There’s something magical about the movies we loved as children. They drew us in, sparked our imaginations, and made us believe anything was possible. Sometimes when we grow up, that magic fades, and we can see the cracks and imperfections in our once-favorite films. But other times, the movies enchant us again, pulling us back to where we were when we first saw them. For us, Jumanji (1995) is one of those movies.

Loosely based on the 1981 Caldecott-winning book by Chris Van Allsburg, Jumanji is a mid-90s special effects marvel, led by an excellent cast, and supported by an eerie and exciting score. It seamlessly blends magic and suspense in such a way, that the audience remains on the edges of their seats, unable to predict what terrors the game will unleash next. But among the strange and serious nature of the film, there’s a sense of humor that lightens the way. For example, Robin Williams plays a 40-something man-child that has been stranded in the jungle for two decades, leading a group of reluctant board game players to the end of the story, all while avoiding monkeys, mosquitoes, and a very annoyed police officer.

So, come and play with us and we will find a way to leave our world behind…in Jumanji!

Summary

In 1969, Alan Parrish mysteriously disappeared. Ever since that day, the Parrish family home has been abandoned. Twenty-six years later, Judy and Peter Shepherd move into the house with their Aunt Nora, trying to ignore the rumors that Allan was murdered and his body is located in the walls of the house.

One day, Peter discovers a board game called Jumanji while exploring the house. As he and Judy begin to play, they find that there’s something strange and sinister about the game. With each turn, Jumanji conjures up a real-life trial from gigantic mosquitoes to a hoard of trouble-making monkeys. With one roll of the dice, Peter even brings back Alan Parrish himself, who explains that the only way to get rid of the terrors wreaking havoc on their home is to finish the game.

The Book

Jumanji was published in 1981 and was only Chris Van Allsburg’s second book, after writing The Garden of Abdul Gasazi in 1979. Van Allsburg has been honored twice with the Caldecott Medal, for Jumanji and The Polar Express. Every year, the award goes to the most distinguished American picture book for children. Many of his books deal with extraordinary events in the context of ordinary circumstances. For example, a board game should be a fairly mundane and perfectly safe activity for children (unless you’re in a Chris Van Allsburg book.)
The word Jumanji, according to Van Allsburg, is Zulu for “many effects.” Which is a fitting meaning for the film adaptation that would come later. The author got the idea to write the book because of his frustration with board games as a child. He once told Scholastic that he loved Monopoly, but at the end of the game, all he had was fake money. He thought about how cool it would be if the things in the game actually happened.
In 2002, Chris Van Allsburg wrote a sequel to Jumanji called “Zathura.” This book was directly connected to the first story and had its own 2005 film adaptation starring Josh Hutcherson, Kristin Stewart, Dax Shepard, and Jonah Bobo.

Making Of

Jumanji was directed by Joe Johnston, who got his start in the film industry as a special effects artist in the Star Wars franchise. Johnston was also responsible for some other 80s and 90s classics, like Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and The Pagemaster.
The screenplay for Jumanji was written by Jonathan Hensleigh, Greg Taylor, and Jim Strain. There was more than one draft, the first of which Chris Van Allsburg and Robin Williams disliked. While the filmmakers were waiting to get Robin Williams on board, they began working on other aspects of the film. It was after reading the final draft that Williams agreed to be in the film.
- Robin Williams plays Alan Parrish, a young boy and only child who has a difficult relationship with his father. Williams later explained that he really connected with the loneliness that Alan felt because he was also an only child that was often left alone while his parents worked. He also said that Alan’s relationship with his dad was similar to the one that Robin’s father and grandfather had.
- Robin Williams was known as the king of improvisation, but this role wasn’t very comedic. So, Williams would joke around with the other actors in between takes, getting the jokes and jitters out of their systems. Every Monday, Williams would also do several hours of comedy at local clubs so the excess energy wouldn’t distract him while filming.
All of the interior sets were built in Bridge Studios in British Columbia. Outdoor shots were filmed on location in Keene, New Hampshire.
- One of the key elements of the story is the concept of something so structured as a well-kept home, keeping in the complete chaos that the game unleashes on the world. That’s why the characters always return home to play the game. The house at the end of the film is a visual representation of how Jumanji has taken over their lives.
Some of the scenes proved to be especially challenging to film. For example, there is a scene where most of the cast is in water. Producers wanted to save money by having the child actors work longer hours. This way, the scene would take less days to shoot. However, Robin Williams was adamant that the kids not work longer than previously agreed. So, the scene took 10 days to complete.
Jumanji has a lot of strong elements. One of them is its strong core cast of characters that lead the audience through the film.
- Kirsten Dunst plays Judy, the eldest of the two Shepherd children. Dunst beat out other rising stars for the role, including Scarlett Johannsen. She had already appeared in the 1994 film Interview with a Vampire, and continues to act today.
- Bradley Pierce plays Peter Shepherd. He continues to have a career as a voice actor, and before Jumanji he was the voice of Chip in Beauty and the Beast.
- Bonnie Hunt plays Sarah Whittle, Alan Parrish’s friend and one of the original players of the game. Hunt is incredibly accomplished, with a long-lasting career as an actor, comedian, and producer. She’s also lent her voice to several Pixar movies.
James Horner provided the score for Jumanji. He wrote the soundtrack for many popular films throughout the 90s, providing scores that captured the essence of magic and wonder. He was known for choral and electronic elements in his music. Some of his other notable works include: Titanic, The Pagemaster, Grinch 2000, and An American Tale.
- When talking about the score in an interview with Reuters in 1994 he said "Ultimately, the score has to be a manipulation tool," Horner said, "sometimes the director has a vision of what he wants to happen, but somehow on screen it's not happening and the music can nudge the audience psychologically more in that direction".
- The film contains 70 minutes of music composed by Horner. After the film edit the score was recorded during one week’s time with an 108 piece orchestra.
- The music then had to be mixed in with the dialogue and sound effects to make the perfect blend.
Visual Effects

By 1995, much of Hollywood had embraced CGI to help tell more elaborate tales. However, with digital effects still in their infancy, Johnston decided to employ a great deal of practical effects in Jumanji. Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc. brought more traditional techniques including full-scale puppet creatures and animatronics, whereas the new rockstar company Industrial Light and Magic, brought their state-of-the-art digital software.
Tom Woodruff Jr. and Alec Gillis created the animatronic animal characters. They got their start by working on projects with Stan Winston for movies like the first Terminator, Aliens, and Predator. Alec and Tom left Stan Winston’s studio in 1988 and went on to form Amalgamated Dynamics Incorporated. Their first project was making the giant sandworms for the film Tremors! They also worked on other well-known films such as Death Becomes Her, the make-up for The Santa Clause with Tim Allen, and Starship Troopers.

All the digital effects in Jumanji were ambitious. A herd of rhinos crashing through the corridors of a house, a stream of wild animals stampeding through a small town with an elephant crushing a car, a lion leaping down a flight of stairs, and wild monkeys tearing up a kitchen. Johnston was not sure any of these shots were even possible, especially since many of the creatures had hairy or feathery features.
- ILM had to create two new computer programs specifically for these shots in Jumanji. The first one is called iSculpt, which allowed artists and animators to create realistic facial expressions on computer-generated animals. The other allowed the first time, the creation of realistic digital hair. In the audio commentary many of the special effects crew members talked about how difficult creating CGI hair was.
  - In order to create hair that flowed randomly and yet kept to specific parameters, the team modeled individual hairs on the head of the lion at critical places so that they could get the right shape at a particular spot. They would then pick about 40 spots on the head for these critical hairs.. The program would then insert the rest of the hairs near and within the areas of the 40 modeled hairs. They called these 40 the “control hairs.”
  - During those years it could take four to six hours to render just one frame.
- The fantastic art of rotoscoping was used once again. When the stampede came through the town the townspeople were rotoscoped in front of the animals running. The rhino that is the slowest and takes longer to follow the stampede was an accident. Someone had added too many frames to him but they loved it and nicknamed him “Pokey.” So he was kept.
According to Johnston, the biggest challenge with the CGI in Jumanji was its place in time,” Johnston said in an interview, “If the film had been made five years earlier, before the groundbreaking CG of Jurassic Park, everything would have been done with animatronics, puppets and wire, and rod removal. Five years later everything would probably have been CGI.”
Production was at a point where they could not afford to use CGI for everything so they had to decide which of the creatures would have been the most difficult to do practically. ILM did not want to take on the crocodile because of the interactions with water and Robin Williams. This scene and others are why the final film has a mix of both. The spiders and the crocodile were among those chosen to be done as animatronics and puppets, whereas the lion and pelican exist as both practical and CG.
The film is dedicated to visual effects supervisor Stephen L. Price, who unfortunately passed away before the film's release.

Reception

Jumanji did decently well at the box office. With a budget of $65 million, it opened at number 1 in the US earning $100 million as well as another $162 million overseas.
The movie has garnered many fans and is loved among all of Robin William’s roles. Critics however are not mega fans of this one. Rotten Tomatoes has 46 reviews that total only 52%. The site's consensus is that Jumanji is a feast for the eyes with a somewhat shaky plot. Many critics when the film first opened commented on how scary the film may be for children.
Even our favorite, Roger Ebert, rated the film one-and-a-half out of four stars, criticizing its reliance on special effects to convey its story which he felt was lacking.
Despite these criticisms, the fan enthusiasm never waned and eventually, the movie got an animated TV show and 3 sequels. All four of them received more positive reviews and the movies brought in large box office earnings.
Jumanji was first released on VHS in 1996 and a restored version was released in 2017 on Blu-ray and 4K UHD to coincide with the premiere of the sequel, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.
The film garnered a few awards including: Saturn Awards for Best Supporting Actress (Bonnie Hunt) and Best Special Effects, Huabiao Award for Outstanding Translated Foreign Film, and the Young Artist Award for Best Family Feature (Action-Adventure.)

Fun Facts

The director, Joe Johnston, created the original design for Boba Fett!
Robin Williams proved to be very popular with the residents of Keene New Hampshire, where Jumanji was shot. Locals in the city welcomed the star with open arms and after filming, Williams was actually presented with the keys to the city by the town’s mayor in 1994.
- The city still remembers him very fondly and upon news of his passing, theaters around the city had screenings of Jumanji to honor him. Additionally, the Parrish Shoes sign still remains in its original location, and many fans left flowers and photos of Williams underneath it.
As a prank, Williams once told fans that the jungle of Jumanji was an island in the Caribbean saying they should “get their tickets early”.
In 2011, Robin Williams recorded an audiobook for the book's 30th edition to coincide with its release.

Conclusion

Jumanji is a non-stop thrill ride that might not *literally* suck you in, but it certainly will hold your attention. It’s simultaneously the coolest thing any child could imagine, and one of the most terrifying. Even after watching the grueling trials faced by Alan Parrish and the

other players, many of us would still be tempted to play the game.

Jumanji is a perfect storm of incredible acting, a fascinating story, groundbreaking visual effects and an unbelievably charming score. The film never shies away from being strange and surreal, with its elements of humor and emotional depth. By the end of the game, audiences have fallen in love with the characters, and embrace the ever-so wonderful concept of being in control of our own fate. The moment Robin Williams calls out “Jumanji” is one of those incredible movie moments that stays with us forever.

So go spend some time in Jumanji. Be careful though, it’s a movie you should only start if you intend to finish.

The Case of Jumanji (1995)