They say the past is like a different planet. What I have to share with you today, as an early birthday present, is a very powerful example of that idea.
I've explored "Jurassic Park" in several different ways over the years. As one of the most significant ever pieces of paleoart (which it technically is), as a groundbreaking moment in animation history (which it also technically is), as a distinctively 1990's pop culture moment (which it ALSO also technically is), and as, well, a really good movie (let's not talk about the sequels though.) This strange video is mostly an artifact of the pop culture moment, and I say artifact because I don't even know if this kind of video is a thing that exists anymore.
Let me set the scene for younger readers out there. Back in the Age of Video Stores, owning a physical copy of your favorite movie was a pretty big deal. The people who ran the video stores would often get early promotional copies of movies on VHS sent to them by the movie studios. And most of them had the movie itself preceded by a film like this one to convince the video store owner that stocking copies of the movie for rent and for sale would be a really good investment. You weren't usually able -or allowed to- watch these promotional copies unless you worked at a video store or were friends with someone who did. So I have seen a few of these, and I promise you that this "Jurassic Park" one is one of the best:
I really can't decide what my favorite part is. The Mtv Beachhouse! The survival pack contest! The excitement over their Official "Jurassic Park" Website (in 1994, can you even imagine)! The fact that we don't even get to see any "Jurassic Park" dinosaurs in full until they show off that incredible standee! The fact that, in 1994 mind, it's even presented as questionable that stocking the biggest hit of the decade thus far would be a good idea.
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Art of the Day
Inspired by SerpenIllus' awesome Tyrannosaurus drawing, I started to do my own color take mostly based off it and... I got a little carried away. That tail...
