While it may be a point of disappointment for the director, Steven Spielberg snuck a deep-cut Easter egg from his filmography inThe Lost World: Jurassic Park, and a VFX team looks to be the first to have uncovered it. The 1997 film followed Jeff Goldblum’s Ian Malcolm as he ventured to Isla Sorna in the hopes of stopping John Hammond’s ambitious nephew from launching a new amusement park. Loosely based onMichael Crichton’s sequel book,The Lost Worldsaw mixed reviews from critics and audiences alike, but its box office success kept theJurassic Parkfranchise alive.
InCorridor Crew’s latest episode of their “VFX Artists React” series, the group took a look back atThe Lost World: Jurassic Park. While reviewing the movie’s iconicT. rexrampage scene, the group humorously took note of the fake movie posters at a Blockbuster Video showcasing a Robin Williams-starringJack and the Beanstalksand Arnold Schwarzenegger-ledKing Learadaptation. It would be the latter that would attract their attention, with Niko Pueringer revealing it to be adeep-cut Spielberg Easter egg harking back to his work onAnimaniacs. Check out their explanation in the quote and video below:
There is no Arnold Schwarzenegger King Lear, and there is no sequel to [Robin Williams’] Jack called Jack and the Beanstalks. Now, the crazy thing about this Easter egg, we’re going to go deep on this Easter egg here. Steven Spielberg was the executive producer of Animaniacs, there’s an Animaniacs skit about reading Variety, the magazine about Hollywood’s entertainment business — which is a super inside baseball skit — and there’s a joke in there that Yakko makes that Paramount is struggling, so they cast Arnold Schwarzenegger in King Lear. It’s a lyric from an Animaniacs song, and they put it into a poster in Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park 2.
What The Lost World’s Animaniacs Easter Egg Meant For Spielberg
He Would Later Bring It Full Circle
Across its five-season original run, and three-season revival run,Animaniacsproved to be just as much for adult audiencesas for young ones with its meta commentary and humor. As denoted by the Corridor Crew group in the above video, the “Variety Speak” skit is certainly one segment that required more of an in-depth knowledge of Hollywood than most younger viewers were privy to. Some of the other more notableAnimaniacsreferences to have gone over kids' heads at the time include the infamous “Fingerprints” joke and2001: A Space Odysseyparody.
Animaniacs: 10 Funniest References You Didn’t Get As A Kid
The Animaniacs loved to parody all kinds of movies and shows - but most kids probably didn’t realize it at the time.
Given the show was still generally targeted towards kids,it also makes sense why some adult viewers wouldn’t recognize the fauxKing Learposter inThe Lost World: Jurassic Park. The broad idea of a Schwarzenegger-led William Shakespeare adaptation is humorous enough to catch older audiences' eyes, particularly when paired with the fake Robin Williams and Tom Hanks movie posters, the former of which was already another Spielberg nod to his and Williams’Hookfrom a few years prior to the firstJurassic Park.
Interestingly enough, Spielberg would even bring theAnimaniacsandJurassic Parkreferencecycle full circle with the latter revival’s premiere,in which the three-time Oscar winner appeared himself to welcome the returns of Yakko, Wakko, Dot, Pinky and the Brain to the screen. It would come with a few twists, however, as Andy Milder voiced Spielberg, Brain actor Maurice LaMarche voiced Goldblum’s Ian Malcolm, Keith Ferguson voiced Sam Neill’s Dr. Grant and Abby Trott voiced Laura Dern’s Dr. Sattler.
Our Take On The Lost World’s Animaniacs Easter Egg
Spielberg Has Frequently Paid Homage To Some Of His Most Iconic Works
Given he’s been behind some of the most iconic franchises in history, Spielberg’s films are some of the most parodied and referenced in pop culture, but it’s even more fascinating when the filmmaker looks to include them in his own movies, as he did withThe Lost World. His2018 adaptation ofReady Player Oneis certainly the one with the most self-referential Easter eggs thanks to its video game setting, while the likes ofThe Adventures of Tintinfeatured a few nods to hisIndiana Jonesmovies, showing his continued appreciation for all of his past works.
The Lost World: Jurassic Park
Cast
The Lost World: Jurassic Park, directed by Steven Spielberg, follows Ian Malcolm as he joins an expedition to document dinosaurs on a remote island where they’ve been secretly bred by John Hammond. Set four years after the events in Jurassic Park, this action thriller explores the challenges of observing these prehistoric creatures.
