Why the ice cream scene in Jurassic Park is important

By Alex Wiggan

On average, how many times have you watched Jurassic Park? Probably a lot, right?

And during all those viewings, how often have you considered the importance of the ice cream scene? You know the one – it’s the scene where John Hammond is sat in the cafeteria eating a large tub of ice cream because (in his words) “they were all melting”.

Picture the situation in your mind: The security systems at Jurassic Park have gone down, the dinosaurs are loose, Hammond’s grandchildren are lost, and his dream of opening a dino-themed attraction has evaporated. All-in-all, not a great day.

Then to top it all off, there is no electricity to keep the freezer cold. Without a cold freezer, the ice cream in the kitchen is melting!

And this isn’t just any ice cream, it’s good ice cream. As Hammond notes, he “spared no expense”.

But surely melting ice cream is a trivial matter in the grand scheme of things and not that important, right? Hmm… maybe.

You could look at it this way: The melting ice cream is just something which happens. It gives Hammond a distraction while a.) he worries about his grandchildren, b.) he talks to Dr. Ellie Sattler, and c.) he reminisces about a flea circus he once owned in Petticoat Lane.

But in actuality, the ice cream scene is far more important. When Hammond goes into the kitchen to retrieve the ice cream, he inadvertently helps save his grandchildren later in the film.

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Skip forward to when Hammond’s grandchildren, Lex and Tim arrive in the cafeteria with Dr. Grant, and as Grant steps away, the kids begin to tuck into some food. However, their meal is quickly interrupted when two velociraptors appear.

Frightened and in imminent danger, the kids flee into the kitchen, where they momentarily attempt to hide from the raptors. But the dinos are clever girls, they manage to track the kids down, and they stalk them around the various units in the kitchen.

As the raptors then attack, Lex manages to temporarily disable one (by accident), before running as far away as possible. It’s at this moment Tim spots the kitchen freezer and notices the door is open.

He then uses this to his advantage, by running towards the freezer, with the second raptor in pursuit. As he and the dinosaur enter the freezer, there is some slip-sliding on the floor, Tim escapes, and then Tim and Lex lock the door trapping the raptor inside.

Tim ran into the freezer because the door was open. The door was open because Hammond previously went inside to retrieve the ice cream, earlier in the film.

Although we don’t see him retrieve the ice cream and leave the door open (because it happens off screen), we know he was responsible because no one else is around. All of the staff have left the island, and everyone else is accounted for.

As for why he left the freezer door open, well that’s simple. There is no electricity, so he didn’t see the point in closing the door.

By not closing the door he helped to save his grandchildren. So, the ice cream scene is way more important than it first appears.