Jumanji (picture Book)
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''Jumanji'' is a 1981
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...
children's
picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The ima ...
written and illustrated by American author Chris Van Allsburg. The book is about an enchanted
board game A board game is a type of tabletop game that involves small objects () that are placed and moved in particular ways on a specially designed patterned game board, potentially including other components, e.g. dice. The earliest known uses of the ...
that incorporates wild animals and other jungle elements as the game is played in real life. The book was adapted into a 1995 film of the same name and spawned a franchise that includes three sequels and an
animated series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...
. A
sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...
to the book, entitled '' Zathura'', was released in 2002.


Storyline

While their parents are out for the day, Judy and Peter Shepherd, after playing with some toys, become bored and decide to go to the park. There, they find a
safari A safari (; originally ) is an overland journey to observe wildlife, wild animals, especially in East Africa. The so-called big five game, "Big Five" game animals of Africa – lion, African leopard, leopard, rhinoceros, African elephant, elep ...
-themed
board game A board game is a type of tabletop game that involves small objects () that are placed and moved in particular ways on a specially designed patterned game board, potentially including other components, e.g. dice. The earliest known uses of the ...
called ''Jumanji''. Taking the game home, they find a warning message: "Do not begin unless you intend to finish." Ignoring the warning, they start to play. The pair soon discovers that any dangers encountered in the game spring to life somewhere in the house. For example, when Peter rolls on a
lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...
, an actual lion appears, which Judy and Peter trap in their mother's bedroom. Judy rolls on a stampede of rhinos, Peter rolls on a
monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...
, and Judy rolls on an explorer—each of which appears in real life to wreak havoc in the house. Nevertheless, they continue to play, hoping that if they finish the game, everything will go back to normal. The game finally ends when Judy wins and yells the name of the game. In an instant, everything is back to normal. The siblings rush back to the park before their parents return, and replace the game where they had found it. The story ends when Judy and Peter look outside and see their neighbors, Danny and Walter Budwing, who (according to their mother) never bother to finish games they play nor read the instructions, excitedly returning from the park with ''Jumanji'' in their hands.


Development

Van Allsburg declared that he often thinks of combining incongruous images to evoke a feeling of "cognitive dissonance", coming up with the idea of wild animals in a living room. Combining that with twisting how board games often rely on the player's imagination, he "wondered what it'd be like to play a board game that didn't require any imagination" because the events actually happened, conceiving a jungle adventure game "in which the game came to life. And all the pictures that I wanted to draw would actually be manifestations of gameplay." The name "Jumanji" was a meaningless name that came to him as he tried to conceive "something slightly exotic and something that evoked the idea of the jungle".


Adaptations

''
Jumanji ''Jumanji'' is a 1995 American fantasy adventure film directed by Joe Johnston from a screenplay by Jonathan Hensleigh, Greg Taylor, and Jim Strain, based on the 1981 children's picture book by Chris Van Allsburg. The film is the first ins ...
'', a 1995 film based on the story, is an adaptation of the picture book. The film has adult characters who did not appear in the original story: Alan Parrish (
Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and comedie ...
/ Adam Hann-Byrd), Sarah Whittle (
Bonnie Hunt Bonnie Lynn Hunt (born September 22, 1961) is an American actress and comedian. Her film roles include ''Rain Man'', ''Beethoven (film), Beethoven'', ''Beethoven's 2nd (film), Beethoven's 2nd'', ''Jumanji'', ''Jerry Maguire'', ''The Green Mile ( ...
/
Laura Bell Bundy Laura Ashley Bell Bundy-Hinkle (born April 10, 1981) is an American actress and singer. Her career started as a child, when her mother entered her in beauty pageants, where she would sing as a talent. After recognizing her singing ability, her m ...
), Officer Carl Bentley ( David Alan Grier), Aunt Nora ( Bebe Neuwirth), and big-game hunter Van Pelt ( Jonathan Hyde, who also portrayed Alan's father, Sam Parrish). Not only is Alan Parrish the main protagonist instead of Judy ( Kirsten Dunst) and Peter ( Bradley Pierce), but a background story is added, in which the game trapped Alan in the jungle many years earlier while he and Sarah were playing back in 1969. Unlike the original story, the animals wreak havoc on the town, and Peter turns into a monkey for cheating in the game. In the film the
snake Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...
is absent and
crocodile Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large, semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term "crocodile" is sometimes used more loosely to include ...
s appear in the scene where Sarah summons the monsoon. The ''Jumanji'' animated TV series, roughly based on the book and the film, ran from 1996 to 1999. Unlike in the book and film, the game transports Judy and Peter to the jungle after taking turns and reading a clue instead of releasing all of the jungle elements, and there are other villains besides Van Pelt, such as a merchant named Trader Slick and a scientist named Professor Ibsen. In a few episodes, Peter transforms into various animals while trying to cheat. Alan Parrish from the film remains trapped in the game until the final episode, while Danny and Walter from the original book are absent. Unlike in the film, Sarah Whittle does not appear. Van Pelt does not leave the jungle as he did in the film, but still hunts Alan. In the show, Alan is sucked into ''Jumanji'' in 1972 rather than 1969. The show includes a tribe of masks called the Manjis led by Tribal Bob. In 2011,
Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and comedie ...
recorded an audiobook for the book's thirtieth-anniversary edition. '' Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle'' is a 2017 film starring
Dwayne Johnson Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on a part-time basis. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional w ...
,
Jack Black Thomas Jacob "Jack" Black (born August 28, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is known for roles in family and comedy films, in addition to his voice work in animated films. His awards include a Children's and Family Emmy ...
,
Kevin Hart Kevin Darnell Hart (born July 6, 1979) is an American comedian and actor. The accolades he has received include the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor and nominations for two Grammy Awards and four Primetime Emmy Awards. After winning se ...
, and Karen Gillan. Though explicitly a sequel, it is more of an action adventure than the 1995 film. '' Jumanji: The Next Level'' is a 2019 sequel to the 2017 film, which returns stars Johnson, Black, Hart, and Gillan.
Awkwafina Nora Lum (born June 2, 1988), known professionally as Awkwafina (), is an American actress, comedian and rapper. She rose to prominence in 2012 when her rap song "My Vag" became popular on YouTube. She then released her debut album, ''Yellow Ra ...
, Rory McCann,
Danny Glover Danny Glover ( ; born July 22, 1946) is an American actor, producer, and political activist. Over his career he has received List of awards and nominations received by Danny Glover, numerous accolades including the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian A ...
, and
Danny DeVito Daniel Michael DeVito Jr. (born November 17, 1944) is an American actor and filmmaker. He gained prominence for his portrayal of the taxi dispatcher Louie De Palma in the television series ''Taxi (TV series), Taxi'' (1978–1983), which won him ...
join the cast.


Sequel

'' Zathura'' (published in 2002) is a sequel to ''Jumanji'' also written by Van Allsburg. In the book, Danny and Walter Budwing (who appear at the end of ''Jumanji'') find a science fiction board game whose elements similarly come to life. It was adapted to the film '' Zathura: A Space Adventure'' in 2005.


References


External links

* * {{Portal, Children's literature 1981 American novels 1981 fantasy novels 1981 children's books American fantasy novels American children's novels Children's fantasy novels American picture books Children's novels about animals Works about board games American novels adapted into films Fantasy novels adapted into films Children's books adapted into films American novels adapted into television shows Children's books adapted into television shows Caldecott Medal–winning works Jumanji Picture books by Chris Van Allsburg Novels by Chris Van Allsburg Houghton Mifflin books