What real animal sounds were mixed together to create the dinosaur roars in Jurassic Park?
The terrifying T. rex roar that shook theaters in 1993 was actually a baby elephant, a tiger, and an alligator mixed together.
The answer
Sound designer Gary Rydstrom created the iconic dinosaur sounds for Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park (1993) by recording and layering real animal vocalizations. The T. rex roar combined a baby elephant's squeal, a tiger's snarl, and an alligator's gurgling hiss. The Velociraptor sounds mixed dolphins, walruses, geese, and tortoises mating. The Brachiosaurus call was a slowed-down donkey bray combined with whale songs. The Dilophosaurus's rattling hiss came from a swan. Rydstrom recorded over 100 hours of animal sounds across zoos, marine parks, and wildlife sanctuaries. His work won the Academy Award for Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing, and these sound designs remain the template for dinosaur audio in media today.
Source: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
- jurassic-park
- sound-design
- spielberg
More from Sci-Fi & Pop Culture
- How much money has the Marvel Cinematic Universe made at the box office?
- What happened when Stan Lee first pitched Spider-Man to his publisher?
- How close was Marvel to disappearing before the MCU existed?
- Did Robert Downey Jr. really improvise the line that changed the MCU forever?
- How did Black Panther change Hollywood's understanding of representation?
- Why does Marvel hide Easter eggs that take years to find?