What appears to be a trailer for a ’90s TV sequel to “Jurassic Park” has finally been revealed decades after it was canceled. Since as early as the ’60s, Hollywood has tried to capitalize on blockbusters by creating follow-up animated TV shows for children and teenagers to watch and keep the fandom alive. The trend was especially popular in the late ’80s and ’90s, when everything from “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” to “Men in Black” received TV spin-offs. But surprisingly, “Jurassic Park” never received the same treatment despite being the third-highest-grossing movie of the ’90s.
To its credit, Universal — the studio behind “Jurassic Park” — tried to make an animated series, enlisting its cartoon studio to develop the idea. But they canceled the “Jurassic Park” show before completion without an official reason. William Stout, an artist who worked on the project, said the final decision came down to Spielberg. “I heard through the grapevine that he never bothered to watch what we had done,” Stout wrote on his blog in 2014. “By that time the word was out that he was burnt out on ‘Jurassic Park’ merchandising and all of the film’s commercial exploitation. So, it never got made.”
LOST MEDIA: In 1993, an animated series titled ESCAPE FROM JURASSIC PARK was in development.
It was eventually cancelled before full production; however, not before a lot of work was done, including a pitch trailer.
At long last, that trailer has been unearthed. pic.twitter.com/U1j79taPLf
— Chris Pugh (@ChrisLikesDinos) October 31, 2026
But on October 31, 2026, two fans of the series independently shared near-identical clips on social media that appear to be the trailer for the canceled show. According to @SickTriceratops, “This tape has circulated among a handful of ‘Jurassic’ fans for years, in private.” The apparent trailer does not tease much of the plot other than showing humans, including fan faves Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler, returning to Isla Nublar and trying to survive an island filled with dinosaurs. It’s not a unique plot, but the fantastic, frightening dinosaur footage would have thrilled any ’90s kid.
Jurassic Park finally got an animated spin-off in 2020
The art style and animation for the canceled “Jurassic Park” series would have fit in perfectly with the best ’90s cartoons, but the trailer’s tone is much darker compared to its contemporaries. William Stout confirmed that was exactly the plan, writing on his blog, “This was not going to be a kiddy show (although kids of all ages, including myself, could enjoy it).” A darker, serialized approach would have definitely reeled in older ’90s kids.
The trailer for the cartoon shows Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler visiting Isla Nublar with two children, a blonde girl and a brunette boy with glasses. This could be Tim and Lex Murphy, but Tim did not wear glasses in the movies. The trailer also sees the boy getting separated from the adults, which shows that the kids would be facing threats on their own, just like in the movie.
Although the ’90s series was canceled, Universal never gave up on the idea. In 2020, they finally made their animated “Jurassic Park” show. By this point, the franchise had rebranded to “Jurassic World,” but “Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous” put kids at the center of a 3D-animated show following a group of teens surviving on Isla Nublar alone. Universal released a sequel series, “Jurassic World: Chaos Theory,” in 2024, which had the teens reunite and save the world from a new threat against both dinosaurs and humans. The first show even featured an all-star cast including Jenna Ortega and Glen Powell.
