Jumanji Brought into Reality: Game as Drama, Drama as Game

Abstract

Jumanji is the story of a board game that moves between mediums: It is born as a book, becomes a movie adaptation, and finally a board game. This chapter will explore the dynamics of the actual board game and its relation to the obstacles in the movie. Both the real board game and the one in the movie will be analyzed based on the rules of the game and the movie’s narrative logic. It will become apparent that the game is the main villain, and all the players compete against Jumanji. The outcome of the game is determined by chance. This chapter argues that brings its world of fantasy into the real world. To that aim, it applies Vladimir Propp’s and Tzvetan Todorov’s methods of narrative analysis. Also, it conducts a content analysis of both Jumanji: The Game (1995, as the game) and Jumanji (1995, as the movie). Moreover, it presents the game version as a narrative tool. Finally, it concludes that the game becomes the drama, and the drama becomes the game. © 2024 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.