Jumanji

This article is about the movie. For the book, see Jumanji. For the TV show, see Jumanji (TV series).

Jumanji
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Joe Johnston
Written by	Screenplay Greg Taylor Jonathan Hensleigh Jim Strain Novel Chris Van Allsburg
Produced by	Robert W. Cort Ted Field Larry J. Franco
Starring	Robin Williams Bonnie Hunt Kirsten Dunst Bradley Pierce Jonathan Hyde Bebe Neuwirth David Alan Grier
Cinematography	Thomas Ackerman
Edited by	Robert Dalva
Music by	James Horner
Production companies	Interscope Communications Teitler Film
Distributed by	TriStar Pictures
Release dates	United States/Canada December 15, 1995 United Kingdom February 16, 1996 Japan March 20, 1996 Australia March 21, 1996
Running time	104 minutes
Countries	Template:FilmUS Template:FilmCanada
Language	English
Budget	$65 million
Box office	$262,797,249

Jumanji is a 1995 American fantasy-comedy film directed by Joe Johnston and based on Chris Van Allsburg's popular 1981 short story of the same name. The story is about a supernatural and ominous board game which makes animals and other jungle hazards appear upon each roll of the dice. Expensive, state-of-the-art computer graphics and animatronics were employed by Industrial Light & Magic for the special effects sequences. The film stars Robin Williams, Bonnie Hunt, Kirsten Dunst, Bradley Pierce and Jonathan Hyde.

The film is dedicated to the memory of Stephen L. Price, an ILM visual effects supervisor who was involved with it. It was shot in New Hampshire, Maine, and Vancouver, British Columbia.

Plot

In 1869, two boys bury a chest near Bradford, New Hampshire. When one boy asks what will happen if someone unearths it, the other replies "May God have mercy on his soul." The sound of tribal drums is heard as the boys ride away.

A century later, in 1969, 12-year-old Alan Parrish flees on his bicycle from a gang of bullies, then runs into his father Sam's shoe factory, where he meets his friend Carl Bentley, one of Sam's employees. When Alan accidentally damages a shoe that Carl designed, Carl takes the blame and loses his job. Outside the factory, after the bullies beat him up and steal his bike, Alan follows the sound of tribal drumbeats into a construction site and finds the buried chest, which contains a board game called "Jumanji".

After taking the game home, Alan has an argument with his father, who wants to send him to boarding school. Alan prepares to run away, but his friend Sarah Whittle, who is the lead bully's girlfriend, arrives with Alan's bicycle. Alan and Sarah accidentally begin a game of Jumanji, which behaves strangely: When a player rolls the dice, the player's piece moves itself and a message appears on the board. The goal is to reach the center of the board and say "Jumanji". On their first two moves, Alan is sucked into the board and Sarah is attacked by African bats. The message for Alan's move was In the jungle you must wait, until the dice read five or eight. This means he is trapped in the Jumanji jungle. He will be freed when a player rolls a five or an eight, but Sarah abandons the game.

Twenty-six years later, in 1995, Judy and Peter Shepherd move into the Parrish house with their aunt Nora after losing their parents in a car accident in Canada. They hear Jumanji's drumbeats and find the board game in the attic. When they begin playing, they are attacked by giant mosquitoes and crazed monkeys. The instructions say things will return to normal once the game finishes, so they continue. Peter rolls a five, releasing both a lion and Alan, who is now an adult. Alan locks the lion in the bedroom, then goes to the shoe factory, which is now boarded up and closed. On the way, he meets Carl, who lives unhappily as a police officer. In the factory, a stranger tells Alan that his father abandoned the business to search for him until his death.

When rolling the dice has no effect on the board, Alan realizes they are continuing the game he and Sarah started back in 1969. It is Sarah's turn to roll. They find her at home, a reclusive outcast traumatized by the game and its aftermath. She refuses to play, so Alan has to trick her into rolling the dice. The following moves release man-eating vines, a hunter named Van Pelt, a stampede of rhinos, elephants and zebras, and a pelican that steals the board. Increasingly relentless havoc ensues throughout the town. Among other things, Peter turns into a monkey after trying to cheat; Peter, Sarah and Judy battle Van Pelt in a hardware store; and an earthquake splits the house in two. Finally, Alan wins the game after dropping the dice while cornered by Van Pelt. When he calls out "Jumanji," Van Pelt and the other jungle elements are sucked back into the board.

With the game over, Alan and Sarah find themselves in 1969 again as children, but retaining their memories of the game. Alan admits his guilt for destroying Carl's shoe, Carl gets his job back, and Sam tells Alan he doesn't have to go to boarding school. Alan and Sarah then throw the Jumanji board into a river. Twenty-six years later, Alan's and Sarah's knowledge of their experiences during the game has changed the future for the better: Alan and Sarah are married, Alan's parents are still alive, Alan has taken over the shoe business, and Carl still works there. Sarah is also pregnant.

When Judy, Peter, and their parents visit the Parrishes at a Christmas party, Alan and Sarah offer the parents jobs in the shoe company and frantically discourage them from taking their planned skiing vacation in Canada, knowing that they would die in a car accident there. Sometime later, two French-speaking girls hear drumbeats as they walk along a beach, where the Jumanji board is half buried in the sand.

Cast

• Robin Williams as Alan Parrish,1995
• Bonnie Hunt as Sarah Whittle,1995
• Kirsten Dunst as Judy Shepherd
• Bradley Pierce as Peter Shepherd
• Jonathan Hyde as Van Pelt and Sam Parrish
• Bebe Neuwirth as Aunt Nora Shepherd
• David Alan Grier as Carl Bentley
• Adam Hann-Byrd as young Alan Parrish,1969
• Laura Bell Bundy as young Sarah Whittle,1969
• Patricia Clarkson as Carol-Anne Parrish
• Frank Welker as Special Vocal Effects (voice)

Reception

Jumanji did well in the box office; it took in $100,475,249 in the United States and Canada and $162,322,000 overseas, totaling to $262,797,249. Critical reception of the film was mixed, however. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 50% of 26 professional critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 5.6 out of 10.. Metacritic posts an average rating of 39%, based on 18 reviews.

Legacy

• There was an animated series based on the film that ran from 1996–1999. In 1996 it was carried by the UPN network, but later seasons were syndicated by BKN. While it followed the film's plot, there were a few changes, such as the exclusion of Bonnie Hunt's character, and some changes to the age and relationship of David Alan Grier's character. Each turn, the player was given a "game clue" and then sucked into the jungle until they solved their clue. Robin Williams' character had missed his clue and was continually searching for it in order to escape the board game. At the end, the kids ultimately succeed in helping to free him from the game by finding out what his clue was.
• Milton Bradley released a board game that was equipped with not only the game clues from the film, but also some new ones. The elephant, zebras, pelican, crocodile, man-eating plants, and barb-shooting plants have their own clues. The board game has a doomsday grid where a card would go if the other players don't roll the required rescue item in time. If the grid fills up, the game will end if a card lands on this space: "A card placed here brings dreadful news: The game is done, all players lose."
• Zathura is a spiritual sequel that was based on a children's book of the same name.
• For several years after Jumanji was filmed, tire marks from the car crash into the "Sav-a-lot" could be seen on the ground in the Liquidation World in Tsawwassen, BC, until the building was subsequently demolished for a new development. They served as a constant reminder for Tsawwassen residents about the hype the filming of the movie meant to the town.
• In 2007, Fuji Trading Co., Ltd. produced an exclusive Pachinko amusement-game only released in Japan. Most of the characters had Anime looks in the game, along with unique 3D-Anime designs and it featured many pictures & clips from the movie. There are several various missions and mini games that can be played throughout the game.

Clues from the game

• At night they fly, you'd better run. These winged things are not much fun. -said to be African Fruit Bats, but portrayed as smaller, common bats.
• In the jungle you must wait until the dice read five or eight. - Alan is sucked into the game.
• A tiny bite can make you itch, make you sneeze, make you twitch. - Giant Mosquitoes.
• This will not be an easy mission. Monkeys slow the expedition. - Spider Monkeys, portrayed in the movie as small chimp-like monkeys.
• His fangs are sharp, he likes your taste. Your party better move poste-haste. - An African Lion.
• They grow much faster than bamboo. Take care or they'll come after you. - Crawling vines. In the board game adaption, the barb-shooting plants and man-eating plants have their own clue.
• A hunter from the darkest wild makes you feel just like a child. - Van Pelt.
• Don't be fooled, it isn't thunder. Staying put would be a blunder. - A Stampede. In the board game adaption, it was just Rhinos while the Elephants, Zebras, and the Pelicans have their own clue.
• A law of Jumanji having been broken, you'll be set back even more than your token. - Peter tries to cheat and the game reverses evolution on him as a penalty, slowly turning him into a monkey.
• Every month at the quarter moon, there'll be a monsoon in your lagoon. - A Monsoon. In the board game adaption, the crocodile has its own clue.
• Beware the ground on which you stand. The floor is quicker than the sand. - The floor beneath the player becomes Quicksand. In the board game, the clue reads "You better watch just where you stand. The floor is quicker than quicksand."
• There is a lesson you will learn. Sometimes you must go back a turn. - Judy saves Alan from sinking.
• Need a hand? Well you just wait. We'll help you out we each have eight - Large Spiders.
• You're almost there with much at stake, but now the ground begins to quake - An Earthquake.

Board game clues

Here are some riddles exclusive to the Milton Bradley Board Game:

• Their boisterous laughing does provoke. In this adventure, they tell no joke. - Spotted Hyenas.
• Don't stop the game you'll realize. Or one of you may vaporize. - Vaporization.
• Splintered rafters all around. Duck them or they'll pin you down. - Falling wood.
• With six-foot wingspan, sound of swish. It thinks the gameboard is a fish. - This is the Pelican's clue.
• Enormous and yellow these flowers grew. Their flesh-eating blossoms are hungry for you. - This is the man-eating plant's clue.
• Raging waters ebb and flow. Beware piranhas down below. - Red-bellied piranhas
• Feline spots in the jungle blend. Be cautious of her, she's not your friend - A Leopard.
• Elephants charging! You must confess...A freight train's damage would be far less. - This is the African Elephant's clue.
• Like a great white shark down the Nile. Beware the 25-foot crocodile. - This is the Crocodile's clue.
• They march and eat and march and eat. If I were you, I'd watch my feet. - Army Ants.
• Raging and howling, a gale throws it's might. Hold on for dear life or be blown out o'sight. - A Tornado.
• Big as fists these balls of ice. Through umbrellas they will slice. - Large Hail.
• An angry sky hurls bolts of light. If you can't take cover, you'd better take flight. - A dangerous Thunderstorm.
• When you see it, you will shake. It's big and green and rhymes with lake. - A Snake.
• Crawling and slithering up from the flood comes thousands of leeches to suck your blood. - Leeches.
• Jungle plague germs, there's a medley. You can't see them but they're deadly. - Deadly plague.
• Hush now! Just listen, no complaints, no more gripes. The power belong to the beasts with the stripes. - This is the Zebras' clue.
• A cavernous yawn with tusks of course. Be sure to skirt this river horse. - A Hippopotamus.
• These purple lovelies you'd want to grow...if it weren't for the poison barbs they throw. - This is the barb-shooting plants' clue.

External links

• Jumanji at IMDb
• Jumanji at Box Office Mojo
• Jumanji at Rotten Tomatoes