Jenna Ortega’s Jurassic World Series On Netflix Is The Franchise’s Best Since 1993

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While not as widely known as other installments, Jenna Ortega’s Camp Cretaceous is considered the best addition to the Jurassic World series since the original Jurassic Park film from 1993. Premiering in 2020 to positive feedback, the show was the first animated series and spinoff TV show in the Jurassic Park franchise. Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous on Netflix centers around a group of teenagers who find themselves stranded in the theme park during the events of the 2015 movie Jurassic World, and later seasons explore what happens during Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom in 2018.

Surprisingly, Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous does a better job of recreating the feeling of the original 1993 Jurassic Park film than any of the movies that followed. The show features a fantastic voice cast, including Raini Rodriguez, Kausar Mohammed, Sean Giambrone (from The Goldbergs), and Jenna Ortega before she became famous. The story centers around a group of teens who get an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at the Jurassic World theme park – an opportunity of a lifetime.

As a film buff, I was immediately hooked by the premise of Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous. It starts off feeling like a really fun mix of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Jurassic Park – a bunch of kids get invited to what sounds like the ultimate experience, only for everything to go horribly wrong! What really works is how well the characters play off each other. Each kid brings something different to the group; Darius, played by Paul-Mikél Williams, naturally steps up as a leader, and Kenji Kon provides a lot of the humor, with Sammy Gutierrez, as portrayed by Rodriguez, adding to the comedic moments.

Where The Jurassic Park Movies Have Gone Wrong Since 1993

What makes Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous stand out is how much viewers care about the characters and whether they’ll survive, rather than just anticipating the next dinosaur appearance. This really shows the weakness of the Jurassic World sequels, and was a major problem with Jurassic World: Dominion specifically. Once Chris Pratt’s Owen Grady became the central figure in Jurassic World, it became obvious the story wouldn’t risk killing him off.

It quickly became clear that Clare, played by Bryce Dallas Howard, wouldn’t be in any danger from the dinosaurs either. And when characters from the original Jurassic Park movies reappeared, viewers could rest assured that popular heroes like Dr. Ian Malcolm, Alan Grant, and Ellie Sattler were safe as well. This created a strange problem: a series about deadly dinosaur attacks seemed unwilling to kill off any of its main characters, a contrast to Steven Spielberg’s 1993 film, which didn’t hesitate to eliminate both good and bad supporting characters.

The Jurassic World films prioritized protecting what fans loved about the original 1993 movie, but they didn’t take enough chances with the story, making them feel surprisingly tame. It’s notable that a children’s animated series on Netflix featured more impactful character deaths than these big-budget sequels. In fact, the animated Jurassic World spinoff actually managed to capture the suspense and danger of the first film better than the newer movies did.

It’s not just the Jurassic World movies that rely too heavily on the past. The Scream franchise, also starring Jenna Ortega, shifted from bravely killing off its biggest star early in the first film to protecting all of its main characters by the seventh installment. As franchises become more popular, the people making them get increasingly worried about disappointing fans. This can lead to shows like Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous feeling more connected to the original Jurassic Park than to the Jurassic World films themselves.

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2026-04-30 02:48