Let's Watch This: An Episode of "Jumanji: The Animated Series"

Did you know that Jumanji was based on a book? No, really. Look it up.

It might've started off as a book, but Jumanji is best known nowadays as a 1995 movie starring Robin Williams and Bonnie Hunt. And during the 1980s and 1990s, if a movie was successful, there was a very good chance that there would be a cartoon show based on it (regardless as to whether or not the movie was kid-friendly). This is what led to the creation of animated series based on The Mask, Dumb and Dumber, and even Rambo. This trend seems to have petered out for the most part since the 2000s, which is probably for the best... could you imagine a cartoon show based on, say, The Wolf of Wall Street?

One of those movies to get a cartoon show adaptation? Jumanji, of course.

This show premiered on UPN in September 1996 and received three seasons. Much like the movie, it was about two kids named Peter (voiced by Ashley Johnson) and Judy Shepherd (voiced by Debi Derryberry) finding the jungle-themed board game. Unlike in the movie, where all the animals and characters come out of the game, the kids get sucked into the game much like Alan was. Inside the game, they meet Alan (the Robin Williams character in the movie, here voiced by Bill Faggerbake), who was sucked into the game because he didn't read his clue that the board displays after you roll the dice. Each episode has the kids entering the game to help Alan find his way out. Believe it or not, the finale episode actually did have Alan escape the game.

Jumanji: The Animated Series was produced by Sony Pictures Television's animation division Adelaide Productions, who also had a hand in shows like Channel Umptee-3, Extreme Ghostbusters, and Godzilla: The Series. Squirrel Boy creator Everett Peck provided the character designs. Is the show any good, or an indicator that not every movie from the 1990s is deserving of a cartoon show adaptation? Why don't we watch the tenth - or maybe it's actually the ninth like YouTube says? - episode, "El Pollo Jumanji", and find out?

The episode begins outside of Generic High School, where we see Peter Shepherd... who looks less like Bradley Pierce and more like a young Brendan Fraser... working up the courage to talk to a girl he likes. Unfortunately, the girl he likes has a boyfriend. A much taller, more aggressive boyfriend named Rock. I assume his parents are geologists, otherwise I don't know why they would name their kid "Rock".

Seriously, that looks almost exactly like a younger 1990s Brendan Fraser. I can't
be the only one who's noticed this.

Rock (Pamela Adlon) beats up Peter and then hangs him from his underwear on a fence. Rock and Maria walk off, and then we cut to... Peter, Judy and Alan inside Jumanji, carrying a giant glass jar with bees and honey in it? Uh, what? You're not going to show us the kids entering the game, meeting up with Alan, and HOW they got that giant glass jar with the bees? You're just gonna jump right into the action? No setup whatsoever? What?

Context, please!

They come across a porcupine and have to dodge its quills, all while Peter is still complaining about Rock. "Maria must think I'm mega-mondo-goofus-dweeby-master from the galaxy STUPID!" Peter says. I sincerely doubt any kids were talking like that in the 1990s. But there's more important things for them to worry about right now... for example, them being stuck between a chasm and some of the ugliest monkeys that I've ever seen pushing a log at them.

"So, you don't think monkeys are funny, do ya?! We'll show YOU not to be so easily amused!"

Then we get the intro, which oddly enough has slightly more fluid animation than the actual show. After that we cut back to our heroes stuck between a rock and a hard place (or rather, stuck between a chasm and a bunch of angry monkeys). Peter suggests that they use the jar to climb to higher ground. As soon as they do, Mr. Log meets Mr. Jar, smashing it to pieces and releasing the bees.

So, are we going to get any explanation as to WHY they were carrying that giant glass jar full of bees in the first place? Anything? Anything at all?

"Ya like jazz, Alan?"

"I've been stuck in this game for, like, twenty-two years. That reference means nothing to me."

But the bees attack the monkeys instead, because I guess they're on the good guys' side. Judy brings up that their getting honey all over them solves the clue - "It's not so funny to waste some honey." I'm sure this would be very satisfying if they'd actually shown us finding the clue in the first place instead of just bringing us in a few minutes before they solve it.

So, because Judy and Peter solved the clue, they're teleported out of the game. "If only Maria could have seen me in action just now..." Peter laments. Then he gets an idea - he'll bring Jumanji to school with him tomorrow, show it to Maria, and get them both teleported into the game, allowing him to show her how cool he is "in action". Because nothing impresses the girls like a MAGIC BOARD GAME that puts them at risk of getting mauled by wild animals.

I can only see THIS ending well...

Judy screams at Peter for bringing Jumanji to school like an idiot, and then Rock barges in and starts taunting Peter again. I notice that this classroom is, aside from these four, completely deserted. Where are all the other students? Where's the teacher? Is it study hall or something?

That's some unibrow Rock has.

Peter tries to hide the dice from Rock (because magic dice in the hands of somebody who's probably as dumb as the thing he's named after = bad combination), but he picks Peter up and shakes him, causing the dice to fall out. Which apparently qualifies as a roll. The clue he receives? "Lose the battle and win the war. It's what best enemies are for."

Well, what the heck does THAT mean?

On the bright side, Rock will make a great sacrificial lamb if they come across a carnivorous
animal in the game...

You can see where this is going, right? All four of them are sucked inside Jumanji. Judy explains to Maria that they can't leave the game unless they solve the clue. Maria faints, and then the game turns Peter into a warthog... for some reason.

Yeah, remember that scene in the movie where Peter turns into a monkey? This was a Running Gag in the show - if either of the kids screw up, Peter gets turned into some sort of animal. It's never Judy, always Peter.

"Why do I have the sudden urge to start singing 'Hakuna Matata'?"

Then Alan pounces out of the bushes and tackles Rock. He's looking for flowers because there are butterflies after him. In Jumanji, even the butterflies bite. Rock finds this cool as opposed to, y'know, horrifying, but honestly, it's pretty hard to make butterflies threatening. That one episode of SpongeBob did it, but that's only because they kept cutting to a close-up of a buzzing horsefly's face (I think that episode is partly responsible for me being afraid of bugs). And hey, Bill Faggerbake voices both Alan AND Patrick. So it's kind of fitting that I make a SpongeBob reference.

I know it's really pathetic of me to reference a meme, but...




"Is this a pigeon?"

Everybody runs from the butterflies, Judy fills Alan in as to what's going on, and they hide in a field of Venus Flytrap-esque plants that gobble the butterflies up and spit out their skulls. Alan tries to chat up Maria, and Rock is all "Oh no you don't!" and punches him. But he quickly learns that you should not punch a guy who's been living in the jungle for two decades.

"Tell me to say 'Is mayonnaise an instrument?' one more time. I dare you."

Next, Alan tries to help Peter impress Maria by telling her about all the times Peter saved his life. "Peter is strong, brave, smart and always one step ahead of danger," he claims... literally one second before Peter is eaten by one of those plants. Oh, the irony!

I guess the plants have a craving for pork.

To make the situation even more embarrassing for Peter, Rock - his rival for Maria's affections - saves him from the plant. By uprooting it. And then he calls Peter "Tinker Bell"... I don't get it. How does this situation relate to Tinker Bell in any way? Peter's been turned into a pig, not a fairy. If you're gonna make a reference, why not have him call Peter "Porky" or "Pumbaa" or something?

After that, they come across a tiger, who pounces on Rock, only for Rock to defeat him. Yeah, um, I'm calling foul. You're telling me that this HUMAN CHILD could somehow take down a ferocious, quite large TIGER with sharp teeth and claws? Without even getting so much as a scratch on him?

I mean, just LOOK AT IT. Rock should've wound up as tiger food within seconds!

Then Rock walks up to a snake and slaps it in the face. And the snake, for whatever reason, DOESN'T immediately eat Rock or inject Rock with venom or anything like that. What is going on? How is Rock able to take down all of these wild, carnivorous animals so easily?

Pictured: one stupid kid.

But can Rock take down the next animal that Jumanji throws their way? Which turns out to be... a giant chicken? A giant chicken that roars like a tyrannosaurus rex?

Yes, apparently there are giant chickens in Jumanji. I always thought the movie needed one of those...

"I'm gonna, I say, I'm gonna eat you all for dinner! Don't think I won't cock-a-doodle-do it!

Cock-a-doodle-do it! That's a joke, boy! You missed it! Flew right over your head!"

The giant chicken chases them to a chasm. "Listen, dipstick! In Jumanji, you don't go looking for trouble! Trouble finds YOU!" Alan tells Rock. And apparently, in Jumanji, you also don't eat chicken - the chicken eats YOU. They swing on a vine across the chasm, but the chicken manages to get across as well. Peter and Alan try to push a boulder onto the chicken, but it easily dodges the boulder and tries to eat Peter... only to spit him out a few seconds later. I guess giant chickens don't like the taste of pork.

After they get away from the giant chicken, Alan tells Rock that Jumanji has been letting him win. For some reason. I guess the indication here is that the game is sentient and favors the abrasive? Before anyone can start explaining how that works, some oversized tiki masks with limbs show up.

"We're taking you to the Enchanted Tiki Room!"

These guys are called the "Manjis", and they are communicate through random noises and spitting. Peter manages to tell them that Maria is his friend, Rock not so much. So the Manjis carry Rock away to be cooked for dinner. Nothing of value will be lost.

I like how Alan's response is to shake Peter's hand... er, hoof... and say he couldn't have done it
better himself. He's just as fed up with Rock as I am.

Judy says that they have to go rescue Rock in spite of his being an obnoxious little turd, only for them to wind up caught in a trap. A trap set by the evil big game hunter Van Pelt (Sherman Howard). "What have we here?" he asks. "Four in one trap, including the elusive Alan. Hmm-hmm... my taxidermist will have to work overtime..."

Wait, is he implying that he's going to have humans (well, three humans and a boy who's been turned into a boar, anyway) stuffed? That's very, very disturbing. Not that doing the same to an animal isn't, of course, but...

No, he doesn't have blue skin. That's just the lighting in this scene.

Fortunately, Judy gets the idea to talk Van Pelt into going after Rock. He initially doesn't believe them, but when Maria confirms that Rock is indeed a real person, he decides to let them lead him to this "Rock".

Instead, they lead him right to the giant chicken.

"Now, look, I say, look, boy, you don't understand how the food chain works. I'm bigger
than you, so that, I say, that means I get to gobble you up!

Nice boy, but he's about as sharp as a sack of potatoes..."

The giant chicken devours Van Pelt, and then they take the giant chicken to the Manjis so they can eat THAT instead of Rock. I wonder if any Peter and Judy's teachers are wondering where they are right now...

If they find a giant fox to eat the giant chicken, they can have themselves some sort
of Jumanji version of a turducken.

Maria is impressed by how Peter saved Rock even though Rock is, y'know, Rock. Then Judy figures out what "Lose the battle and win the war, that's what best enemies are for" means - by saving Rock, Peter "won the war". Which means that Peter is turned back to normal and the kids are teleported out of the game. Also, Maria has no memory of being in Jumanji. Which means that Peter is back to Square One with her. Honestly, can you imagine what would've happened if Maria HAD remembered what happened?

"How was school today?"

"Well, my classmate brought a magic board game to school that transported us to a jungle. We had to save another classmate from being eaten by these tiki mask guys by suggesting they eat a giant chicken instead. Also, the first classmate turned into a warthog."

"...WHAT?"

Boy, Peter has a really long neck...

Judy encourages Peter to just be himself. And it works! She even tells Rock that she is NOT, in fact, his girlfriend. Oh, and I assume Rock has no memory of being in Jumanji either, but there's no confirmation of that.

They probably would've been better off with THIS Rock in Jumanji:

What's the Verdict?

This was okay. I've always liked jungle environments and wild animals, so the setting has a lot of appeal to me. The voice actors all do a good job, too, with Bill Faggerbake in particular being a great Alan even if he doesn't sound much like Robin Williams. The animation is decent, but I'm not a huge fan of the pseudo-Klasky-Csupo art style... the characters (mainly the kids) are kind of creepy-looking. And I would've preferred more focus on Alan than on the kids, who aren't super-interesting. Regardless, I thought this was a decent show. I might have to check out more episodes to see if the episode I picked was just one of the weaker ones. If you'd like to watch Jumanji: The Animated Series for yourself, you can find episodes of it on YouTube.

And now, because I haven't made enough Looney Tunes references in this review already... take us home, Peter!

"Eh-buh-dee-eh-buh-dee-eh-buh-dee-that's all, folks!"