The art director behindThe Legend of Zelda:Majora’s Maskhas revealed a surprising connection betweenJurassic Parkand the game’s title. While the title ofMajora’s Maskreferences the titular mask in the adventure, the developer explained specifically where that intriguing name originated.
The Legend of Zeldaseries has been around for a long time, with the originalZeldagame released on the NES in 1986. Since then, the franchise has seen numerous releases across a number of home and handled Nintendo consoles. Many aspects of these games set them apart, with one obvious example being their names. While the series has many iconic game titles, one of the most intriguing isThe Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. Recently, a developer discussed the origins of the N64 game’s name, which turned out to be one of thedarkerZeldaadventuresreleased over the years.
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In a recent interview with VGC, Takaya Imamura, the art director forMajora’s Mask,gave additional insight into the game’s development. Specifically, he discussed the genesis of the game’s title. According to Imamura, the name was partly based on 1993’sJurassic Park. Imamura explained that he was a “big fan” of the film and wanted to incorporate that into the game’s title. The resulting game name included part of Imamura’s name along with the first part of the title of thefilm directed by Steven Spielberg. “‘Ima-Jura’… that’s where the name came from,” said Imamura.
This news fromMajora’s Mask’s art director is interesting as it contrasts comments previously made byZeldaproducer Eiji Aonuma. According to Aonuma, the game’s name was a combination of Imamura’s name and the title of another movie,Jumanji. While both potential origins of the name are intriguing, Imamura’s seems to more closely align with the game’s Japanese name,Mujura’s Mask.
It is worth pointing out that the VGC interview with Imamura covered more than the origins ofMajora’s Mask’s name. In addition, the developer briefly discussed how he wanted to work on another game in theZeldaseries. While Imamura never had the chance to help make anotherZeldagame before he retired from Nintendo in 2021, he said that he wanted to make something more different compared to recent games in the franchise if given the chance. “RecentZeldagames have taken things back to basics, and I wanted to make something a little bit more unique," he said. He continued, saying that he wanted to make a “strange and unique world,” noting it would be similar to the one inMajora’s Mask.
WhileMajora’s Maskwas released over 23 years ago, theZeldafranchise continues to be popular asTears of the Kingdomhas been a financial successfor Nintendo since its release on the Switch in May. Given this enduring success, more games in the series are inevitable. It will be interesting to see what unique influences the game names for the next installments in the franchise will be.
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Maskis available now for Nintendo 3DS, N64, and Nintendo Switch.
