The Backyardigans play Jumanji

***The Backyardigans play Jumanji*** is the first upcoming The Backyardigans/Jumanji crossover to be made by Hiatt Grey.

## Plot

In 1869, near Brantford, New Hampshire, two brothers bury a chest and hope that no one will ever find it.

A century later in 1969, Alan Parrish escapes a gang of bullies led by Billy Jessup and retreats to a shoe factory owned by his father, Sam. He meets Carl Bentley, an employee, who reveals a new shoe prototype he made by himself. Alan misplaces the shoe and damages a machine, but Carl takes responsibility and loses his job. After being attacked by Jessup's group, who also steal his bicycle, Alan follows the sound of tribal drumbeats to a construction site. He finds the chest containing a board game called "Jumanji" and brings it home. At home, after an argument with Sam about attending a boarding school, Alan plans to run away. Sarah Whittle, his friend, arrives to return his bicycle, and Alan shows her Jumanji and invites her to play. With each roll of the dice, the game piece moves by itself and a cryptic message describing the roll's outcome appears in the crystal ball at the center of the board. Sarah reads the first message on the board and hears an eerie sound. Alan then unintentionally rolls the dice after being startled by the chiming clock; a message tells him to wait in a jungle until someone rolls a 5 or 8. Alan is sucked into the game, and a colony of bats chases Sarah out of the mansion.

Twenty-six years later in 1995, Judy and Peter Shepherd move into the vacant Parrish mansion with their aunt Nora, after their parents recently died in a car accident in Canada. Soon after, Judy and Peter find Jumanji in the attic and begin playing it. Their rolls release a swarm of big mosquitoes and a troop of monkeys. The game rules state that everything will be restored when the game ends, so they continue playing. Peter's next roll releases a lion and an adult Alan. As Alan makes his way out, he meets Carl, who is now working as a police officer since 1974. Alan, Judy and Peter go to the now derelict shoe factory, where a tramp tells Alan that after his disappearance, Sam and his wife, Carol-Anne, abandoned the business and searched for Alan, until their deaths just four years earlier.

Realizing they need Sarah to finish the game, the three locate her, now suffering posttraumatic stress disorder after Alan's disappearance, and they persuade her to join them. Sarah's roll releases fast-growing carnivorous plants, and Alan's next roll releases a big-game hunter, Van Pelt. Judy's next roll releases a stampede of various animals, and a pelican snatches the game. Peter retrieves it, but Alan is arrested by Carl. Later, Van Pelt catches up to Alan's friends and steals the game. Peter, Sarah, and Judy follow Van Pelt to a department store, where they fight him, retrieve the game, and reunite with Alan. When the four return to the mansion, it is now completely overrun by jungle wildlife. They release numerous calamities, until Van Pelt arrives. When Alan drops the dice, he wins the game, causing everything that had happened as a result of the game to be reversed.

Alan and Sarah return to 1969 as children, but have full memories of the future events. Alan reconciles with his father and admits that he was responsible for the shoe that damaged the factory's machine to prevent Carl from getting fired, and Sam tells his son that he does not have to attend boarding school. Alan and Sarah throw Jumanji into a river and then share a kiss.

Twenty-six years later, Alan and Sarah are married and expecting their first child. Alan runs the factory after his parents retired. He and Sarah reunite with Judy and Peter (who have no memories of the game), and meet their parents Jim and Martha during a Christmas party. The Parrishes offer Jim a job and convinces the Shepherds to cancel their upcoming ski trip, before they strike up a friendship with them.

On a beach, two French-speaking girls hear drumbeats as Jumanji lies partially buried in the sand.

## Trivia

* Dora Márquez, Boots, Backpack, Map, Isa, Tico, Benny, Azul, Blue, Steve, Sportacus, Stephanie, Ziggy, Pixel, Trixie, Stingy, Max, Ruby, Kai-Lan, Rintoo, Tolee, Hoho, Lu-Lu, Wubbzy, Widget, Walden, Daizy, the Wubb Girlz (Shine, Shimmer, and Sparkle), Oswald, Weenie, Henry the Penguin, Daisy the Flower, Maggie, The Ferocious Beast, Hamilton Hooks, Sagwa Miao, Sheegwa Miao, Dongwa Miao, the Rockhopper crew (Zidgel, Midgel, Fidgel, and Kevin), Chris Kratt, Martin Kratt, Zoboomafoo, Fievel Mousekewitz, Olivia Flaversham, Connor McKnight, Ethan James, Kira Ford, Tommy Oliver, Trent Fernandez, Din Djarin, Grogu, Cara Dune, Greef Karga, Boba Fett, Fennec Shand, Black Krrsantan, Cal Ketsis, BD-1, Cere Junda, Greez Dritus, Merrin, the Bad Batch (Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, Echo, and Crosshair), Omega, C-3PO, R2-D2, Shimmy Shake, and Lighthoof guest star in this film.
* The Lady in Pink will work for Van Pelt in this film.
* The first two *An American Tail* films and *Jumanji* were both composed and conducted by James Horner.
* The film will be dedicated in memory of Robin Williams, who committed suicide on August 11, 2014, and James Horner, who died in a plane crash on June 22, 2015.
* The storyline continues in *The Backyardigans play Zathura*.