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"Hold onto your butts…"
—Ray Arnold(src)


John Raymond "Ray" Arnold was the chief engineer of Jurassic Park in both the novel and the 1993 movie of the same name. He appears in the novels, movies and games. He was killed by a Velociraptor in both the film and novel.

History[]

Jurassic Park[]

Ray Arnold, full name possibly John Raymond Allen Arnold[1], is the chief engineer of Jurassic Park. His catchphrase was "Hold on to your butts," which he repeated twice in the film. Arnold was usually shown smoking a cigarette. In the first edition of the script, Hammond was greatly concerned for Arnold's health due to his constant smoking. He made frequent announcements over the loudspeaker informing the other employees of the position of the approaching storm. After Dennis Nedry turned the electricity off he told John Hammond that he couldn't get Jurassic Park back online without Dennis. Arnold showed great irritation with Nedry's personal touches to the park's system.

Sometime Sunday morning, Hammond told Arnold to shut down the entire system and resets it. Arnold was against this idea because they had never shut down the entire system before and he was not sure that it would come back on at all. Despite this, Hammond was adamant and Arnold eventually shut down the system. He was greatly relieved, along with the rest of the survivors in the control room when the computers came back on. He set off on his own to the maintenance shed to reset Jurassic Park while the rest of the survivors went to the security bunker to await his return.

After a few minutes went by with still no sign of Arnold, Ellie Sattler realized something must have gone wrong and set out to reset Jurassic Park with the help of gamekeeper Robert Muldoon. However, the two found themselves stalked by the Velociraptor pack, and Muldoon told Ellie to head to the maintenance shed by herself while he deals with the raptors.

Ellie finds the arm

Ellie finds Arnold's arm

While restoring electricity to the shed, Ellie was ambushed by a raptor, and while trying to escape she stumbled across Ray's severed arm, revealing that he had been killed by the raptor whilst trying to reboot the park.

After the incident in Jurassic Park, Arnold's family sued InGen in a $23 million lawsuit.[2]

Trivia[]

  • Ray Arnold was supposed to have more screen time after he sets off to the maintenance shed, but due to the Hurricane Iniki and its destruction of the Jurassic Park sets, Samuel L. Jackson was unable to complete it.
  • John Arnold was known by his middle name, Ray, so there was no confusion between John Arnold and John Hammond.
  • The arm and leg props were acquired by a new owner in 2020, who bought it from a Youtuber who previously owned them.
  • Arnold's "hack" sequence in the movie can be relived in the browser game, "Jurassic Systems"
  • Ray types on an IBM Model M 1391401 keyboard[3], a favorite for computer programmers for its distinctive audible keystroke.
  • In the comic adaptation of the film, Arnold's fate was not shown.

Notes[]

  1. Laura Sorkin's journals - Jurassic Park: The Game
  2. The Lost World: Jurassic Park script, page 4.
  3. Can be seen in several scenes where Ray is depicted typing on the keyboard.

Navigation[]

Jurassic Park Characters
Alan GrantEllie SattlerIan MalcolmJohn HammondDonald GennaroRobert MuldoonLex MurphyTim MurphyJohn Arnold/Ray ArnoldDennis NedryHenry WuLewis DodgsonEddieThe Big OneKimRandyRexyUnlucky Gallimimus
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