Showrunner and EP Scott Kreamer talks up the show’s cutest dino baby that more than holds its own against the Indominus Rex and other bad-ass dinosaur designs; series now streaming on Netflix.
Throughout the journey of Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous and Chaos Theory, there have been plenty of bad-ass dino designs, from the Indominus Rex and Carnotaurus to the Scorpios Rex and Majungasaurus.
And though DreamWorks Animation’s team has excelled at creating this myriad of terrifying beasts, they are also historically skilled at the art of adorable. And in Chaos Theory’s Season 3, now available on Netflix, the crew came up with Jurassic World’s cutest dino baby yet: Smoothie.
“My god, you want to talk about an entire production falling in love with a computer asset,” shares Scott Kreamer, showrunner and executive producer on Chaos Theory. “Our production offices are filled with pictures and memes of Smoothie.”
Smoothie is the infant offspring of a female Ankylosaurus named Bumpy, who was born in the genetics lab during Camp Cretaceous’ first season, which overlaps the events of the live-action 2015 Jurassic World feature. Bumpy’s birth was witnessed by four of the six young dino camp attendees: Ben, Brooklynn, Yasmina, and Sammy. As Ben was the first living soul Bumpy saw, she immediately imprinted on him. When the island was evacuated after dinos broke free of their cages and took over the park, the six campers were left stranded. Bumpy became a trusted friend and strong ally for the Camp Fam as they faced many dangers on Isla Nublar.
In Chaos Theory, Bumpy becomes a mother, but her egg is stolen by a mysterious character called The Broker. Kenji, another member of the Camp Fam, eventually rescues the egg, acting almost like a nurse maid in his determination to ensure its safety. When it finally hatches, he names the baby Smoothie.
“We used baby Bumpy from Camp Cretaceous as a jumping off point and then CG animation director Ryan Donoghue, animation supervisor Haley Carroll, the people at CGCG and others made this scrumptious little guy feel so real,” says Kreamer. “And like with Bumpy, we didn’t want this character to be anthropomorphic. It has to feel like an animal, but still just the cutest little thing. Between the design and the animation, I couldn’t be happier with how Smoothie turned out.”
Even though the Chaos Theory team wanted Smoothie to feel like a wild dino, it didn’t stop them from giving the little guy a crochet hat with little ears to protect his reptilian hide from the Italian winter when Kenji, Darius, Yaz and Sammy all tag along with Ben to visit his girlfriend Gina in Italy. The group initially hides Smoothie from Gina’s grandma Nonna, who hates dinosaurs. Eventually, however, she comes around to Smoothie and treats him like a new puppy. Unfortunately, Nonna puts Smoothie outside to potty unsupervised; he sets off on a journey through Italy, following his appetite for a delicious looking tomato.
“We called that the ‘Smoothie’s Day Out Section’,” notes Kreamer of the sequence in the Season 3 episode, “Fire in the Piazza.”
He continues, “There’s a lot of Smoothie waddling around. You don’t want it to feel too Tex Avery, but there is a joy in Smoothie who is this sweet little guy and really fun.”
In addition to the animators and storyboard artists like Natalie Carmouche, Natalie Ruybal and others who helped bring Smoothie to life, the show’s design team figured in another great Smoothie spotlight featuring artwork found in the credits at the end of Season 3’s Episode 2, “Villa Paradiso.” The still frame of Kenji and Smoothie gazing at each other in the sunlight fresh after his hatching is one of many fantastic artworks featured in the credits at the end of every Chaos Theory episode. The tradition started with the first season of Chaos Theory but the artwork in Season 3 is much more painterly than what’s found in Season 1 and 2.
“Those come from our design team,” says Kreamer. “We get a lot of key frame art in the early days when we were figuring things out, and it’s just really inspirational stuff for the writers. And then there’s also the mixing in of the colorscripts that our designers and John-Paul Balmet do.”
He adds, “It was Aaron Hammersley who had the idea at the beginning of the show to include these in the credits. He was like, ‘We have this great art that no one sees but us. What can we do about that?’ I'm so glad that they got out there. I love it.”
Netflix has yet to confirm whether Jurassic World: Chaos Theory will return for Season 4, but the Season 3 finale left Keji, Sammy and Smoothie arriving at the edge of the Biosyn Sanctuary, where Bumpy and other dinosaurs are being held prisoner. Hopefully, the reuniting of two of Chaos Theory’s most beloved dinos – Bumpy and Smoothie – is in order.
Victoria Davis is a full-time, freelance journalist and part-time Otaku with an affinity for all things anime. She's reported on numerous stories from activist news to entertainment. Find more about her work at victoriadavisdepiction.com.
