Jumanji - ep 102

If your friend gets sucked in a magical board game, keep playing. Don’t make him live in a deadly jungle for 26 years.

Long before The Rock got involved, “Jumanji” was a vehicle for the late, great Robin Williams at the peak of his movie stardom. Oddly, it takes a while for Williams to make an appearance here. We’ve got a scene in the 1800s, then an extended sequence in 1969. Then, when a grown Alan Parrish finally emerges from his board game/jungle prison, Williams is playing a guy who is understandably bummed out. His parents are dead. He’s been terrorized by wild beasts for 26 years. And he never learned how to shave.

Yes, kids, the original “Jumanji” is pretty dark for long stretches. There are two different sets of dead parents! And Robin Williams isn’t doing any funny voices! Come on, man. Give us some Genie pizzazz, or, at the very least, a tease of Mrs. Doubtfire.

Luckily, “Jumanji” still has some charm 25 years later, thanks to strong cast featuring the likes of Bonnie Hunt, David Alan Grier and a young Kirsten Dunst. Old Millennials hosts Tyler and Angela discuss 90s-era CGI animals, the bewildering dual role for Jonathan Hyde, badly-dated “going postal” gags and David Alan Grier’s one-of-a-kind scream. They also wonder out loud if they traumatized their young kids by showing them this movie.

It’s Animal April on Old Millennials Remember Movies! It’s an adventure for those who seek to find a way to leave the world behind. Just don’t show the monkeys how to load the guns.

Also discussed in this episode:

Derek DelGuadio: In & Of Itself (2021)
Another Round (2020)
The Last Blockbuster (2020)
Richard Jewell (2019)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
Secrets of Sulphur Springs (2021 TV series)

Check out past “Animal April” episodes of Old Millennials Remember Movies:

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