It is unclear if the two featured, Big Eatie and Little Eatie, are T. rexes that fans know from The Lost World. That movie is the second installment of the Jurassic Park franchise. It takes place on an Island called Isla Sorna, where dinosaurs live freely in a closed ecosystem. The most prominently featured dinosaur species in The Lost World is the Tyrannosaurus. A family including a male, female, and infant are the stars of the show.
Prior to Camp Cretaceous Season 4’s release, many fans speculated that members of the T. rex family may be returning. The trailers showed a T. rex that looks quite similar to the male T. rex from The Lost World. However, this season throws fans several mixed signals about that theory. This article aims to sort out this confusion using information from Camp Cretaceous Season 4, and the rest of the Jurassic Park series.
The Doe, The Buck, and Junior
The members of the T. rex family featured in The Lost World are referred to as The Buck, The Doe, and Junior. Dr. Turner does confirm that Big Eatie and Little Eatie are from Isla Sorna, where the T. rex family is from as well. That seems like a clear tie-in leading to them in fact being Junior and one of his parents. However, she later refers to them as mother and daughter. Since Junior is male, that seems to rule out Little Eatie being Junior. Furthermore, if this is meant to be the T. rex family, then where is The Buck?
The Buck T. Rex in The Lost World: Jurassic Park.
Some may suggest that the male Tyrannosaurus that was killed by the Spinosaurus in Jurassic Park III was The Buck. However, that is unlikely the case. That T. rex is referred to as The Bull, simply to distinguish it from other Tyrannosaurs in the series. The Bull is actually the same animatronic model that was used for The Buck. However, it was altered for its new role as The Bull. If The Bull and The Buck were one and the same, then why alter the animatronic model? It would be a waste of time and resources.
Big and Little Eatie
Despite The Buck being absent and Little Eatie being female, there is still a case to be made for the Eaties being The Doe and Junior. The discrepancies can be reconciled by simply assuming that The Buck is dead and that Junior changed his sex. It has been possible for dinosaurs to change their sex in JP canon since the original movie. Perhaps The Buck changed his sex to female as well and is Big Eatie.
On the other hand, the simplest explanation is that Big Eatie and Little Eatie, are not The Doe and Junior. That is an odd choice by the writers. It’s unlikely that showing parent and child T. rexes from Isla Sorna isn’t meant to reference the T. rex family. Futhermore, assuming that Scott Kreamer’s hint about the Spinosaurus is true, then why use the same Spinosaurus from Jurassic Park III, but not the same T. rexes from The Lost World?
Are Big and Little Eatie The Doe and Junior?
Given all the information, it seems like Big Eatie and Little Eatie were originally intended to be members of the T. rex family, but the writers changed their minds at some point. It’s possible that Big Eatie was actually supposed to be The Buck. Previous Jurassic Park content suggests that male T. rexes are more brightly colored than females. In the second movie, The Buck was green, and The Doe was greyish brown. Big Eatie is much greener than The Doe was in JP2, so it’s quite possible that she was originally meant to be The Buck.
Some may suggest comparing the color of Junior’s hide with Little Eatie’s too. Although, I think it is too presumptuous to assume that an infant Tyrannosaurus would maintain the exact same color pattern into adulthood. As suggested before, Junior may have changed his sex to female, which could change his color pattern too.
It’s also possible that the crew simply was not on the same page regarding the Tyrannosaurs. Maybe, the writers intended the T. rexes as Junior and one of his parents, but the director had another idea. I do hope that the T. rex family is shown again eventually, maybe in Camp Cretaceous Season 5.
