50 Fun Facts About Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

Which actor plays the avatar that popular teenager Bethany lands in during Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

Jack Black spends the film as Professor Shelly Oberon, an overweight middle-aged map expert with a vain teenage girl inside. He also suggested the film's subtitle.

Which food makes Franklin 'Mouse' Finbar explode at the bazaar in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

Cake is listed among Finbar's weaknesses beside speed and strength, so one bite of a market trader's pound cake blows him up. It costs Fridge one of his three lives.

Which animal swallows Bethany's avatar whole, costing the first life lost in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

A hippo takes Professor Oberon moments after the four arrive in the jungle. Her quick return is how the group learns that dying in the game is not final.

Which rock band recorded the 1987 song that gives Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle its subtitle?

Guns N' Roses opened their debut album, Appetite for Destruction, with the track, and it plays over the film's end credits. One of the cast suggested borrowing its name.

Which insects are the one weakness of Seaplane McDonough, the pilot avatar in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

Mosquitoes are so deadly to the pilot that Alex rings his treehouse hideout with citronella candles. A single bite near the end almost costs him his last life.

Which unusual strength is listed for Dr. Bravestone beside climbing and speed in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

Smoldering intensity sits on the avatar's stats screen with fearlessness and boomerang throwing, and he drops into a brooding stare on cue. The same screen lists no weaknesses at all.

In which US state, at a ranch often used by Hollywood, was the jungle of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle mostly filmed?

Hawaii hosted the shoot from September 2016, mostly at Kualoa Ranch, a private nature reserve whose valleys also appear in Jurassic Park. Filming finished on the mainland that December.

How do players with lives to spare return after dying in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

They fall from the sky a few seconds after dying. Spencer later turns the rule into a plan, sacrificing a teammate as a decoy, sure that he will drop back into their moving aircraft.

Which character from the 1995 film built the treehouse where Alex shelters in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

Alan Parrish spent 26 years trapped inside the board game in the original film, and the sequel shows the shelter he left behind. Alex has been living in it ever since.

Which sound from the console makes the four friends destroy it at the end of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

Drumbeats have lured players to the game since the 1995 original, where a boy follows them to a building site. This time the friends wreck the console before anyone else can answer.

Which action star plays Dr. Bravestone, the avatar of nervous gamer Spencer, in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

Dwayne Johnson plays a neurotic, unconfident teenager inside a hulking explorer, a reversal of his usual fearless heroes. He said the film was inspired by classic video games of the 1990s.

Which comedian plays Franklin Finbar, the avatar of towering athlete Fridge, in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

Kevin Hart plays a towering athlete shrunk into a diminutive sidekick who carries the hero's weapons. The avatar is slower and weaker than everyone else in the party.

Which Scottish actress plays martial arts expert Ruby Roundhouse in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

Karen Gillan, born in Inverness, was already known as Amy Pond in Doctor Who and as Nebula in Marvel's films. Her avatar hides Martha, a quiet and cynical student.

Which pop singer plays Alex, the gamer trapped for two decades, in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

Nick Jonas found fame with his brothers in a pop rock band before playing the avatar Seaplane McDonough. Alex has been stuck since 1996 yet thinks only months have passed.

Which stolen jewel must be returned to a giant statue to end the game in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

The Jaguar's Eye was taken by Van Pelt, a corrupt archaeologist, and the theft put a curse on the land. To go home, the players must also call out the game's name.

Which deadly snake guards the clue hidden in a basket at the bazaar in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

A black mamba rears out of the basket, and the group survives because Finbar's zoology skill tells them how to remove its fangs. The four have to work together to do it.

Which animals stampede after the players' aircraft in the canyon in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

Rhinos, a whole herd of albino ones, charge the aircraft as it struggles to climb out of the gorge. When the jewel falls among them, Spencer uses a teammate as bait to get it back.

Which animal does Finbar ride into the final battle at the shrine in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

An elephant, tamed with his zoology skill, carries Finbar in to scatter the villain's big cats. Its arrival also solves a riddle that told the players when to start climbing.

Which small animal startles Spencer out of a tree, costing Dr. Bravestone a life in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

A squirrel screeches at him as he climbs near the shrine, and the fall leaves him at the mercy of a big cat. The avatar is listed as fearless, but Spencer's own nerves come along too.

What does Fridge use to smash the console in the final scene of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

A bowling ball that the four found while clearing out the school basement does the job behind the building. Spencer later gathers up the pieces, which sets up the 2019 sequel.

Which vehicle do the five players steal from the guarded transportation shed in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

A helicopter is the prize, though Alex has stayed away from the shed since losing two lives and is down to his last. The group needs it to reach the shrine.

Which unusual combat skill is listed among Ruby Roundhouse's strengths in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

Dance fighting sits beside karate, t'ai chi and aikido on her stats, and it switches on when a 1994 reggae cover by Big Mountain starts to play. Martha uses it to flatten the shed's guards.

Which sport does Fridge play for Brantford High before he is shrunk in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

Football defines Fridge at school, which makes losing his size inside the game sting. At the shrine he draws up the final assault like a set play.

Which weakness is listed for Professor Oberon, the avatar Bethany picks in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

Endurance is the one weakness on the professor's stats, so Bethany's avatar tires fast and is among the slowest in the party. Its strengths are all brainwork, led by map reading.

Fridge picks the avatar Finbar after its nickname is misread as which animal in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

Moose is what Spencer reads off the selection screen, so Fridge expects to be huge. The nickname is really Mouse, and he arrives as the smallest member of the party.

Which listed weakness does Martha trigger on purpose to escape Van Pelt in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

Venom is Ruby Roundhouse's only weakness, so a cornered Martha lets a snake bite her and returns to life with the jewel out of the villain's reach. It is the group's last trick before the win.

How does guide Nigel send each player home once the game is won in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

A handshake from Nigel sends each player back to where they started. Alex goes first and lands in 1996 again, so his family never loses him.

Which video game term does Spencer use for the guide Nigel in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

An NPC, or non-player character, has only a set pool of dialogue, so Nigel repeats himself whenever the teenagers ask something he was not written to answer. Spencer spots it first.

What lands Bethany in detention at the start of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

A video call made in the middle of a quiz puts Bethany in detention. Inside the game she has to manage without her phone for the first time.

Which member of staff does Martha insult, earning her detention in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

The gym teacher, Coach Webb, hears Martha call physical education a waste of her time. In the game Martha becomes the group's most athletic fighter.

What had Spencer been doing for Fridge that put both boys in detention in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

Writing his essays kept Fridge eligible for the school team until the cheating was discovered. The two were once friends but had drifted apart as their social standing changed.

Where does a jogger find the buried board game in the 1996 opening of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

On a beach, half hidden in sand, is where the 1995 film left the game, and the sequel picks it up there. The jogger takes it home to his teenage son, who has no time for board games.

What power does the stolen jewel give the villain Van Pelt in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

Command of wild animals comes with the jewel's dark power, which is why creatures across the land attack on his command. When the game is won he crumbles into a swarm of rats.

Which cocktail is listed beside piloting among Seaplane McDonough's strengths in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

Margaritas and piloting are the only two strengths on the avatar's stats. The second is the one that counts: Alex flies the group out of the transportation shed.

Which New Zealand comedian from Flight of the Conchords plays the guide Nigel in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

Rhys Darby played the band's hapless manager, Murray, in Flight of the Conchords. A former soldier, he left the New Zealand Army in 1994 before turning to comedy.

Which Emmy-winning Boardwalk Empire actor plays the villain Van Pelt in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

Bobby Cannavale won a 2013 Emmy as the gangster Gyp Rosetti. His villain is credited as Russell Van Pelt in the American version of the film and John Hardin Van Pelt in the British one.

Which actor, uncredited in the role, plays the grown-up Alex at the end of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

Colin Hanks, the son of Tom Hanks, appears without a credit as the adult Alex, now married with two children. He returned to the role in the 2019 sequel.

Which director of the comedies Walk Hard and Sex Tape made Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

Jake Kasdan is the son of Lawrence Kasdan, who wrote Raiders of the Lost Ark, and he had bit parts in his father's films as a child. He came back to direct the 2019 sequel.

Which British composer scored Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle after James Newton Howard had to drop out?

Henry Jackman took over when a six-month delay to post-production left the first-choice composer unavailable. He had already scored Wreck-It Ralph and Kong: Skull Island.

What on each player's arm shows the lives they have left in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

Tattooed stripes, three to begin with, disappear one at a time as lives are lost. Spencer works out that losing the last one would mean dying for real.

Which author of The Polar Express wrote the 1981 picture book behind Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

Chris Van Allsburg wrote and illustrated the book, in which two children roll dice and watch the jungle come to life around them. He was among the writers who tried their hand at early sequel scripts.

Which 2005 space-set film is counted as a Jumanji spin-off, released before Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

Zathura sends two brothers' house hurtling through space when they play a board game. Its director discouraged calling it a sequel, yet the studio marketed it as part of the same universe.

What is the subtitle of the 2019 sequel that reunited the cast of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

The Next Level took the players beyond the jungle into arid deserts and snowy mountains, with the same director back in charge. This time the friends go in to rescue one of their own.

Which superhero film did Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle overtake in 2018 as Sony's biggest hit in North America?

Spider-Man, the 2002 original, had held the studio's record at $403.7 million until April 2018. The jungle adventure finished on $405 million in the United States and Canada.

Which Star Wars film kept Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle off the top of the US box office when it opened?

The Last Jedi stayed in first place for the comedy's first two weekends, then lost the top spot to it in January 2018. Unusually, the newcomer earned more in its second weekend than in its first.

In a scrapped 1999 script for a Jumanji sequel, which powerful figure was to be sucked into the game?

The US President was to buy the game from an antique shop in Europe and play it with his children at the White House. Steve Buscemi was lined up as his evil Vice President.

Which star of the 1995 original had died a year before a new Jumanji film was announced in 2015?

Robin Williams died in August 2014, and some fans felt the news of a new film came too soon. One of his young co-stars from the original publicly criticised the announcement as well.

Van Pelt is a corrupt archaeologist in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, but what was he in the 1995 film?

A big-game hunter stalked the hero of the 1995 film, and Jonathan Hyde played both him and the hero's father. The sequel reimagined the villain as a former partner of Dr. Bravestone.

What do Van Pelt's armed henchmen ride when they first attack the players in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle?

Motorcycles carry the gang into the first ambush, moments after the four discover their avatars' skills and weaknesses. The attack costs Martha a life and shows the group how spare lives work.

In which European capital, at the Grand Rex cinema, did Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle hold its premiere?

Paris hosted the premiere on December 5, 2017, more than two weeks before the film reached American cinemas. It went on to gross $963 million worldwide.