Jumanji (1995)

Director:

Joe Johnston

Writers (WGA):

Jonathan Hensleigh (screenplay) and
Greg Taylor (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

15 December 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Family | Fantasy | Thriller

Tagline:

Roll the dice and unleash the excitement!

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Board Game | Jungle | Magic | Tail | Zebra

Awards:

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
Bebe Neuwirth	...	Nora Shepherd
David Alan Grier	...	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

MPAA:

Rated PG for menacing fantasy action and some mild language.

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby SR

Certification:

Canada:PG (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Iceland:10 | Iceland:12 (video rating) | USA:PG (No. 33723) | Ireland:PG | South Korea:All | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Chile:TE | Finland:K-10 | France:U | Germany:12 | Portugal:M/6 | Spain:7 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

British Columbia, Canada

Company:

TriStar Pictures

Trivia:

In spite of the events in the film and where it was set and filmed, New Hampshire is one of the few U.S. states to not have a zoo.

Goofs:

Continuity: Judy's braids change (they have to be fixed throughout but the hair department doesn't make sure that they are uniform) as the movie continues.

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: [reading the sign on the board] '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 for cheating]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in 13 Hours in a Warehouse (2008)

Soundtrack:

Locomotive Breath

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.