Wolf Gnards

Andrew from Akron asks:

My Dear Wolf Nards,
I’ve always been bugged by the ending of Jurassic Park, how did the T-Rex get into the discovery center? I’ve looked at it from every angle and there wasn’t a door big enough for a tyrannosaurus.

When we first saw Jurassic Park and the T-Rex came out of no where to kill the Velociraptor at the end, we all thought the same thing… awesome. It was just that, not much more thought went into it. Upon a thousand viewings later though questions like these start to crop up. Interestingly, this wasn’t the original ending of the film. The original draft of the script had Alan Grant fighting off the raptors with a mechanized tyrannosaurus skeleton. Spielberg deemed that ending too unbelievable and very a good call on his part.

We all like to poke holes in great movies, this site is based on nothing but that, and Jurassic Park in no exception. Cracked had a similar dilemma with the the ending of Jurassic Park, their beef being that suddenly in the waning moments of the film T-Rex miraculously becomes a silent ninja. But not only does the T-Rex need to become a silent killer, but it needs to get into the guest center first. We’re dealing with a 20 ft high tyrannosaurus and a 7 ft door. Either it destroys the door trying to get in or gets its head stuck trying.

Here are just a few of the most likely scenarios:

Through a Window

The Tyrannosaurus Rex could have crashed through any number of glass windows. The Discovery Center looks like it’s 80% glass. Plus there’s a good chance that either John Hammond or Newman had a pie cooling on the windowsill at the time.

Dinosaur Shaped Door or Hole

The Jurassic Park Discovery Center is a pretty big building with presumably some sort of loading dock and doors big enough to fit any number of dinosaurs. T-Rex just needs to go through the loading dock, through the warehouse, up an elevator, past the office staff cubicles, past the vending machines, down some stairs, through the tourist displays, and BAM at the front door.

Like a Rat

And it may not even need to be a big hole to crawl though. Rats can fit through holes the size of quarters, perhaps a particularly nibble and flexible Tyrannosaurus Rex can fit through a hole the size of a basketball. Not knowing their exact physiology in nature limits what we can expect them to do. So, next time you hear something scratching around in the walls, it just may be a T-Rex.

The T-Rex was Always There

It was one of the hatched eggs from the beginning of the movie. It hatched, lived, and grew over the course of the two days. It didn’t need to sneak into the guest center because it was always in the guest center. It’s like that urban legend: The call from the T-Rex is coming from inside the house.

Through the Pipes

A facility with all the major problems of a theme park and a zoo probably has one hell of a sewer system. The Tyrannosaurus could have made its way through the underground pipes just like Mario. A Dig Dug analogy can also work. And if it couldn’t go under, perhaps it could go over…

Flew Over Center by Jet Plane

T-Rex has a need, a need for speed. And after flying the jet over the Discovery Center, the T-Rex will consequentially…

Parachuted In

A hang glider or da Vinci plane could also work in a pinch.

Tyrannosaurus Teleported Inside

T-Rex either used a Star Trek teleporter pad or it had a latent mutant ability like Nightcrawler. Think of it less of dinosaur or more of a mutant frog. All it needs to do is separate its molecules one at a time and resemble them on the other side of the wall.

Through the Looking Glass

Why teleport when a convenient worm hole is readily available? T-Rex obviously made it in the same way Alice made it to Wonderland. It doesn’t have to just be a magic mirror either, any kind of worm hole or space/time anomalies will do.

Shrink Ray

If Rick Moranis is not available (and who are we kidding… he’s available), a “drink me” bottle from an early visit from Wonderland would do. A shrunken T-Rex could easily waltz right in, the only problem is finding some sort of re-bigulator on the other side.

The Power of Christ

All you need is a little faith in the Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Jeff Goldblum Did It

I don’t know how he did it, but somehow, someway Jeff Goldblum was involved in getting that T-Rex through the door. Goldblum represents the finest in movie scientist, and let’s not forget he once even managed to hack alien technology. If anyone can figure out how to get a 20 ft dinosaur through a 7 ft door, it’s Jeff Goldblum. Instead of thinking of the T-Rex saving Grant, the kids, and Laura Dern (and her short shorts), you can think of Jeff Goldblum saving them. He picked that raptor up in his powerful Jeff Goldblum jaws just in the nick of time.