The QI Elves on twitter (@qikipedia) made my day recently.
Back in the earliest days of this blog, I confessed a long-held fear of mine. Not of something understandable, like heights, or spiders. Or snakes. Or the idea of Eddie McGuire one day becoming the president of an Australian republic.
No. A fear of dinosaurs. A fear that can be traced back to seeing Jurassic Park at the cinema when I was ten years old.
And THAT scene. That kitchen scene. You know the one. The velociraptors OPEN THE KITCHEN DOOR with their SCARY CLAW HANDS and then STALK THE INNOCENT CHILDREN around the kitchen.
They are CUNNING. INTELLIGENT. PATIENT.
And HORRIFYING.
Yeah. That scene.
Well, the QI Elves (and Wikipedia) inform me that Steven Spielberg and the rest of the Jurassic Park crew exaggerated the size of our friend the Velociraptor.
Just a little bit.
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| Velociraptor compared in size to a human. Source |
Or a lot.
Velociraptor was the size of a chicken. A duck. It even had feathers.
Yes, it still had the scary claws designed for disembowelling, and sharp, pointed teeth, but all in a tiny little chicken-duck-sized frame. It was not the larger, reptilian, baby Tyrannosaurus Rex-like creature portrayed in the film.
Thank you, QI Elves.
Did the idea of Velociraptors stalking you through a stainless steel kitchen keep you awake at night when you were younger? What movie has invaded your nightmares?
Now I can sleep.
Glad to help! It’s been a long twenty years, hasn’t it?!
I remember that scene. My whole went to see it and I screamed. In front of the school. I think the embarrassing memory scares me more than the damn dinosaur.
I’m pretty sure I just tried to keep my eyes closed the whole time. Yet I can picture every moment of the scene!
Which makes it funny now when I picture it with chickens instead. Bwarck bwarck.
Phew.
But chickens are damn scary sometimes… and now I am NEVER going to my parents house again cause I will be terrified the chickens will open the back door and…
DAMN YOU IMAGINATION!
Sounds like the perfect excuse for a roast chicken dinner next time you visit them!
I remember that scene – quite freaky! Thanks for clearing it up. I really hated the one that spat in that man’s face when he was trying to escape! At least your worst fear will never be realised. Mine, not so much – spiders, bugs anything crawling over me – ICK!
Ah yes, the toxic spitter thing. Not fun.