Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous represents an exciting moment in the Jurassic World franchise, as it provides us with our first adventure within the universe which takes place entirely on our television screens.
The show is set primarily during the 2015 Jurassic World incident, and allows us to explore Jurassic World (both pre and post Indominus Rex breakout) through their eyes. Whilst this is a kid-friendly look at the Jurassic World universe, the show by no means pulls it punches, and provides a fun and exciting experience which I think will resonate with long-time fans of the franchise as much as it will with the young people who it has been created for.
The story of Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous is refreshingly slow. Rather than rushing to the large dinosaur set-pieces which we have all come to know and expect from the franchise, the show takes it’s time to explore the Camp setting, allowing us to experience some of the activities the kids get to experience as a part of their normal camping experience. A big concern of mine coming into the show was that we may not get the time to explore Jurassic World as much as many of us would like, so I was glad to see that I was wrong, and that the show did take the time to build upon the wider-established canon of the world. I also appreciated that the story found ways to connect to moments from Jurassic World without making them feel shoehorned in. The events, as they unfold, felt logical – and whilst there were some moments where I questioned the concurrence with the events of the film, these moments were few and far between. The advantage of eight episodes in the first season is that they provides the writers with ample time to build a connection with audiences – developing a story which has real depth to it, and which only further helps to enrich the franchise moving forwards. I was surprised to see that the story here is not self-contained, but rather, may have ramifications for the franchise moving forwards – even in a post-Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom world. The story overall does a good job of juggling action and character development with world building, and that is something which I am incredibly glad to see.
Of course no story is complete without a strong and competent cast of characters, and Camp Cretaceous brings us a cohort of six Campers, plus two Camp Counsellors, as recurring characters throughout the eight episode run. I was impressed with how diverse the selection of characters was. Each of the kids has a well-fleshed out personality, with the series gradually unpicking each character and their tropes as it progresses. I like how we get a mixed bag of kids from different backgrounds here as I feel it will make it a lot easier for young people to connect with the show, and resonate with the experiences these young people have. The characters see good growth and development across the eight episodes, with some forming into natural leaders, whilst others concur the emotions which may have prevented them from achieving their full potential earlier in the series. Even the adult characters here feel well written – with a good dynamic between the two counsellors which doesn’t feel like a far stray from the dynamics we see between many of the main characters in the Jurassic World films. I was pleasantly surprised by just how well developed the array of Campers we spend the show with were.
Whilst the humans are big characters within their own regard, I think it would be remiss to also not count the Dinosaurs as characters – and there is a fantastic variety here who really help to breath depth into the show whilst also adding a sense of impending danger to the adventures the characters undertake. The trailers have already shown characters like the Indominus Rex and Bumpy, as these dinosaurs have moments and set pieces which help them to shine. I also appreciate how some additional work has been put into the show to integrate other animals, like the Sinoceratops, helping to create a more coherent universe which connects the dots between both Jurassic World and Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom. This is a small detail, but one which helps to fully immerse viewers in the wider Jurassic universe. I also appreciated how the show felt consistent in terms of the confines of Jurassic World dinosaurs. It is well established, at this point, that there were certain dinosaurs who were present on Isla Nublar, and the show is respectful of that pre-established canon, something which I think long-term fans of the franchise will really appreciate.
We mentioned Isla Nublar and the island itself is arguably one of Jurassic’s biggest characters at this point. The world we get to explore through Camp Cretaceous is both familiar and new, something which I think, again, will really allow viewers to connect with this show. The Camp itself feels like a nice blend between Jurassic Park and Jurassic World – hitting some of those key nostalgia beats whilst still presenting us with something which could have easily functioned as a part of the modern park. I have to admit – I love how some of the locations and vistas which we explore felt as though they may have taken prompts from Jurassic World Evolution and the Evolution of Claire. It helps to ground all of these properties as set within the same universe, and adds some great visual continuity for people who have had the opportunity to experience all of these different projects. It is also fun getting to re-visit some of the iconic locations you will know from both Jurassic World and Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom – allowing us to see some of these locations in new and interesting ways. Whilst we aren’t going to talk spoilers just yet, I do want to add that ahead of the shows debut, I was adamant that I wanted to see more of the functional park – and we do get a taste of what that looks like in this show, which is very satisfying.
An important part of this show is the fact that it is animated – something which I feel had some people worried in terms of the cohesion between this show and other Jurassic World properties. I am happy to share that the animation here feels incredibly high quality overall, and it is able to find a balance between the unique style and flair that Dreamworks bring to all of their projects, whilst also maintaining the overall Jurassic World aesthetic you have come to know and expect. A Carnotaurus will look like a Carnotaurus, and will not stray too far from the pre-established visual identity we have from Fallen Kingdom, which is a great way to really double-down on grounding this as a canonical show set within the same universe. The dinosaur designs also feel as though they have had a lot of texture work put into them – with their assets feeling high quality, letting them pop on screen. There were moments where I was really impressed with the fluidity of the animation too – with some of Bumpy’s movements, in particular, feeling very dynamic and lifelike at times. If you were worried about how Jurassic would translate to the animated realm, it is safe to say that it translates pretty flawlessly.
The last thing I wanted to touch on within this review is the canon of the show – as this is something which I feel will be important to many Jurassic fans. We have heard on several occasions that this show will fit in within the wider Jurassic canon – and I am happy to say that for the most part, it is consistent with the pre-established events from the film. There are nods to moments from the first Jurassic World film at certain points which help to ground it within the canon, and there are a few fun little details which we will talk about later in the month which really help to call back to some older Jurassic Park projects – including one very unexpected nod to Jurassic Park III. The series doubles down on the Jurassic canon in ways which delighted me as a (arguably over-obsessed) fan, and even took the time out to officially add some details to the canon which had only been speculated about up until this point. I am very happy to see that the writers for this show clearly put a lot of time and energy into researching the wider world ahead of this show, as it is clear that they put a lot of work in to ensure that the sequences which we experience on screen can be placed within the pre-existing Jurassic World timeline without causing major inconsistencies.
I think that is enough gushing about the show for one review, but I am genuinely very delighted with the outcome of this show. Going into Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous, I was a little bit cynical about the “kids” focus of the show. I was unsure as to whether there would be much that I would appreciate from a more mature standpoint, but actually, the show has a lot of subtle moments and extra details which have been crafted in specifically for people who are larger fans of the franchise. There is a lot of fun content woven into the very fabric of this show which is incredibly satisfying for long-term Jurassic fans. Whilst there is more that the show could have done in terms of exploring both the world and some of the dinosaurs who inhabit it, Season One is very much about focussing on bringing these characters together as they explore Jurassic World, and it does a fantastic job of grounding both the characters, and us as an audience, within that world. I am excited to hopefully see this show used as a catalyst for much more in the way of extended Jurassic media in the future.
That’s it for our advanced review of the show – and our big thanks to Universal Studios, Netflix and Dreamworks Animation for allowing us to check out the series in advance. Stay tuned to Netflix, where you can catch the full series on September the 18th.
Check out Tom’s mini review above and also find Brad & Tom’s full non-spoiler podcast below.
Written by:
Tom Fishenden