FILM · 2017 · USA
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
- Directed by
- Jake Kasdan
- Runtime
- 119 min
- Studio
- Matt Tolmach Productions, Seven Bucks Productions, Columbia Pictures
51 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Sep 2026
Four teenagers in detention discover an old video game console with a game they’ve never heard of. When they decide to play, they are immediately sucked into the jungle world of Jumanji in the bodies of their avatars. They’ll have to complete the adventure of their lives filled with fun, thrills and danger or be stuck in the game forever!
Summary: TMDB
All facts (51)
- #001
The statues on the jungle set were modeled after the board game pieces from the original Jumanji (1995).
- #002
Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart are known for their intense workout routines, but it was Karen Gillan, whose character is an expert in various martial arts and "dance fighting," who did the most extensive work with the stunt team to learn the fight choreography for her scenes.
- #003
If Dwayne Johnson could have played another role in the film, he would have played Jack Black's character Bethany. Johnson said: "I know how much fun [Jack] had every day playing a 16-year-old self-obsessed girl."
- #004
Contains a major spoiler — show
At Seaplane McDonough's camp there is a sign reading "Alan Parrish was here." Seaplane states that he found the camp and that it used to belong to Alan. Alan Parrish was the name of Robin Williams's character in Jumanji (1995), who was trapped inside the game for twenty-six years. Williams died three years before this sequel was released, and as promised, the filmmakers honored the late actor's work in some way.
- #005
Although Bethany/Oberon is presented as self-obsessed, beautiful and dumb, she comes up with most of the logical solutions (even if her timing is sometimes off), makes very sharp observations (her insights into Martha's character), and finishes her test before the rest of the class in an early scene. This implies she may be as intelligent as, or even more intelligent than, the other characters.
- #006
Jack Black had a lot of fun while Bethany teaches Karen Gillan's character how to flirt. "I was teaching her how to flirt and how to work a runway walk. It was like a scene that was partly on the page, like a living organism, but most of it was happening in real time."
- #007
Fare Finbar wears a small badge showing a slice of cake with a line drawn through it, pointing to his character's weakness for cake. The badge can be seen on the upper left part of his vest.
- #008
Jack Black jokes that he was not acting in the scenes where his character falls in love with Dwayne Johnson's character. In fact, he was madly in love and the cameras just kept rolling.
- #009
Contains a major spoiler — show
While Jumanji becomes a video game, some parts pay homage to the earlier board game mode: * two clues appear as a rhyming couplet. * another clue emerges in the shape of an elephant token. This was Alan Parrish's game piece in Jumanji (1995). Alan was the last player to remain inside the game for more than twenty years. * Albino rhinos are seen in Jumanji. As a board game, one of the board game pieces was a white rhino. * Immediately after the game ends, an aerial view of Jumanji shows interlocking paths resembling the board game layout of Jumanji.
- #010
Contains a major spoiler — show
In the original Jumanji (1995), Van Pelt was the great hunter. In this film, Van Pelt is an explorer who can control animals.
- #011
Dwayne Johnson pitched the name 'Smolder' to Jake Kasdan by message. "What if his name was Smolder, but he had this unique ability to just Smolder. And he's like, I love it."
- #012
Alex's tree house was a real tree house built around a large Banyan tree and hidden among the jungle vegetation.
- #013
While researching the character Bethany, Jack Black went to Madison Iseman and asked her about her favorite music and TV shows. He watched, listened and got into that headspace.
- #014
Contains a major spoiler — show
One of the endings planned for the film was for Jumanji to become a mobile phone game and appear on phones in Brantford.
- #015
Throughout the film, the first few notes of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" can often be heard mixed into the musical cues. In the original Jumanji (1995), they are drawn to the monkey electronics store when they see the monkeys from The Wizard of Oz (1939) on the television in the window.
- #016
Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart attribute their on-screen chemistry to their off-screen friendship.
- #017
Karen Gillan's favorite scene in the film was the dance fight scene. "I feel like we created something quite specific and unique. It was like a fun little dance routine and then she took out those two guys… I felt really powerful."
- #018
To shoot the Albino Rhino scene, the actors worked for days in a full-scale, custom-built helicopter mounted on a special-effects gimbal rig six meters high.
- #019
During filming, Ser'Darius Blain (Fridge) was 30 and Nick Jonas (Alex) was 25. Madison Iseman, Morgan Turner and Alex Wolff (Bethany, Martha and Spencer respectively) ranged between 18 and 20 years old.
- #020
Kevin Hart says the backpack became a character in its own right. "It just became an unsung hero, because everything is always routed to my backpack. That was my go-to for all kinds of improvisation and comedy."
- #021
According to Jake Kasdan, every one of the leads in this film is played by the only person he wanted for that role.
- #022
When the trailers first came out, Ruby's outfit sparked some debate. Karen Gillan admitted the costume was too sexy, but she believes that was the whole point. If there had been no purpose to it, she wouldn't have made the film or worn the costume, and a different actress would have been cast as the avatar.
- #023
Contains a major spoiler — show
Besides the "Over the Rainbow" music heard in the score, another nod to The Wizard of Oz (1939) comes when Nigel is about to send Fridge back to the real world. He says "I'll miss you the most," the same line Dorothy says to the Scarecrow just before returning to Kansas.
- #024
Jack Black says the script reminded him in some ways of The Breakfast Club (1985).
- #025
The cast was asked whether they could sing part of the Guns N' Roses song "Welcome to the Jungle," and they did. Jack Black sang lead vocals, then Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart joined in. Black decided to perform Axl Rose's iconic scream.
- #026
Alex's tree house was built by production designer Owen Paterson from salvaged and repurposed items found around the island.
- #027
The stunt team says the Brazilian fighting style Capoeira is probably the style most comparable to Ruby's special powers, and that they set out to combine various martial arts techniques to create her own moves — part dance, part deadly combat. In the final film, Ruby is seen performing some of these fight maneuvers while music plays.
- #028
Contains a major spoiler — show
After the jewel in the jaguar statue is repaired and everyone says "Jumanji," the camera pulls back to show all of Jumanji. The layout is exactly the same as the board game layout in the original Jumanji (1995). Most notably, the winding paths on the board game are clearly visible in the scene as mountain ranges.
- #029
Karen Gillan thought Ruby's look was a lot of fun, saying, "It was interesting to highlight the trope familiar from how women are depicted in these games, especially from 90s video games."
- #030
Contains a major spoiler — show
In the original Jumanji (1995), the game washed ashore in a French-speaking country. That game had been thrown into a river in 1969, meaning 48 years passed between the two films. It was found by two French-speaking girls. Although the year is unknown, it is known that Alex's father found him on a beach in 1996.
- #031
The head of the 12-meter-tall jaguar statue was made from a combination of concrete decorated with sculpted foam and plaster paint to create an aged stone look.
- #032
Nick Jonas thought shooting the tunnel scene was a lot of fun. "I have to show Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan and Dwayne Johnson a bunch of tunnels to save their lives. These are the kinds of things you dream of as an actor."
- #033
All the scenes at Brantford High School were shot at the school where Goosebumps (2015), which also starred Jack Black, was filmed. Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween (2018) was shot there as well, and Jack Black and Madison Iseman were reunited from this film.
- #034
While filming in Hawaii, the crew encountered its share of creatures. Wild pigs were spotted, but what kept the actors and crew on edge were creepy crawlers, including painful centipedes.
- #035
The original Jumanji (1995) is one of Karen Gillan's favorite films.
- #036
The role of Bethany presented an interesting comedic challenge for Jack Black. When asked about it, he said, "Damn, I've got to pump my game up."
- #037
Dr. Bravestone is the only avatar who gets back on his feet every time he is respawned.
- #038
Ser'Darius Blain, who plays young Fridge, is actually seven months older than Karen Gillan, who plays adult Martha (Ruby Roundhouse). Both were 30 when the film was released.
- #039
Producer Matt Tolmach, looking at Jumanji (1995) with fresh eyes, "immediately felt there were more Jumanji stories to be told."
- #040
Several moments reference Dwayne Johnson's athletic and wrestling career: while fighting in the bazaar and shouting out his moves, Bravestone dispatches one of the henchmen using the Rock Bottom (a body slam), the finishing move of Johnson's WWE character, The Rock. Fridge's football jersey, #94, was Johnson's at the University of Miami. Finbar says Bravestone is 6'2" and 270 pounds, which are Johnson's real height and weight. At one point Bravestone refers to himself in the third person and the other characters comment on it; one of The Rock's character traits was speaking about himself in the third person (e.g. "Do you smell what The Rock is cookin'?"). In the end, Alex is pulled into the game in the year The Rock made his WWE debut.
- #041
The footballer's nickname "Fridge" references former Chicago Bears player William Perry, who was known as "The Refrigerator" or "The Fridge."
- #042
Kevin Hart was sick during the filming of the helicopter scene.
- #043
Chris Van Allsburg's original children's book "Jumanji" was published in 1981.
- #044
A poster for Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (2016), whose score was also composed by Henry Jackman, hangs in Spencer's room.
- #045
The game Spencer is shown playing in his bedroom at the start of the film is Street Fighter V (2016).
- #046
The animal-skin wardrobe items worn by Van Pelt's thugs were made from synthetic materials out of respect for wildlife.
- #047
The city of Atlanta, Georgia provided sets for the Brantford scenes as well as suburban locations and various forest locations: the bazaar scene, the jaguar statue and the maze of booby-trapped tunnels.
- #048
Shailene Woodley was originally cast as Ruby Roundhouse/Martha but had to leave the film due to scheduling conflicts with Big Little Lies (2017). Karen Gillan was cast in her place.
- #049
Van Pelt "is actually made up of all the bugs and rodents; the most disgusting animals you can imagine; they live inside his body."
- #050
Contains a major spoiler — show
The first hippo scene shows a hippo lunging forward with its mouth wide open to grab Shelley and eat her. The second hippo scene shows three hippos repeating the action from the left, the right and behind. Together the two scenes form the Hungry, Hungry Hippos board game, with the actions imitated almost exactly. The second scene also almost mirrors the "clever girl" scene in Jurassic Park, a film that shares locations with this one.
- #051
Colin Hanks played adult Alex Vreeke. He was uncredited.
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
Sources for the entries on this page
- IMDb IMDb
Information from external sources is independently selected, consolidated and edited by Arka Evren. Sources are listed for verification and further reading. Encyclopedia text is used under its licence (CC BY-SA). How we work