Spielberg discovered the story by total accident. He was working on a script that would eventually become the hit television show ER with author Michael Crichton, who casually mentioned his new dinosaur book, prompting Spielberg to immediately buy the film rights.
The director was essentially forced to make the movie. Spielberg desperately wanted to direct his passion project, Schindler’s List, but the studio president would only give him the green light if he agreed to film his dinosaur blockbuster first.
A theme park ride inspired the original plan. The initial idea was to build every single dinosaur as a massive, full-size robot, heavily inspired by the King Kong ride at Universal Studios, but the team quickly realized it would be way too expensive.
The iconic logo was borrowed from the book. Unlike most movie adaptations that invent their own poster, the famous T. rex skeleton logo was taken directly from designer Chip Kidd’s artwork for the original novel’s cover.
A real hurricane shut down production. The cast and crew were trapped in their hotel when the massive Hurricane Iniki struck Hawaii during filming, and Spielberg actually used some footage of the real storm in the final movie.
The T. rex roar is an absolute animal mashup. To create that terrifying, bone-chilling screech, the sound design team recorded and blended the noises of a baby elephant, a snarling tiger, and a gurgling alligator.
The animatronic T. rex had a mind of its own. Because the giant robot skin soaked up water during the rain scenes, it would randomly shudder and twitch to life all by itself, completely terrifying the crew working on the dark set.
The famous rippling water cup was a nightmare to film. To get that iconic vibration as the dinosaur approached, a special effects expert had to lie on the floor of the car and pluck a guitar string attached to the dashboard.