Jumanji is a 1995 feature film directed by Joe Johnston and based on Chris Van Allsburg's popular 1982 book, Jumanji. The story is about a magical and ominous board game which makes animals and other jungle hazards appear upon each roll of the dice. Expensive, state of the art computer graphics and animatronics were employed by Industrial Light and Magic for the special effects sequences.

The movie starred Robin Williams, Kirsten Dunst, Bebe Neuwirth, and Bonnie Hunt. The movie is dedicated to the memory of Stephen L. Price.

In 1869 two boys bury a mysterious trunk in a New Hampshire graveyard. The younger boy (named Benjamin) asks the older boy "What if someone digs it up?" to which the older boy (named Caleb) replies "May God have mercy on his soul."

One hundred years later, 12-year-old Alan Parrish is riding his bicycle in a New Hampshire town. He is being chased by five bullies led by Billy Jessup, so he rides to his father's shoe factory, Parrish Shoes. He meets up with Carl (David Alan Grier), an employee, in the shoe factory. Carl shows Alan a new type of shoe (sneaker) which he says "could shake up this whole town". Alan puts the shoe down on a conveyor belt. Later, Carl's new shoe is chewed up in a machine. When Alan's father asks who did this, Alan walks away and Carl takes the blame. Outside, Alan picks up his bike and is confronted by Billy. Billy tells Alan that having a wealthy father does not imply that he can be with Billy's girlfriend Sarah Whittle. Alan tries to reassure Billy that he has no feelings for Sarah, but is attacked by the gang, who steal his bike. Alan then walks around and is attracted by the strange sound of drumbeats. He traces the sounds to a small construction site, where he pulls away mud and creepers and discovers a trunk. He breaks the chained lock and opens the lid, finding a flat box with the word "Jumanji" inscribed in the center.

As he eats dinner alone, his father and mother prepare to leave for a benefit concert. His father stays only long enough to praise Alan's boldness in standing up to the bullies. He then "rewards" Alan by sending him to a boarding school. Feeling unappreciated, Alan packs to run away, but at the door he meets his friend Sarah Whittle, who has gotten his bicycle back from Billy. They hear drum beats. Alan proceeds to tell her about the game he found.

Alan reads the instructions, which say: "Jumanji. A game for those who seek to find a way to leave their world behind. You roll the dice to move your token, doubles get another turn. The first player to reach the end wins." He asks her to play the Jumanji game with him. She declines and throws the dice down. The number shown is six. Sarah's game piece moves and words appear on the center globe. After they read it, they hear a noise in the fireplace. When Alan rolls the dice, he reads the center screen of the board which says: "In the jungle you must wait, until the dice reads 5 or 8". He questions what it means; at once, he is pulled bodily into the game-board. After Alan disappears, Sarah is chased out of the house by a group of bats that fly out of the fireplace.

Twenty-six years later, in 1995, a pair of orphans named Judy (Kirsten Dunst) and Peter (Bradley Pierce) move into the old Parrish estate, which has been empty for several years, with their Aunt Nora. Since their parents' death in a car accident, both have been psychologically affected; Judy is a pathological liar while Peter refuses to talk to anyone but his sister, and then only when they're alone.

Peter goes into the attic and sees one of the bats encountered by Sarah. The next day, an exterminator comes to look at the site, at Aunt Nora's request. He finds no bat. He tells the children that he believes that Alan Parrish was murdered by his own father. At dinner, Judy tells Aunt Nora about the rumor and is grounded as a result.

The next day, the two children start to hear drumbeats from upstairs. They find the game and start to play it with the 2 unused pieces. Judy rolls first and the center screen says: "A tiny bite can make you itch, make you sneeze, make you twitch." No sooner than this is spoken, giant mosquitoes attack them both. Judy protects her brother from them by swinging a tennis racket, which whacks one of the mosquitoes through the window. Peter then rolls a 2; the center screen reads: "This will not be an easy mission, monkeys slow the expedition". They then hear noises from downstairs. They enter the kitchen which is being ransacked by monkeys. After being assaulted by a knife-throwing monkey, they return to the attic. Judy then reads more of the instructions while Peter watches the monkeys leave the house. She tells him that the instructions state that if they finish the game everything will return to normal, and that they had better do it before Aunt Nora (who has gone out) comes home.

Peter takes a second turn, because he had rolled doubles. He rolls a 5; the center screen then reads: "His fangs are sharp, he likes your taste, your party better move post haste". They hear a piano's note playing; when they look toward it, they see a huge lion. Judy and Peter then run down the stairs and encounter adult Alan (Robin Williams), who is dressed in jungle decor. Alan lures the lion into Aunt Nora's bedroom and locks the door. He looks for Judy and Peter, who are hiding in the linen closet and then proceeds to look around the house, remembering things. Judy and Peter then find him in his former room. Alan asks if somebody rolled a 5 or 8. Judy tells him that Peter did, whereupon Alan runs to hug and thank him. They ask if he is Alan Parrish; he asks if they have seen his mother and father, to which they say "no". He runs outside in the street and almost gets ran over by Carl, who is now a policeman. Carl asks Judy if Alan (whom he does not recognize) is mentally stable; she says, to explain his image, that he was in the Peace Corps in Indonesia. Alan sees some monkeys sneaking into the police car. The monkeys steal the car. Carl runs after them screaming.

Alan then runs to the old Parrish shoe factory, which is now a derelict building. He enters his father's office, having seen a man inside it. The man explains that Alan's father ceased to pay attention to anything after his son's disappearance. The man then gives him some clothes and tells him that he passes his (Alan's) parents now and again. Alan finds his mother and father's graves and pays his respects. Judy then says that they have to finish the game. A car accident happens involving the realtor who had sold the house to Aunt Nora. Alan, Judy and Peter get into the car. Alan drives recklessly back to his house.

Further problems arise as Alan, Peter and Judy come to realize that they must find Sarah Whittle to continue the game, which she and Alan began 26 years ago. Sarah is located living in her old home, unmarried and without family, under the name of "Madame Serena". She has become a somewhat incompetent fortune-teller and New Age philosopher, yet does not apply any of her teachings to herself. Although reluctant to believe that Alan's story, which is supported by her own memories, is true, she is gradually brought around to accept it. When even then she will not play the game, Alan tricks her into taking a turn by putting the dice into her hand. She drops them; thus fulfilling the description of a "roll".

The game continues, resulting in further mayhem. Alan is chased throughout town by a crazed manhunter, Van Pelt, while the town is overrun by plants and animals from the board game. Eventually, Alan, Sarah and the kids are at the Parrish home, which has been overtaken by carnivorous jungle plants, giant spiders, monsoon-like rain, and an earthquake. In a final showdown with Van Pelt, Alan takes his final turn and completes the game. All of the jungle creatures originating from the board game are withdrawn into it. Alan and Sarah are restored to their childhood and their proper position in time: the very moment they had begun playing the game. Alan's wish is to contact Judy and Peter; as neither has been born, Sarah counsels him against it. Sarah and Alan discard the Jumanji game, then leave one another. In the moment of their departure, she kisses him. Alan, whose father has returned to gather his speech, reconciles with his father and exonerates Carl.

Decades later, Alan and Sarah are living, married, in Alan's ancestral home. Sarah is eight or nine months pregnant with Alan's child. At a party, they hire Judy and Peter's parents to work for them; thus preventing them from dying in the future.

Meanwhile, on a beach in a place that is presumably France, a pair of French-speaking girls hear drums beating. Not far from them is the Jumanji box, half submerged in the sand. It is thereby implied that they will take it and play the game.