Occasionally during these troubled times, it can be helpful to look back on certain events and unanswered questions from yesteryear– not only to remind ourselves how much life has changed recently but also to put into context the freedoms we so often take for granted.
With that in mind, and in commemoration of National Velociraptor Awareness Day (held every year on April 18, evidently) we’d like to relate a particular circumstance that has taken place on the official Laughing Place YouTube channel over the past nine months. It all began with a trip to Universal Studios Hollywood at the beginning of last summer to check out the Southern California theme park’s new Jurassic World offerings, including the Lower Lot area’s spruced-up Raptor Encounter.
Watch “Are Dinosaurs REAL??? The Jurassic World Raptor Phenomenon”:
In the analysis above, I explore how an unusual phenomenon took hold in the comment section of the aforementioned Raptor Encounter video. As you’ll see, as its view count grew and grew (eventually making it the most viewed video in LP history) a spirited debate broke out among the commenters: are the dinosaurs at Universal Studios Hollywood real, or are they fake? Sure, at first glance they may appear to simply be expertly crafted full-body suits and/or hand puppets, but YouTube’s populace apparently refuse to take the dinos’ appearance at face value. Has Universal somehow cheated nature, played God, and actually cloned honest-to-goodness, living, breathing velociraptors? You can check out the original video below and decide for yourself:
Watch “Raptor Encounter with Blue and Baby Tango in Jurassic World at Universal Studios Hollywood”:
Regardless of whether or not these dinosaurs are legitimately real, the controversy sparked by our Raptor Encounter video may be destined to rage on for the foreseeable future. And now, on National Velociraptor Awareness Day, it’s time to choose a side. Be sure to add your comments, contribute to the debate, and most of all never forget: “That’s how Chris Kratt from Jurassic World died.”