Jumanji (film)
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| Jumanji | |
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| Directed by | Joe Johnston |
| Produced by | Robert W. Cort, Ted Field, Larry J. Franco |
| Written by | Chris Van Allsburg, Greg Taylor |
| Starring | Robin Williams, Jonathan Hyde, Kirsten Dunst, Bonnie Hunt, Bradley Pierce, Bebe Neuwirth, David Alan Grier, Adam Hann-Byrd, Patricia Clarkson |
| Music by | James Horner |
| Distributed by | TriStar Pictures |
| Release date(s) | December 15, 1995 |
| Running time | 104 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | ~$65,000,000 |
| IMDb profile | |
Jumanji is a 1995 feature film based on Jumanji, a 1982 children's book written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg. The story is about a jungle-themed board game that has real animals and other jungle elements magically appear where the players are when they are playing.
The movie starred Robin Williams, Bonnie Hunt, Kirsten Dunst, Bradley Pierce, Jonathan Hyde, and Adam Hann-Byrd, and was directed by Joe Johnston.
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[edit] Jumanji Plot
The film starts on a dark and stormy night in New England, 1869 where two boys are burying a mysterious trunk. As they bury it, some drums start beating and the boys are spooked by it. The younger brother asks his sibling what if someone digs the trunk up? The other replies with "May God have mercy on his soul..." and with that the boys depart, abandoning whatever is in the trunk.
A hundred years on, in the fictional town of Brantford, New Hampshire, a 12-year-old boy named Alan Parrish visits his father at his shoe factory. A tailor at the factory, Carl "Sole Man" Bentley (David Alan Grier) reveals a new style of shoes (sneakers). When distracted by his father, Alan accidentally places Carl's new shoe design into a shredder. As a result, Mr. Parrish demands to know who put the shoe through the machine and Carl bluffs for Alan, Mr. Parrish later firing him off screen. Outside, Alan is attacked by bullies like Billy Jessup (Billy thinks Alan is dating his girlfriend Sarah Whittle). Alan is then drawn to a strange sound of drumbeats. He approaches a construction site wall and after some digging, comes across a trunk. Using a shovel to break its lock, he pries open the trunk and finds a mysterious board game within, called Jumanji. Alan takes it home. There, he studies it and picks up a rhinoceros and elephant token out of a small compartment on the side of the game. He's holding them in his hand when his mother comes home, startling Alan, and he drops them onto the board. As Alan is eating dinner, his father demands that he go to a high class boarding school, but Alan doesn't wish leave his life behind. The two have a falling out and Alan decides to run away. But before he can reach the door, he meets his old friend Sarah Whittle, who has got his bicycle back from Billy. He offers her a go at the Jumanji game. Alan reads the instructions which say: "Jumanji. A game for those who seek to find: a way to leave their world behind. You roll the dice to move your token, doubles get another turn. The first player to reach the end wins." But she informs him she gave up on board games "five years ago" . She drops the dice (also from the small compartment in the side), the hippopotamus token moves forward, and orange writing on a green background appears in the black sphere in the game's centre. She reads the riddle ("At night they fly, you'd better run. These winged things are not much fun") and strange squeaking comes from the fireplace. Alan tries to put the game away but he is surprised by a grandfather clock striking eight, causing him to drop the dice. They land on a five, the elephant token moves, and he reads the riddle: "In the jungle you must wait till the dice read five or eight". Before Sarah's eyes, Alan has disappeared, literally sucked into the game and she is chased out of the house screaming, scared out of her wits, by a flock of bats that flew out of the fireplace.
Twenty six years later, the town has changed. The shoe factory has closed, along with many of the town's businesses. Graffiti, unemployment, and homelessness are widespread. A pair of siblings, Judy and Peter (Kirsten Dunst and Bradley Pierce) move into the old Parrish estate, which has been empty for several years, with their Aunt Nora. Judy is a sarcastic girl who tells a lot of false stories, while Peter is a quiet and shy boy. It is revealed by Aunt Nora to Mrs. Thomas, an estate agent, that their parents died in a car crash in Canada the previous year. Later that day, while moving their stuff in, Peter enters the attic and is frightened by a mysterious winged rodent. The following day, an exterminator pokes around but cannot find the bat, which is in fact an African Bat. He explains to Judy and Peter that Alan Parrish lived in the house before them, and tells them a rumor of the young Alan being murdered by his father. That night, Judy is grounded after telling Nora of the man's story. The two children start to hear familiar drumbeats from upstairs.
The following morning the two children are lured to the attic by the strange drum beats where they discover Jumanji. Curious about the game, they set it up and read the rules. Peter is about to place two tokens on the board when they unexpectedly leap from his hand and fuse themselves onto the game which Judy believes is caused by microchips in the game. Peter allows Judy to go first and she rolls a six. The two watch in amazement as her token moves by itself and orange writing appears in the center of the game. After she reads the riddle, ("A tiny bite can make you itch, make you sneeze, make you twitch") three giant mosquitoes fly in and Judy scares them off with a tennis racket. Peter rolls the dice, getting snake-eyes. After reading the riddle ("This will not be an easy mission, monkeys slow the expedition"), loud noises come from downstairs and they find a group of menacing monkeys in the kitchen, which later run out into the neighborhood. Then Judy spots another notice written on the side of the game board. Judy reads it aloud: "ADVENTURERS BEWARE. DO NOT BEGIN UNLESS YOU INTEND TO FINISH. FOR THE EXCITING CONSEQUENCES WILL ONLY VANISH WHEN A PLAYER HAS REACHED JUMANJI AND CALLS OUT ITS NAME." Judy reminds Peter that he rolled doubles, so he must roll again. Peter rolls a five, and a terrifying lion ("His fangs are sharp, he likes your taste. Your party better move, post haste") emerges from the shadows. It chases the two downstairs, where they are saved by a bearded man dressed in leaves who traps the lion in Aunt Nora's bedroom.
Finding the man in a locked room, it dawns on the children that he is Alan Parrish (now 38 years old - and played by Robin Williams). He runs out after learning his house has been abandoned for years. He runs out into the street and is nearly run over by a police car, driven by none other than Carl. Carl is puzzled by Alan's physique and behavior, making Judy come up with a crazy story of him being her uncle. Carl then has to run off when monkeys hijack his car. Alan runs to his father's factory and learns from a tramp that his father gave up on life when he believed his son had run away. Alan is directed by the tramp to the Parrish gravestone where he learns they died just four years before. Judy asks if Alan can help them finish the game, but he refuses. The trio then witness a car crash and they discover that the driver of the car was Mrs. Thomas, the estate agent, bitten by one of the giant mosquitoes. A pair of paramedics load her into the ambulance (which was the secondary crashed vehicle). Alan, Peter and Judy get into Mrs. Thomas' car and are attacked by another mosquito. Alan starts up the car and, in a comedic scene, drives the car back to his house.
Alan locks himself in the bathroom to sort himself out and he emerges with cut hair, no beard and dressed in new clothes. Alan wishes to start off with his life again. Peter accuses Alan of being afraid, but Alan speaks to him coldly about what things there are in the game. Alan agrees to watch them play the game. Later in the lounge, Judy cannot take her turn and Alan realizes he must play, but it is not his turn. It is the turn of Sarah Whittle!
They find Sarah (Bonnie Hunt) at her old house and she faints in shock when Alan reveals who he is. They take her back to the Parrish estate where they learn she has been in therapy for years, trying to get over her experience of Alan being sucked into Jumanji. Sarah is extremely frightened when she sees Jumanji and Alan tries to reassure her that nothing will go wrong. It is Sarah's turn, but she can't bear to do it. Alan offers her a hand to put the dice in so she can go home, but he turns his hand when she drops the dice, allowing the dice to fall onto the board as her roll. After the next riddle appears ("They grow much faster than bamboo. Take care, or they'll come after you"), the lounge is suddenly overgrown with vines and plants from the game. A giant yellow plant known as a "pod" rips its way through the fireplace and tries to eat Peter. Alan saves Peter using a sword belonging to his ancestor. Carl, meanwhile, finds his car crashed into a tree. He then heads off to arrest Alan.
Back at the house, Alan traps the plants in the lounge and guides a frightened Sarah into the library. Alan and Sarah have a heart-to-heart moment about how the game ruined their lives. The children announce they will not stop playing until the game is finished with Alan agreeing also. Sarah reluctantly agrees as well. It is Alan's first turn to roll in 26 years. He rolls, but leaps up in fright when he reads the inscription: "A hunter from the darkest wild, makes you feel just like a child".
A gun goes off and Van Pelt, a hunter armed with a rifle, appears and chases Alan out of the house (the hunter is played by the same actor who played Alan's father). Carl appears and tries to arrest Van Pelt, only to have his car shot at multiple times. Alan gets away and returns to the house, while Van Pelt runs out of ammunition and goes in search of a new supply of bullets. At the house, Sarah is told Alan didn't want to play and the two get into an argument. Alan also reveals Van Pelt wants to kill him because he finds everything offensive about him. The two get into a heated argument, but they stop when the ground shudders underneath them. Judy has rolled the dice and books start falling from the bookshelves. Alan turns and informs the others that a stampede is on its way (Judy rolled this clue: "Don't be fooled. It isn't thunder. Staying put would be a blunder"). Alan grabs the game and heads for the hills as a stampede of rhinoceroses, elephants, zebras and pelicans charges through the house. One pelican lands and steals the game. The group give chase, oblivious that the plants are spreading further throughout — and out of — the house.
Van Pelt goes into a gun shop and is able to replace his elephant gun with a modern automatic rifle. Peter saves the game from the pelican when it accidentally drops it in a river. Carl finds the group soon after and arrests Alan. Realizing that Van Pelt is hidden somewhere nearby and looking for an opening to shoot him, Alan lets Carl drive him away from the others. After this, Judy and Sarah discover Peter has tried to cheat the game. He was only 10 spaces away, so he tried to drop the dice so they would land on 12, but he only got a six. As a punishment for cheating, the game transforms him into a monkey (his clue was the cheating penalty: "A law of Jumanji has been broken. You will slip back even more than your token").
Alan reveals to Carl who he is, causing the police car to screech to a halt. Jumanji has also had several effects on the town. The mosquitoes have hospitalized nearly 100 people, the monkeys have hijacked several cars and caused storefront damage, and the stampede has plowed its way through town. All of this has led to widespread looting. Van Pelt steals Jumanji and Peter is nearly crushed by the raging stampede of animals. In a discount store, Van Pelt captures Sarah, but Peter and Judy save her and they run off with the game. Van Pelt chases them about in the shop. Carl releases Alan, but Alan handcuffs him to the car door to keep him away from the danger. After hearing of Sarah's predicament, Alan and Carl drive off to save her, Alan driving badly. Peter prepares a trap for Van Pelt in the shop using some dumbbells, a pair of scuba air bottles and a canoe. Peter slips Van Pelt up using washing-up liquid (dish soap). He activates his trap and Van Pelt (comically screaming in a high pitch) goes on a wild ride through the shop on the rocket-powered boat, flying through a wall. Van Pelt gets payback by burying the trio in a pile of tires.
Alan and Carl have broken the brakes on the car and smash their way through the shop, causing a stand of paint cans to collapse on Van Pelt. Alan sees Peter's current form and becomes unhappy.
Meanwhile, Aunt Nora is returning home in her car. She hears news of the mosquito bites' effects on people and sees the stampede go by. A monkey attacks her in her car, causing her to crash it. Alan scolds Peter, but he then apologizes when he sees the young child-monkey cry. Peter then explains he is not crying for being scolded, but because his tail is irritating him. Alan rips a hole in his trousers to allow the tail to have room to move. Carl sets off from the store to track down Alan. At the house, Alan and others discover that the plants in the lounge have freed themselves and have turned the house into a jungle. Carl finds Nora on the road, but before he can drive her home, a plant attacks and devours his car.
At the house, Sarah rolls (She needs twelve, but gets a 5) and creates a monsoon (Every month at the quarter moon, there will be a monsoon in your lagoon). Things take a turn for the worse when the lower areas of the house are flooded, and a crocodile attempts to eat the group. Sarah is narrowly caught in the crocodile's jaws, forcing Alan to pounce and wrestle the crocodile to save her. Outside, Carl and Nora arrive, and Carl tries to kick the doors in, but all the water blasts out and sweep him and Nora away. All the water floods out of the house, taking the crocodile with it. The group go to finish the game in the attic. Alan rolls, but the riddle summons quicksand (Beware the ground on which you stand, the floor is quicker than the sand) and he begins quickly sinking into the floor. Thinking quickly, Judy rolls for her turn and is advised to go back one space (Ther is a lesson you will learn: sometimes you must go back a turn), freezing the floor and trapping Alan and Sarah. Peter rolls the dice and the group are surrounded by giant spiders (Need a hand? Why? You just wait. We'll help you out, we each have eight). Peter battles the spiders using an axe, but Judy collapses after being poisoned by a jungle plant. Sarah rolls (she tries to get a seven, rolls an eight, so her piece doesn't move) using her mouth and an earthquake occurs (You're almost there with much at stake, but now the ground begins to quake). Alan gets free and finds the game, notices that he can finish if he rolls a three, but Van Pelt appears, covered in paint. He prepares to shoot Alan, tells him to stand up and to drop what he's holding (the dice), impressed that he is finally acting like a man. The first die lands on the board, a one. Sarah appears to see the situation. The other die falls through a crack in the floor. Just as it's about to tumble over the edge, it stops, a two. Alan notices he has dropped the dice and looks on in joy as his counter moves in the center of the game, and he cries out "JUMANJI!": Van Pelt fires, but the bullet is sucked away into the game and his gun is sucked back to the shop. Suddenly all of the animals fly in and form a giant tornado of colors as they, along with Van Pelt, are sucked into the game.
The game has ended, but Alan and Sarah are now children, back in 1969. Judy and Peter are gone. Alan and his father make up, but his father must dash off as he is a guest of honor at a meeting. Alan and Sarah decide to dump Jumanji in the nearby river, free of it at last. Sarah kisses Alan and the two walk off.
Twenty six years on, at the Parrish home, the two are now in their adult forms and are married with Sarah pregnant. They are celebrating Christmas with family and friends (including Carl). Alan is speaking to his dad on the phone, but he and Sarah have to dash off to meet some new friends: Jim (who has been hired by Alan and Sarah to work on the house) and Martha. The two are in fact Judy and Peter's parents. The two meet Judy and Peter (again) and offer them presents. Jim informs the two that they might be going on a skiing trip to Canada, but Alan and Sarah scream in horror. The two say that they would think it would be best for Jim to start on his work as soon as possible and everyone agrees.
Meanwhile, on a beach somewhere, a pair of French speaking children walk and they hear some strange drums beating. Not far from them in the sand is the game, Jumanji.
[edit] Spin-offs
- There was an animated series based on the movie 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 movie's plot, there were a few changes such as the exclusion of Bonnie Hunt's character, and the age and relationship of the David Alan Grier character was changed somewhat. Each turn the player was given a "game clue" and then sucked into the jungle until they solved their clue, and that Robin Williams's character had to continually search for his "game clue" to escape the board game.
- There was a board game from Milton Bradley with not only the game clues from the movie, but also some new ones (some of the things in the movie have their own game clues like the pelican, elephants, zebras, man-eating plants, barb-shooting plants and crocodile).
[edit] Jumanji Game Clues
Here are the known Jumanji game clues that are in the movie and/or the board game (with the description of what each one is):
Clues that appear in the movie:
- At night they fly, you'd better run, these winged things are not much fun. - Clue for a flock of bats.
- In the jungle you must wait, till the dice read five or eight. - This clue doesn't create something like all the other clues, but whoever rolls this is absorbed into the gameboard which leads to the darkest jungle. He is stuck in there until somebody rolls a 5 or an 8. Only a circle says this in the boardgame.
- A tiny bite can make you itch, make you sneeze, make you twitch. - Clue for large disease-carrying mosquitoes.
- This will not be an easy mission. Monkeys slow the expedition. - This is the monkeys' clue.
- His fangs are sharp, he likes your taste. Your party better move, Poste Haste. - This is the lion's clue.
- They grow much faster than bamboo. Take care or they'll come after you. - Clue for the flowering crawling vines. In the board game, the barb-shooting plants and man eating flowers don't come with this.
- A hunter from the darkest wild makes you feel just like a child. - This is the clue for hunter Van Pelt.
- Don't be fooled, it isn't thunder. Staying put would be a blunder. - A stampede comes with this. In the board game, it's just rhinos.
- Every month at the quarter moon, there will be a monsoon in your lagoon. - This causes a monsoon (rainy season).
- Beware the ground on which you stand. The floor is quicker than sand. - The floor under the player's feet becomes like quicksand.
- Need a hand? Why, you just wait. We'll help you out. We each have eight. - This clue releases huge spiders.
- You're almost there, with much at stake. But now the ground begins to quake. - This unleashes an earthquake.
Board game clues:
- Their boisterous laughing does provoke. In this adventure, they tell no joke. - Clue for hyenas.
- Don't stop the game you'll realize...Or one of you may vaporize. - Clue for vaporization.
- Splintered rafters all around. Duck them or they'll pin you down. - Clue for falling wood planks.
- 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. - Clue for piranhas.
- Feline spots in the jungle blend. Be cautious of her, she's not your friend. - Clue for a leopard.
- Elephants charging! You must confess...A freight train's damage would be far less. - This is the 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. - Clue for army ants.
- Raging and howling, a gale throws it's might. Hold on for dear life or be blown out o'sight. - Clue for a tornado.
- Big as fists these balls of ice. Through umbrellas they will slice. - Clue for large hail.
- An angry sky hurls bolts of light. If you can't take cover, you'd better take flight. - Clue for a severe thunderstorm.
- When you see it, you will shake. It's big and green and rhymes with lake. - Clue for a snake.
- Crawling and slithering up from the flood. Comes thousands of leeches to suck your blood. - Clue for leeches.
- Jungle plague germs, there's a melody. You can't see them but they're deadly. - Clue for plague germs.
- 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. - Clue for 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.
[edit] Non-Board game clues
These aren't in the board game, but are in the movie:
- A law of Jumanji having been broken, you will slip back more than your token. - Cheating penalty. Wanting to end the game, Peter attempted to win by lofting the dice and roll a double six. Not a clue in the board game, but it slowly turned Peter into a monkey.
- There is a lesson that you will learn. Sometimes you must go back a turn. - Person must go back to their previous space, and a previous disaster is undone.
[edit] Trivia
- Jonathan Hyde played two characters in this movie, Mr. Parrish and Van Pelt. This was a tribute to Peter Pan, where the actor who plays Captain Hook also plays the father.
- Portions of the movie, including the animal stampede, were filmed on Main Street of Keene, New Hampshire.
[edit] Box office
US Gross Domestic Takings: US$ 100,475,249
+ Other International Takings: $162,322,000
= Gross Worldwide Takings: $262,797,249 [1]
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Jumanji at the Internet Movie Database
- Jumanji at Box Office Mojo
