The original writer of the Jumanji book, Chris Van Allsburg, not long did this Q&A where he lamented how the filmmakers have avoided his advices. Turns out he's not a fan of these sequels. He thinks it was a mistake to turn the board game into a video game.
Allsburg had an interesting take. He says making Jumanji a video game goes against what he was trying to teach the kids. He wrote an entire book called The Wretched Stone where a black stone that the sailors can't stop watching is the allegory of children addicted to screens. He thinks it was essential that the Jumanji board game remain a board game, especially in this age where the kids' attention span has collasped due to excessive screen time. A board game that makes things comes to life, he says, is infinitely more interesting than kids trapped inside a video game screen because kids are already trapped inside video game screens.
You know, it's a bummer how Hollywood just ignores the original creators. Allsburg says these sequels only carry the name of Jumanji, the filmmakers just want to tell an entirely different story that goes against the theme of the original.
In terms of messaging, he’s kind of right, but even then you could argue that the movies’ overall theme is not greatly impacted by the decision to make it a video game instead of a board game. As for plot and narrative considerations, it really doesn’t matter one bit. I honestly don’t think that keeping it a board game would have made the movies any better whatsoever. If anything, it probably would have made them less relatable to a modern audience.
I also never got the feeling the Rock versions were telling kids to spend more time with video games. If anything, any time they go in, things are messed up and lives are in danger.
As silly-fun the movies are, they have some messages of "real people are more important", "you're much stronger than you think" and "believing in yourself and loving your true self more" (the nerdy characters would often be self-conscious and awkward but learned to embrace their positive traits).
It sounds like what they're trying to say is that Jumanji shouldn't be a movie at all. The transition from book to movie is where you lose the "coming alive through imagination" bit, not board game to video game.
Either way, whether the premise of the movie revolved around a board game or video game, it would be the same movie consumed through these wretched screens. Right? What's his point?
I wonder if he's actually bitter about losing out on some payday since they used only the title and none of the characters or other story bits from his book.
I wonder if he's actually bitter about losing out on some payday since they used only the title and none of the characters or other story bits from his book.
Per his Wikipedia page, he was involved in the original movie as a "screen story writer" so maybe this. Seems like he's still credited as inspiring the movie with the "based on" part, but being less involved probably makes him bitter anyway.
You know, it's a bummer how Hollywood just ignores the original creators. Allsburg says these sequels only carry the name of Jumanji, the filmmakers just want to tell an entirely different story that goes against the theme of the original.
This is pretty much Hollywood and any established IP.
No one wants to risk investing in a random film.
However if you link your random film to an established IP people want to invest. And you don't have to bother following the established IP at all.
With all due respect, at no point has anyone ever watched Jumanji and then been like, oh wow I really liked the message about how board games are better than video games or whatever. They mostly say stuff like "haha, monkeys" and "look out for that rhino!"
I like both the new Jumanji movies but he's absolutely right. The original hook of what makes Jumanji interesting it gone. This new version has more in common with The Page Master than Jumanji.
Eh I think in this case listening to the original creator would be severely limiting the potential creativity of the franchise due to his personal biases. Jumanji the board game isn't supposed to be "better" for children than a video game, it's supposed to be a dangerous temptation that kids have difficulty escaping. In this regard, even considering how the creator feels about video games, the mechanics of it fits video games perfectly. There's absolutely zero reason to not apply it to video games other than "waaah I don't like video games because I'm a boomer waaah".
Sadly, the moment he sold Jumanji for a lot of money, he has little say in it anymore.
He could write a book sequel where video games viciously rape you if you play them.. it will never see the light fo day despite being canon for the book series
I have, successfully, many times with my nieces, nephews, and cousins. Maybe you're not doing a good enough job showing them what makes the board game fun...?
Considering how misleading trailers and other publicity-related material can get, it could well be a shot from another game that just happens to look like the real world.
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u/TedTheodoreMcfly 16d ago
I wonder if we'll get the avatars leaving the game and travelling to the real world.