jurassic World (above), which are bigger and less gaudy, but just because they seem sturdier doesn't mean they won't be put to the test. A lot. Probably.

Pseudo-science

Franchise Appearances: Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park III

Why It's Essential: We still remember how upset we were when spoil-sport scientists revealed that you couldn't actually resurrect dinosaurs using DNA salvaged from fossilised mosquitoes, but STILL. We love the pseudo-science, which adds vague credibility to an outlandish (and awesome) idea. It seems we'll get that in spades with Jurassic World : director Colin Trevorrow has already revealed that the film will contain a “new dinosaur created by the park's geneticists”.

Scary dino facts

Franchise Appearances: Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park III

Why It's Essential: In the second scene of the first movie, Sam Neill graphically described how a raptor might stalk then gut a human being. Which is definitely something we can boogy to. The scary dino facts not only educate our tiny little minds, they also set up serious stakes within the narrative. Now that we know how a raptor works, we're terrified to see it actually happening...

Big laughs

Franchise Appearances: Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park III

Why It's Essential: It's not a Spielberg movie if it doesn't have you screaming and then busting a gut laughing. The humour is key to the success of each of the JP movies. (“Well, we're back... in the car again.”) With the likes of Chris Pratt and Jack Johnson on board, it'll surely be impossible for World to NOT be funny. Perhaps the real problem will be making sure it's not TOO funny. This isn’t Dinosaurs …

Vehicular accidents

Franchise Appearances: Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park III

Why It's Essential: Vehicles are dangerous, but never more so when you add dinosaurs into the mix. Or more specifically T-Rexes, which make mincemeat of numerous jeeps in the first film before dangling a lab-on-wheels over a cliff in film two. And film three had that epic plane crash. So Jurassic World , surely, will see Man having considerable problems with Machine. There's already a shot of Pratt astride a motorcycle, hinting that vehicular accidents are still all the rage...

Technology fails

Franchise Appearances : Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park III

Why It's Essential: Whether it's Dennis Nedry purposefully booby-trapping the park's systems or the T-Rex cage not quite doing its job in The Lost World, tech hiccups are always central to a Jurassic Park movie’s story. How else are the dinosaurs supposed to get out?

Dino juices

Franchise Appearances: Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park III

Why It's Essential: Yes, the dinosaurs look amazingly life-like and yes, movie magic is incredible, but the thing that really added that extra boost of credibility was, well, the dino juices. The poo pile and the black spit that blinds Nedry in the first film are gross but necessary. After all, dinosaurs were animals, and animals tend to make a bit of a mess. JP 3 gave us that excrement-caked giant birdcage. What on earth will JW serve up? We can't wait.

Richard Attenborough

Franchise Appearances: Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park

Why It's Essential: He added both Christmassy levity and an undercurrent of menace to the first Jurassic Park before cameoing in the second film, but what's old John Hammond up to nowadays? Is he responsible for successfully launching Jurassic World ? And if so, surely he needs to make some sort of showing in the new movie? Failing that, we're sure bro David Attenborough would be up for a cameo appearance...

Body parts

Franchise Appearances: Jurassic Park

Why It's Essential: When it comes to gory stuff, the Jurassic Park movies tend to keep it (mostly) off screen. While that's fine, chucking in a disembodied arm (Samuel L Jackson's) certainly didn't hurt the first movie, and came as part of a pretty fun gag. More funny body parts, say we!

Animatronics

Franchise Appearances: Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park III

Why It's Essential: CGIs great and all that, but there's nothing like the magic of a full-size puppet. All three JP films seamlessly blended animatronic dinos with those forged inside an Industrial Light & Magic computer, and Jurassic World will surely do the same (especially if a few pics Tweeted from the set are anything to go by). After all, great CGI is still just CGI. Puppets, you feel like you can reach in and touch (or have your hand chewed off by).

Scared kids

Franchise Appearances: Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park III

Why It's Essential: What's a Jurassic Park movie without the squealing kiddies? Sure, the adult players can scream, but what we really want to see is bolshie kids being taught a lesson or two in the perils of Mother Nature. Yes, the kids are there as something for younger audience members to identify with, but they're essential to the genetics of a JP movie. Scared kids = very scared adults in the audience.

Kick-ass lady

Franchise Appearances: Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park

Why It's Essential: Poor Téa Leoni sort of dropped the heroine ball in Jurassic Park III, letting Sam Neill do most of the ass-kicking, but the JP franchise is all about women doing it for themselves. Laura Dern and Julianne Moore set the bar high, so Bryce Dallas Howard has a lot to live up to in JW. Considering her previous roles as a steely elitist in The Help and Mrs John Connor in Terminator Salvation , we bet she nails it.

Isla Nublar

Franchise Appearances : Jurassic Park

Why It's Essential: One of the most exciting things about Jurassic World is that it's going to return us to Isla Nublar for the first time since Spielberg's original JP ( JP 2 and 3 were set on sister island Isla Sorna). Not only that, but the film will feature an open and fully-functioning park (concept art above), which is something we've never seen before. This is going to be wild...

The nerdy hero

Franchise Appearances: Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park III

Why It's Essential: Spielberg's heroes are pretty much always nerds – yes, even Professor Indiana Jones is one (you can tell because he wears specs when he's not relic-hunting). It's true in ET and it's true in Jurassic Park, where the lead dino-killers are (move over Ross Geller) palaeontologists. As well as a reappearance for Dr Wong, apparently Chris Pratt's character in JW will be a dino behaviourist, so we're all good. (PS, When did nerds get so hot?)

Dino versus dino

Franchise Appearances: Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park III

Why It's Essential: The T-Rex chowed down on raptors in the first JP , then went up against the formidable Spinosaurus in numero tre. Meanwhile, Peter Jackson's King Kong pit three T-Rexes against the giant ape, proving that dino on dino skirmishes are exactly what all movies really need. Including Jurassic World . Fingers crossed, eh?

Conspiracy

Franchise Appearances: Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park III

Why It's Essential: The running and screaming is all very entertaining, but the undercurrent of conspiracy and corruption in the first Jurassic Park added loads of meat to those blockbuster bones. JP s 2 and 3 toyed around with the idea a little more (check out JP3 's lab scene), but we want to see the conspiracy angle explored even further in Jurassic World. Just who was Nedry stealing dinosaur eggs for, anyway?

New dinos

Franchise Appearances: Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park III

Why It's Essential: Every new JP movie adds in new dinosaurs. The question with Jurassic World is, what's next? All the best-known ones have already been done, so we're thinking Trevorrow will chuck in some pretty crazy stuff this time around. The Utahraptor, the Yutyrannus and the Giganotosaurus have all yet to make an appearance in the franchise, but our bet's on the knobbly Carnotaurus (above) for JW. It's territorial, cannibalistic and one MEAN MOFO.

Rain

Franchise Appearances: Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park III

Why It's Essential: Who doesn't love a good rain scene? All three of the JP flicks so far contain one, and they're all doozies – who could forget the first film's T-Rex assault, or the second film's moment of soggy cliff-hanging, or the third film's boat catastrophe? In the world of Jurassic Park , rain = BIG drama. We expect Chris Pratt will be getting his overalls on at some point.

Spectacle

Franchise Appearances : Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park III

Why It's Essential: “Ooh, aah, that's how it always starts. But later there's running and screaming,” remarked Jeff Goldblum sagely in The Lost World . Well, yes, but the “oohs” and “aahs” are pivotal to the Jurassic Park franchise – from the stampeding herd of Parasaurolophus to our first glimpse of brontosaurus' in the first film. Spectacle is key. Which, we're sure, Trevorrow knows.

John Williams' theme

Franchise Appearances: Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park III

Why It's Essential: Not just because Total Film's acting ed likes to sing the Jurassic Park theme tune with words (“Din-o-saur, I'm a din-o-saur...”), but also because Jurassic Park without that iconic John Williams theme is like a dinosaur without claws. Majestic, sweeping, melodious, Williams' music simply IS Jurassic Park . Question is, with Michael Giacchino ( Star Trek, Up ) scoring this time, what's he going to come up with for Jurassic World ?

Gobby wise-ass

Franchise Appearances: Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park

Why It's Essential: We've covered the nerdy hero and the kick-ass heroine, but this one's the most important – the gobby wise-ass is the guy who points out all the plot’s flaws, thereby adding credibility to the movie, and creating interesting tensions within the principal cast. Jeff Goldblum did it expertly in the first two JP s, and that's surely why Jake Johnson's in Jurassic World. Feather-ruffling, here we come!

T-Rex

Franchise Appearances: Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park III

Why It's Essential: It's emblazoned on the JP logo, for a start. The words 'Jurassic' and 'Park' are pretty much synonymous with 'tyrannosaurus rex', mostly thanks to Steven Spielberg's epic first movie. It's been 13 years since we had a JP movie, and the new one simply has to contain a T-Rex in some form, or audiences will feel cheated – especially as old rex is still on the logo for the Jurassic World theme park.

Dinosaur attacks

Franchise Appearances: Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park III

Why It's Essential: Well, duh, they're pretty much the whole reason anybody goes to see a Jurassic Park film. Just imagine Saw without the nasty booby traps. Or Planet Of The Apes with no monkeys. When it comes to dino attacks in Jurassic World , we're hoping Trevorrow has some big aces up his sleeve. After all, there have already been some pretty jawsome attack scenes in the franchise. Could the “new dinosaur” Trevorrow's talked about maybe breathe FIRE?

Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.