“In the jungle you must wait until the dice read five or eight.” Those immortal words were read out loud by a young Alan Parrish before being sucked into the board game, Jumanji. It took 26 years for Alan to return from the game and be portrayed by Robin Williams in the film. Though it makes some of us feel quite old, it has now been 30 years since that movie came out; we’ve spent more time since the film premiered than Alan spent in the jungle. But with that 30th anniversary, the filming location of Keene, New Hampshire is happily remembering the film in fun ways.
If you’ve seen “Jumanji” then you know full well the horrors that the game wrought upon a small New Hampshire town and its residents. Among several of the disasters was a stampede of African animals, crashing down the streets of the city. These CGI creations didn’t actually run rampant through the town, but local residents of Keene had the chance to in the Rhino Rumble Road Race. People could dress up as animals and run a quarter mile through the town square.
Rsidents fondly remembered how the crew was able to make the area look like it was cut from the 1960s, look dilapidated, and then restore everything back to how it was, with fresh flowers strewn in to boot. Robin Williams was also given a key to the city and interacted with the extras and locals. Upon Williams’ passing, they honored him by placing flowers behind a leftover sign from the film for Parrish Shoes.
“Jumanji” has had a surprisingly healthy afterlife across the last ten years. Even though it had a failed spin-off, “Zathura: A Space Adventure” in 2005, the direct sequels from 2017 and 2019 brought magic back into the series. The magic of location filming is something that doesn’t happen as often today thanks to advanced special effects and stages, which is kind of a shame. Experiences like the kind the people of Keene, New Hampshire had are noteworthy for so many reasons, hence “Jumanji” still resonates there today.
