In 1993, dinosaurs were suddenly everywhere. They had broken out of theaters and taken over toy stores, video games, bedsheets, and even cereal. Ask any kid in the 1990s what they wanted to be, and you’d get the same answer: a paleontologist. This wasn’t a coincidence — it was the Jurassic Park effect.

For context, paleontology wasn’t always this popular. Back in 1992, right before the film’s release, paleontologists were known as the “dying science” as it had been stagnant and lacking in funds and researchers since the early 1900s. Yet, just like bringing dinosaurs back from extinction on-screen, paleontology was rapidly resurrected in real life.

The public wanted to step into a world they’d only imagined at the cinemas, curious to see if John Hammond’s technology could be replicated beyond the screen. Investors, even the federal government, saw the same potential, pouring money into companies and laboratories that could be the next InGen. Imagine: studying dinosaurs was undoubtedly the new frontier — what would be more impressive than uncovering the mysteries of a prehistoric era?

Unsurprisingly, by early 1994, The Guardian reported that the US government allocated hundreds of millions of dollars to excavations and new groundwork just to study fossils. Dinosaurs were literally ruling the earth. From themed merchandise to museum exhibitions, paleontology became a cultural shift. Scientists coined this surge “The Jurassic Park Effect,” capturing how the film’s blockbuster success translated into unprecedented funding and mainstream appreciation for paleontology. 

The effect was so profound that director Steven Spielberg was granted the Gregory Service Award in 2013 by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology for his film’s impact on the field. Proof of Spielberg’s impact: Remember those kids who wanted to be paleontologists? They actually became them.

Dr. Frederickson credits his career, and that of his colleagues, to Jurassic Park. As a child, he said he could easily point to Jurassic Park as a “life-changing” moment that really made him want to get into paleontology. Dr. Steve Brusatte of Edinburgh University added that it was Jurassic Park that provided the momentum for paleontology to be practiced all over the world. That diverse group of scientists birthed the “Jurassic Generation,” filled with young scientists whose childhood dreams of becoming a paleontologist, as a result of Jurassic Park, came true.

Still, with praise came scrutiny. Critics admired the movie’s lifelike CGI while paleontologists were skeptical of its historical contradictions. The film was inevitably flawed —limited fossils from the Mesozoic era meant Spielberg’s team had to improvise those gaps, making them more performative for movie effect. Nonetheless, with new funds invested in paleontology departments, researchers had better tools: DNA cross-linking, bone reconstruction, and 3D modeling to analyze preserved fossils and footprints. Eventually, their findings revealed inaccuracies with Spielberg’s dinosaurs. 

For instance, the film version velociraptor is 9 feet long and has razor-sharp teeth and claws. However, 6 years after Jurassic Park, fossils revealed that the species was actually 6 feet, had colorful feathers, and lacked the facial muscles needed for dramatic snarls— these weren’t known during filmmaking. Thus, in the famous kitchen scene where Lex and Tim are hunted by raptors, it would’ve felt like being stalked by oversized turkeys, instead of two reptilian carnivores — still frightening, but in a totally different way! An amusing pattern developed with the T. rex, Dilophosaurus, and Brachiosaurus as well: Jurassic Park inadvertently disproved Jurassic Park. And as more data emerged, the pace of discovery exploded. In 2022, National Geographic Kids cites a rate of “more than 45 new dinosaur species each year.” That averages out to almost one per week! A staggering rise from before Jurassic Park’s release 29 years prior.

Steven Spielberg once said that for all his projects, he wanted audiences to “escape with reality.” With Jurassic Park, he blurred the line entirely. His dinosaurs felt so real that they awakened genuine scientific passion across Jurassic generations — past, present, and future — proving that sometimes the best way to “escape with reality” is to inspire people to chase it.