Jurassic Park: The Music That Built Our Sense of Wonder

Before we start today’s episode, I just want to welcome and thank the new curious ears tuning in.I promise that after every episode, you’ll end up not only wanting to listen to more soundtracks, but also to question what lies behind them… or at least, that’s what I try to do here.

Now that that’s said — today’s episode is one I’ve been dying to get to.Honestly, since the very beginning of this podcast, I’ve been waiting for this day: the release of Jurassic World: Rebirth.

What a film — but above all… what a soundtrack!

And of course, thank you, John Williams, for gifting us that legendary motif 32 years ago.

The Origins

Let’s start with the basics.The first movie of the saga: Jurassic Park, 1993.That gem marked a before and after in cinema (and in many of our lives).It was based on the 1990 novel by Michael Crichton — fun fact: he’s my dad’s favorite author.So you can imagine how personal this franchise feels to me.(Yes, also because as a kid I wanted to be a marine paleontologist, haha.) So, let’s get into it.

Thirty-two years later, this franchise is still producing all kinds of content — from movies to immersive worlds and attractions (and yes, I’m also talking about the American economy behind it).

And now, the same question we asked with Mission: Impossible:What connects all these films?

The Sound of Continuity

The motif written by John Williams is the sonic glue that has held the entire saga together.No matter how much the story, the protagonists, the tone, or even the composer change — three things remain constant: science (as the representative of human agency in the narrative), the dinosaurs, and Williams.

Let’s go through the musical timeline quickly.The first two films were scored by John Williams, the third by Don Davis.Then came the new trilogy — my dear Chris Pratt era — all three composed by Michael Giacchino (yay!).And this time, for the 2025 film, we have the great Alexandre Desplat.

But again, what does this musical constancy tell us?Why has it endured over time?

This time it’s not about daring the impossible — not like Mission: Impossible. Here, the motif seems to awaken a sense of wonder, of awe — that feeling of being overwhelmed by the immense.Led by the brass section, it lifts our gaze upward, toward what escapes our perception, what we don’t fully understand but somehow feel intimately connected to.

The Sound of Survival

One of the film’s characters, Dr. Henry Loomis (played by Jonathan Bailey), says something that truly gave me chills:

“Survival is a long shot.”

That motif that moves us so deeply also reminds us that existence itself is improbable — that survival is miraculous — and that every human action shapes our fragile yet dazzling connection with our surroundings.

We’re here against all odds.The music doesn’t just accompany the dinosaurs or the chase scenes.It tells another story — a deeper one: the story of our relationship with time, history, and nature.

Museums and Memory

And speaking of time — there’s one detail I love about the saga:The museums.(I swear I’m not going off topic.)

Notice how museums appear again and again throughout the films. They complete the idea of smallness.The central elements of the story are enormous, magnificent… but also distant, unreachable.It’s human intervention —through science— that disturbs that order, representing danger for existence itself.

Let’s remember: there is no museum without narrative.Who decides what gets displayed, how it’s organized, and what gets left out — is also the one who structures memory.

As Stuart Hall put it clearly: “The museum is not neutral. It is a form of power.”

And in Jurassic Park, that tension is always present — especially through music as a narrative device. John Williams’ original theme functions like the central piece of a permanent exhibition.It repeats film after film, like a sonic showcase that preserves the feeling of awe intact —the awe, and the order behind it.

No matter how many years pass or how many characters change — when we hear that melody, an emotional capsule activates, taking us back to the origin of our own smallness.

The New Era

That was the challenge for Desplat, who, despite his previous experience with “giant creatures” (Godzilla, 2014), sought to echo that emotional glue — to recover memory through music.Throughout the Rebirth soundtrack, Desplat creates an atmosphere that moves between suspense, pursuit, and curiosity across its 1 hour and 41 minutes.

And here’s something worth listening for:the iconic motif appears either right after the most anxious scenes, or in those with the most natural, panoramic elements — almost like a declaration of restored calm.

Jurassic Park is not just a dinosaur saga.It’s a score about the human desire to control life, to be amazed by something greater, by nature’s vastness, by our past.It’s about the urge to domesticate the wild, to play with history.

And the soundtrack is not mere accompaniment: it’s an emotional museum that preserves it all.

A sonic showcase where science becomes a tool for submission before greatness —where collective memory and temporality are organized,and where even awe itself follows a script.

Original Version