How Tortoises Make Jurassic Park Terrifying

For many, the velociraptors are the scariest dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, but it’s those terrifying pack hunters that utilize the sound of tortoises. In the scene where the raptors are hunting in the kitchen, they make a barking sound at each other to communicate, the sound taken from the shelled reptiles in question.

It’s an eerie moment, displaying the intelligence of the raptors, making its real-life origin even more comedic. 

The Jurassic Park tortoise sound becomes even more silly and odd once you know that it’s a mating sound. Sound designer Gary Rydstom has revealed that he recorded the mating sounds himself at Marine World. The sound, without context, fits perfectly with the raptor hunting scene.

Of course, not all of the sounds used in Jurassic Park are as silly as mating tortoises, but many of them are unexpected. Other raptor sounds were taken from other animals, like the breathing sounds of a horse or angry geese.

Some more expected sounds, like lion roars and elephant sounds were used for other dinosaurs, but so were things like a dog chewing on a toy.  

Jurassic Park was a major blockbuster hit that’s still beloved to this day and part of that success is due to Gary Rydstom’s sound design, mating tortoises included.

It was the highest-grossing movie of 1993, bringing in over $338 million and becoming an instant classic. The movie even won Best Sound at the Oscars in 1994, making it clear the sound choices paid off. 

The original Jurassic Park spawned an entire franchise that is still using sound effects from the original, like the mating tortoises.

After a pair of direct sequels, the Jurassic World trilogy starring Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard revived the universe in 2015 for a modern trilogy. Jurassic World Rebirth will start a new chapter within that universe next year, helmed by Scarlett Johanson, which could become yet another trilogy for the franchise. 

The man behind Jurassic Park’s tortoise sounds has had a major impact on Hollywood as a sound designer and director. In addition to his ongoing consulting for the Jurassic franchise, his sound work includes iconic movies like The Terminator, Toy Story, Jumanji, and Mission: Impossible. He also directed the feature-length movie Strange Magic and a handful of short films. 

It’s always fascinating to learn where sounds in movies come from in real life, whether it’s animal recordings or foley work.

The fact that one of Jurassic Park’s most terrifying sounds is the mating of two tortoises just shows how much creativity and resourcefulness goes into sound design.

It will also give fans a very silly sonic easter egg to look for when Jurassic World Rebirth comes out next year.

Source: CNET