The Backyardigans play Zathura

***The Backyardigans play Zathura*** is the second upcoming The Backyardigans/Jumanji crossover to be made by Hiatt Grey. And it is the sequel to *The Backyardigans play Jumanji*.

## Plot

Walter and his younger brother Danny do not get along with each other or their older sister, Lisa. While their divorced father is away at work and Lisa, whom he left in charge, is napping, Danny discovers an old space-themed board game called "Zathura" in the basement. He convinces Walter to play the game with him, the goal of which is to become the first player to reach the final space on the board. Each turn, a player turns a key and presses a button, causing the board to move the player's piece a random number of spaces and spit out an event card. When Danny's first turn causes a meteor shower inside the living room, Walter and Danny realize playing the game has altered reality.

The boys discover their father's house is floating in space. Lisa, unaware of the situation, wakes up and begins preparing for her date that evening, but is frozen stiff when another card turns the bathroom into a cryonic chamber. Walter concludes the only way to end the game and return everything to normal is to win the game. As they continue to play, Walter and Danny must overcome the dangers presented by the game cards, including the appearance of a defective robot, passing too close to a Sun-like planet and an attack on the house by a race of reptilian aliens called Zorgons. Another of Danny's turns produces an astronaut, who methodically eliminates the house's heat sources. He tells Walter to blow out the pilot light on the furnace, but Walter does not blow it out, out of fear of getting attacked by the robot again. The astronaut lures the Zorgons' ship away by ejecting the boys' father's couch after setting it on fire (which should not burn due to there being no oxygen).

Walter asks the astronaut to leave, but Danny chooses to let him stay. Growing increasingly agitated, Walter accuses Danny of cheating by supposedly moving his piece prematurely; when Walter tries to move the piece back and takes his next turn, the game reacts as if Walter was cheating and ejects him from the house into the vacuum of space, but the astronaut retrieves him. On Walter's next turn, he receives a card that allows him to make a wish resulting in another falling out between the boys. The astronaut warns Walter not to make a wish out of anger. Fearing the worst, he is relieved to discover that Walter wished merely for an autographed football. He explains that he and his brother had played the game fifteen years before, and he wished his brother had never existed, causing him to be stuck in the game without a second player.

Lisa awakens from her stasis, and still oblivious to the situation, turns up the heat. This causes the Zorgons to return and anchor their ships to the house. Lisa finally discovers their predicament, and the four hide upstairs, but realize they left the game behind. The astronaut uses the house's dumbwaiter to lower Danny to retrieve the game. Danny finds the game aboard one of the Zorgon ships, but is seen by the Zorgons. Walter uses a "Reprogram" card he drew earlier to fix the malfunctioning robot, who attacks the Zorgons instead, and the aliens retreat.

Walter receives another wish card; he uses it to bring back the astronaut's brother, causing a doppelgänger of Danny to appear. The astronaut reveals he is actually Walter, and commends his younger self for making a better choice than he did fifteen years ago of his timeline, and the astronaut and the alternate Danny merge with their counterparts as the future changes.

The Zorgons return to the house with a large fleet, intent on destroying it. Danny makes a final move, landing on Zathura, and wins, creating a black hole that sucks up the Zorgon fleet and the house. The siblings awaken in the house as it was before the brothers started the game, just as their father arrives home. Their bond renewed, they promise to each other to not tell anyone about the game and their adventure. After they leave with their mother, Danny's bicycle, which had been orbiting their house, falls from the sky.

## 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.
* Austin and Danny were both played by Jonah Bobo.
* Jon Favreau who directed this film also directed *The Mandalorian* and *The Book of Boba Fett*.
* *Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith* and *Zathura* were both released in the year, 2005.
* The storyline continues in *Thomas and Twilight Sparkle play Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle*.