20 facts you might not know about 'Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle'

Jumanji came out in 1995 and was a big film that year. However, do you remember 2005’s Zathura: A Space Adventure? It’s also based on a book by Chris Van Allsburg, who wrote Jumanji. That being said, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is considered a direct sequel to Jumanji and has nothing to do with Zathura.

Plans for “Jumanji 2” got serious in the late ‘90s, with a film going into development in 1999. In that film, the President of the United States was going to buy the Jumanji board game to play with his kids and get sucked into the game. Then, the evil Vice President was going to take over. There were going to be hybrid animals in the game as well. The plans got far enough that it got mentioned on the DVD commentary for Jumanji, but the project was scrapped in 2000.

When the news of a new Jumanji movie was announced in 2015, it was met with some negativity. Robin Williams, the star of Jumanji, had died a year prior, and some were mad at the idea that the movie was being remade without him. However, the movie is a direct sequel to Jumanji and includes references to Williams’ character Alan Parrish.

The film was tentatively known as “Jumanji” for early in the production process. That name would need to change, though, lest it seem like a remake. It was Jack Black who suggested the subtitle of “Welcome to the Jungle,” which stuck.

Dr. Bravestone has the ability to smolder where he just, well, smolders. But it works! That idea was pitched to Kasdan by Johnson himself, and the director loved it.

The villain of the film, played by Bobby Cannavale, is Professor Russell Van Pelt. His name is a reference to Van Pelt, the big-game hunter from the first movie. That reference didn’t make its way across the pond, though. In the United Kingdom, Van Pelt is known as John Hardin.

Four writers get credit for the screenplay to Welcome to the Jungle. That includes the writing team of Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers. McKenna also got the sole “story by” credit. The year 2017 was massive or McKenna and Sommers. They are credited writers on not just Welcome to the Jungle, but also The Lego Batman Movie and Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Jake Kasdan was hired to direct Welcome to the Jungle, with the studio taking a leap of faith on a guy who didn’t really have action experience. That being said, he had a ton of comedy experience. Kasdan had previously directed the films Walk Hard, Bad Teacher, and Sex Tape, among others. His family had some experience with action blockbusters, though. Jake’s dad Lawrence Kasdan co-wrote five Star Wars movies and Raiders of the Lost Ark.

One of Kasdan’s early films was Orange County. That was a bit of a breakout film for both Jack Black and Colin Hanks. Black costars as Shelly Oberon, while Hanks has a small role as the adult Alex Vreeke.

The jungle of the Jumanji video game owes its look to Hawaii. The movie was primarily shot in Honolulu. Specifically, filming took place at the Kualoa Ranch nature preserve.

In Jumanji, each of the characters have their own piece, such as the Obsidian Crocodile and the Jake Monkey. Since the sequel is a video game and not a board game, those pieces are referenced in Welcome to the Jungle with statues in the jungle.

Nick Jones plays “Seaplane McDonough,” the character in the video game that is controlled by Alex Vreek. Originally, though, it was going to be a role for Tom Holland. However, because of schedules moving around, Holland had a schedule conflict with Spider-Man: Homecoming and had to drop out.

Back in the day, it wasn’t uncommon for actors in their 20s, or even 30s, to play high school students. In Welcome to the Jungle, three of the actors playing the main kids were in the 18-20 age range. Then, there’s Ser’Darius Blain, who played Fridge. Blain was 30 when they were shooting the film.

All the stuff that wasn’t shot in Hawaii was shot in Atlanta, a hub for film production these days. That includes the high school. Jack Black and Madison Iseman, who plays Bethany, both spent time at that school in other films. It also serves as the high school in Goosebumps and its sequel, the latter of which features both Black and Iseman.

Shelly Oberon wears a pith helmet in the jungles of Jumanji. It’s not the first time Black has done that for work, or the first time he’s been affiliated with a jungle video game. Early in his career, Black was in an ad for the 1982 video game Pitfall. In that ad, he wears a pith helmet as well.

Brantford High School’s mascot is the jaguar. That’s apt, given the events of the film. In the video game, the quest the characters have to go on involves returning the “Jaguar’s Eye” to its shrine.

As Kevin Hart’s “Mouse” Finbar says, cake makes him explode. Of course, he doesn’t know the severity of his cake weakness until that moment. Had Mouse investigated his outfit closer, he may have been able to avoid that. He’s wearing a badge that has a picture of a piece of cake with a line through it in the classic “No Smoking” or “Ghostbusters” style.

Despite some misgivings about returning to Jumanji without Robin Williams, people went out in droves to go see Welcome to the Jungle. It finished atop the U.S. box office for a whopping five weeks. All in all, it made $404.6 million in the United States and Canada and $962.1 million worldwide. It was the highest-grossing movie in Sony’s history until Spider-Man: No Way Home passed it.

The Oscars weren’t interested in Welcome to the Jungle, but two other awards shows were fans. Those would be the Kids’ Choice Awards and the Teen Choice Awards. Dwayne Johnson won favorite actor at both events, and the Kids’ Choice Awards also gave it Favorite Movie as well.

Considering that Welcome to the Jungle was Sony’s biggest movie ever out of nowhere, naturally there was a sequel. Jumanji: The Next Level hit theaters in 2019. Adding Danny Glover and Danny DeVito to the cast, the movie wasn’t quite as big of a hit but still made $800 million worldwide. Another sequel is in the works.