Jumanji (1995)

When two kids find and play a magical board game, they release a man trapped for decades in it and a host of dangers that can only be stopped by finishing the game.

Director:

Joe Johnston

Writers:

Jonathan Hensleigh (screenplay), Greg Taylor (screenplay),

Stars:

Robin Williams, Jonathan Hyde, Kirsten Dunst

3 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robin Williams	...	Alan Parrish
Jonathan Hyde	...	Van Pelt / Sam Parrish
Kirsten Dunst	...	Judy Shepherd
Bradley Pierce	...	Peter Shepherd
Bonnie Hunt	...	Sarah Whittle
Bebe Neuwirth	...	Nora Shepherd
David Alan Grier	...	Carl Bentley
Patricia Clarkson	...	Carol Parrish
Adam Hann-Byrd	...	Young Alan
Laura Bell Bundy	...	Young Sarah
James Handy	...	Exterminator
Gillian Barber	...	Mrs. Thomas
Brandon Obray	...	Benjamin
Cyrus Thiedeke	...	Caleb
Gary Joseph Thorup	...	Billy Jessup

Storyline

After being trapped in a jungle board game for 26 years, a Man-Child wins his release from the game. But, no sooner has he arrived that he is forced to play again, and this time sets the creatures of the jungle loose on the city. Now it is up to him to stop them.

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Plot Keywords:

board game | jungle | magic | santa claus suit | earthquake | 

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Taglines:

Are you game?

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Genres:

Adventure | Family | Fantasy | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for menacing fantasy action and some mild language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

15 December 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Džumandži

Filming Locations:

British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

£12,902,923 (UK) (19 April 1996)

Company Credits

Production Co:

TriStar Pictures, Interscope Communications, Teitler Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby SR Dolby Digital (Dolby 5.1)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Although Carl Bentley is shown to have still been an adult when Allen Parrish was a child, David Alan Grier, who plays Carl, is actually four years younger than Robin Williams, who plays the adult Allen.

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Goofs

When the game is played in the attic Judy tells Sarah that she can win if she rolls a twelve, but she only rolls a three. On her next turn Allen says she can win with a seven, however 12 minus 3 means she would have needed a nine.

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Quotes

Peter Shepherd: [in horror] Judy!
Judy Shepherd: What?
Sarah Whittle: What happened?
Peter Shepherd: I thought I could end the game myself. I was only ten spaces away.
Judy Shepherd: [reads] "A law of Jumanji having been broken / You will slip back even more than your token."
Sarah Whittle: You tried to cheat?
Peter Shepherd: No, I tried to drop the dice so they'd land on twelve.
Sarah Whittle: Oh, okay, honey. Well, that would be cheating.
Judy Shepherd: [in terror] Peter, your hands! Look at your hands!
[Peter sees that he is growing monkey fur on his hands as a punishment]

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Crazy Credits

Near the end of the closing credits, Jumanji's drums can be heard beating.

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Connections

Referenced in The Comeback: Valerie Hangs with the Cool Kids (2005)

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Soundtracks

"Hark! the Herald Angels Sing"
(pub. 1856) (uncredited)
Hymn by Charles Wesley (1730)
Music by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1840)
Played on piano by Brenda Lockmuller at the Christmas party and sung by the guests

User Reviews

Action and adventure for the kids, and Robin Williams for the adults

Find a comfortable chair, lay out the board, grab the dice, and get ready to play. But remember: once you start this game, you can't stop. If it takes you over twenty years to finish, finish you must.

"Jumanji" is loosely based on the Caldecott Medal-winning children's book by Chris Van Allsburg. The basic premise stays the same: a sister and brother find a strange game based on a jungle safari adventure. When they begin playing it, they find they cannot stop, for the characters and events of the game come to life and start filling their house with monkeys, lions, explorers and other strange things. Only finishing the game will make it all go away.

In the hands of Hollywood, more story is added. Now we have a game spanning 26 years, when one of the two children playing the game in 1969 gets sucked into the game itself. He's trapped there until a fresh pair of children in 1995 find the game and begin playing. The right number is rolled, and out Alan comes...as Robin Williams! Finding the grown girl to complete the group, the four must complete the game before their town is destroyed by the stampeding rhinos, killer pod vines and crazed Great White Hunter.

Robin has some good moments in this film, though he isn't allowed to riff as much as in other vehicles. He's supported by an excellent cast, including a young Kirsten Dunst as the sister of the new pair of children; Jonathan Hyde as both the 1969 father and Van Pelt, the Great White Hunter from the game; and Bebe Neuwirth as the modern children's aunt. The effects are, not surprisingly, ILM-excellent -- necessary in a film of this type. The script was co-written by Van Allsburg to insure the atmosphere of the film and book mesh, but he did not fall into the "This is MY baby" syndrome, and received good help from his two co-writers (for details, see the main page). Highly recommended for old and young alike.