Jurassic World star Chris Pratt with Anna Faris at the world premiere in June 2015. Photo via DFree/Shutterstock
This summer, the Jurassic Park franchise was revived with a fourth instalment – and a new meme was born.
Jurassic World grossed a monstrous record opening weekend take of $511bn worldwide and, judging by the pictures below, many among that audience were zoologists and zookeepers.
Even in a world where dinosaurs have been resurrected, it’s hard to believe that Jurassic World’s Owen Grady (played by Chris Pratt) could command and control a trio of vicious velociraptors by his sheer presence and outstretched arms, but keepers of the world’s captive animals quickly turned to social media to prove the power of Prattkeeping.
Be it penguins or velociraptors, zookeeping is hard work. #JurassicWorld #Prattkeeping #RaptorSquad #CleverGirls pic.twitter.com/dB0XJdgIlv
— Woodland Park Zoo (@woodlandparkzoo) June 17, 2015
As it turns out, the Jurassic World stance works on just about any animal.
Who needs #RaptorSquad when you have Veloci-otters? #OtterSquad #JurassicZoo pic.twitter.com/M0zr7BvI9I
— Georgia Aquarium (@GeorgiaAquarium) June 17, 2015
.@ArcVancouver #PrattKeeping underway with the Steller #sealions: #PrattKeeping #JurassicZoo pic.twitter.com/7OYn6u97Ph
— Vancouver Aquarium (@vanaqua) June 19, 2015
@prattprattpratt here's another for you. #kangaroo style! #torontozoo #jurasiczookeepers pic.twitter.com/jZ5Zgo611e
— Toronto Zoo Keepers (@tozookeepers) June 18, 2015
We are recreating Chris Pratt's raptor control from #JurassicWorld – with our Southern White Rhinos! pic.twitter.com/ntnm1UsibJ
— Lion Country Safari (@LionCountry) June 17, 2015
@GreensboroSC #Jurassiczookeeper Stand down! pic.twitter.com/khbdQ894qm
— Audrey Niemeyer ⚓ (@Niemer11) June 17, 2015
This photo fad exploded during the summer of 2015, as professionals caring for animals all over the world shared photos from an average workday using the hashtags #Prattkeeping, #JurassicZookeeper and #JurassicZoo on Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr.
#jurassiczookeeper A photo posted by Jeff Harwell (@jeff_harwell) on
#jurassiczookeeper #jurassiczoo A photo posted by Stephanie Triplett (@stellar40272) on
Even those charged with more domesticated animals couldn’t wait to make Pratts of themselves.
Raptors are tricky but try #PrattKeeping with goats! #JurassicZoo #ZoorassicWorld #JurassicWorld #goats pic.twitter.com/zGMboqjGHU
— Brookfield Zoo (@brookfield_zoo) June 18, 2015
@prattprattpratt nailed it! pic.twitter.com/kOKarfLn2Q
— Rodriguez ॐ (@RRWWE) June 18, 2015
We just had to join in the fun #JurassicWorld #JurassicZoo #PrattKeeping pic.twitter.com/urym0sieET
— BatterseaDogs&Cats (@BDCH) June 19, 2015
In June, Tumblr user feminerds (also known as Talia from Brisbane, Australia) explained how, according to her zookeeper friend, this had “become a craze in the keeper community”.
This is Chris. He’s our new aquarist. Lucky for him, #prattkeeping became a thing soon after he was hired. Welcome to #libertysciencecenter Chris. Good luck with those tarantulas! #jerseycity #hoboken #newark #nyc #bayonne #libertystatepark #jcmakeityours #jurassiczoo #jurassiczookeeper A photo posted by Liberty Science Center (@libertysciencecenter) on
Wrangling our red pandas, raptor squad style #JurassicZooKeeper #ZoorassicWorld A photo posted by Elmwood Park Zoo (@elmwoodparkzoo) on
Les soigneurs du monde entier prennent plaisir à parodier la déjà mythique scène de #chrispratt et de ses #raptors dans #jurassicworld ! Au #parcsaintecroix, Marc s’est mis en scène avec nos #loups noirs Gimli, Ébène et Sauron ! #raptorsquad #zookeeper #clevergirls #Wolf #wolves #raptor A photo posted by Parc Animalier de Sainte-Croix (@parcsaintecroix) on
The trend even launched its very own Prattkeeping subreddit.
Chris Pratt himself was delighted with the fun being had from his character’s moves, and a particular highlight for him was this dino-taming kid who had him crying laughing.
It turns out, Prattkeeping even works on humans.
Lol keeper #jurassiczoo #jurassiczookeeper #tamed A photo posted by Sammie ?⚓️ (@sammielynn05) on
Comedians…deadly…but they CAN be trained. #JurassicMidnight @jonahray @thegynomite @kumailn A photo posted by Chris Hardwick (@hardwick) on
It might even help to keep pesky drones off your lawn.
Keep watching Siliconrepublic.com as we look back on the greatest memes of 2015. Let us know your favourite at @siliconrepublic on Twitter.
Main image of Jurassic World premiere by DFree via Shutterstock
