Quantum Recast: Your Favorite Films, Recast In Different Years

Jumanji - Mid 80s: Rolling the Dice on the Robin Williams' Family Adventure

Quantum Recast

What if Jumanji was recast in the Mid 80s?

Ever wondered how the enchanting world of 'Jumanji' would spark to life with an '80s twist? Nick and Cass journey through the possibilities of who might have walked the jungles and braved the stampedes if this classic had hit the screens a decade earlier. Our episode teems with the giddy excitement of reimagining the film during the golden age of adventure flicks, considering stars for the role originally played by the immortalized Robin Williams. 

This trip down memory lane isn't just about nostalgia; it's about understanding the dual appeal of family movies. We unravel the layers of 'Jumanji,' examining how the film scares us in one breath and comforts with hearty laughter in the next. Our childhood fears stand side by side with a mature reflection on the emotional depth of the characters, especially through the lens of adulthood. 

Strap in for a hearty discussion that not only pays homage to the genius of Robin Williams, but also casts a curious eye towards the what-ifs of film history. From the surprisingly zoo-less filming location to potential shifts in special effects, we've left no stone unturned. Join us for a creative romp through the world of 'Jumanji,' as we celebrate the timeless blend of horror, humor, and heart that continues to captivate audiences across generations.


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Hosts:
Cory Williams (
@thelionfire)
Nick Growall (
@nickgrowall)

Co-Hosts (Season 5):
Aly Dale (
@alydale55)
Ash Hurry (
@filmexplorationah)
Cass Elliott (
@take5cass)
Terran Sherwood (
@terransherwood)

Voice of the Time Machine:
Kristi Rothrock (
@letzshake)

Editing by:
Nick Growall

Featured Music:
"Quantum Recast Theme" - Cory Williams
"Charmer" -
Coat...

Speaker 1:

In the jungle. You must wait until the dice read five or eight. I've seen things you've only seen in your nightmares, things you can't even see. I'm gonna lie and suck at you. You lost wood, jumanji. Welcome to Quantum Recast. I'm your host for today's mini-sode, nick, and with me back from a few months ago, I guess it's been. How are you, cass?

Speaker 2:

I'm good, I know you guys. Finally let me back from a few months ago, I guess it's been. How are you, cass? I'm good, I know you guys.

Speaker 1:

Finally let me back on well, you know, we had to. We had to, uh, make you go through the trials and the questionnaire, and then you know, serve your time. But you're back. Finally, you know, like not that you did anything wrong, but we just felt like, as the youngest member of the group, there was some initiation that hadn't occurred yet, and so so here you are now. So congrats, you made it, you did you did all the things. She's like I didn't do anything, I just hung out at home.

Speaker 2:

Just waiting. Just in the corner it's raining. It's all sad, just waiting for my time to shine.

Speaker 1:

Anyway, if you clicked on this episode, it is a mini-show but you probably clicked on it because it says Jumanji and it says Jumanji in the mid-80s, jumanji and it says Jumanji in the mid 80s. That is not a typo, that is not a mistake. That's what we do on this podcast. We take your favorite movies or some cult classics and things and we move them to a different space and time, forwards, backwards, in between everywhere. So today we are taking the Robin Williams, not the Dwayne Johnson version, to be clear, the 1995 version with Robin Williams, back to the mid 80s for a mid 80s cast. Cass and I will each present a cast. There's no director in these minisodes, so we're just talking and discussing and chatting it up. Just a little bite-sized piece of Quantum Recast for you, yep. So, cass, other than how you've been, are you excited to jump into this?

Speaker 2:

I am. I love this movie.

Speaker 1:

So you watched it as a kid I'm assuming growing up as well no-transcript. There would just be a movie that would show up and she'd be like I got this and we would watch it, which is strange because, like there was, I don't know if she watched it before letting us watch it because you know, it's a little more, a little more controlling of like what type of movies we were allowed to watch. So but anyway, I think this was one that was like oh, the trailer's out, it's robin williams. Yeah, we'll get it when it's on vhs, as I was super hyped to get like the jacket that was back in the plastic jackets. Like the disney movie's gonna let out they have that version of it. But yeah, this was definitely one favorite growing up and it's definitely was worth a rewatch. We'll get into that here in a second, but first I want to give the quick rundown of the movie Jumanji.

Speaker 1:

It was released on December 15th 1995, a holiday movie release directed by Joe Johnston. If you don't know who Joe Johnston is, he's just he's kind of like this I would call him an underrated director. He made the first Captain America. That's the most recent thing Probably. He helped out on things like Raiders of the Lost Ark. But his other directing credit is probably the Rocketeer, october Sky Hidalgo, jurassic Park 3 that some people love or hate, depending on who you ask. So he's and the page master for all you 90s kids and and honey, I shrunk the kid in 89, so he's kind of I would say he has a pretty decent track record there.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, nothing that's gonna like be like. Oh, this is the top. You know, 25 movies of all time, but they're all solid movies In my opinion. You know I have some friends that are going to be mad at me for acting like. Jurassic Park three is a good movie. It is a good movie. It's okay to like it, I promise. But uh, written by Jonathan Hensley, jim strain, greg Taylor and Chris van Allsburg, chris van children's picture book. Did you read this growing up gas?

Speaker 1:

I did not okay, I didn't either. I was never. I was aware it was a book, but I never, uh, actually read it we were also not born in 81 nick. This is true, you could still get it at the library like that. That might have been like if I had been anticipating the jumanji movie I might have, and I'd seen it in the library, I might have checked it out I don't know or it's or it's sequels athura, or it's spiritual sequel to be clear yes, yes um, but according to the author, the word Jumanji is Zulu for many effects, which alludes to the exciting consequences of the game.

Speaker 1:

As mentioned in the film. Um, it wasn't filmed too far away from UCAS in New Hampshire.

Speaker 2:

Uh, one of the few one of the few US states without a zoo, it turns out yeah, I noticed that and then I questioned if Delaware had a zoo for for some time I was like wait.

Speaker 1:

Does Delaware have a zoo?

Speaker 2:

From what I looked up, yeah, apparently so.

Speaker 1:

Well, there's a zoo in Delaware, there's not one in New Hampshire. Now you know if you're ever in that area, East Coast area just stay away from Delaware.

Speaker 2:

One of our New Hampshire listeners are like oh yeah, we don't have a zoo.

Speaker 1:

They're like like dang, he's right, all the wasted years, a budget of 65 million, a box office run of 262.8 million. So it did well, did well for itself. Um, it's legacy, basically it came out, it came and went, and then zathura was this movie that kind of came out. I don't even know if you would call I guess it has to because they were like, well, let's just make the sequel book and then that one. I don't know if it was as successful, but then have you seen it? I have seen it.

Speaker 1:

Yes, I thought the movie was decent, but I don't think it quite was on the Jumanji level per se. But then you got Jumanji, welcome to the Jungle. And Jumanji, the Next Level, where they turn the board game into a video game because it's the future, and Dwayne and Kevin Hart, jack and the girl from Guardians of the Galaxy whose name escapes me, suddenly, karen Gillan Thank you, karen Gillan gets sucked into the video game. So that's its legacy is that it suddenly became a franchise after not really being a franchise. But I think they're all enjoyable in their own way. I would say for sure, oh, definitely. You can't go into Jumanji, the new Jumanjis, and be like, well, this isn't like the new one at the old one at all. It's like well, robin williams isn't there.

Speaker 2:

No, no crap well, yeah, and at least like the, even those future movies are still funny. It still kind of has like the adventure and the scare because you're gonna, you're thinking that they're gonna die. They have lives like, like tattooed like that was that was. I think they did a good job with it, making it modern like they did it wasn't. It wasn't too, too bad. My parents, to this day, still quote the new movies around the house like it was a surprisingly good sequel, like the new first one.

Speaker 1:

Um, I remember me and taryn, friend of the show, guy behind the scenes sometimes uh, we went to watch it. We were both very surprised.

Speaker 1:

We were like, oh, this was actually funny yeah, because it looked like it was gonna be hot garbage, like a lot of movies are. I just separate the two. I don't really consider it to be really part of the original one, I just consider it to be a reboot. Basically, I know there's pieces where they're like oh, alan was here in the jungle, but it's very. It's not like it's really built into the story, it's just kind of like a nod more so Well, I mean I would.

Speaker 2:

No, I would still consider it a sequel turned into a video game, because nobody plays video, or sorry nobody plays board games and stuff anymore, so it's like it's not in your face yourself.

Speaker 1:

Excuse me, I'm you, gen zers, and your and your digital games and your lack of practical analog stuff no, no, no.

Speaker 2:

I like a good board game. I just don't have friends. There's a difference but friends, they're just not near you to play physical board games you don't, you don't, you don't gotta to keep like, just am I doing it on too much? A little bit.

Speaker 1:

Well, speaking of board games, though I acknowledge that they are sequels, but me personally, I'm just sitting there, I'm like I don't really put I don't when I plan a Jumanji watch through. If I was to I wouldn't really I don't plan those. I don't say I'm going to watch the first one and then the other two, Like I would just watch Jumanji probably. Yeah. But speaking of board games, did you own the board game? Because when this came out, they actually made a board game of it, you know.

Speaker 2:

I did. I don't remember like why we had the board game in our house, but we definitely did and there was just times that I would play with like my cousins and stuff and it was cool. Like obviously it was cool. Like obviously it's not going to be the exact sort of board game where the pieces are just going to stick onto the board, but right, yeah it still had, like the jumanji vibe where it was just still like, oh, this is going to happen and this is going to happen.

Speaker 2:

So, like you would end up like losing a turn or going to the next person or going again.

Speaker 1:

So you mean the animals didn't come out of the game?

Speaker 2:

no, that's disappointing right, I wanted to return it well, there there's.

Speaker 1:

There is like a you know walmart target version that you can get for like 20 or 30 bucks. But then there's, like there's some very detailed ones that are on you can see on amazon or an ebay where somebody actually made it out of wood and like made it look like the game you know. So that's definitely like a millennial's, like you know wet dream of like oh, if I could just find this, if I could just have this, I would be whole again, kind of thing. But it's very cool to like see, like when, when fans will replicate something like that and make it very like, accurate to the actual movie. Because sometimes when you buy like the game now, you're like, well, it's kind of plastic and I'm not super into that, but as a kid you're like, oh my gosh, this is awesome yeah so.

Speaker 1:

So there's that. You know it's the board game. It did well. Um, we'll run through some useless critic stats real quick for you. Obviously, we both enjoyed the movie, but we want to see what people in the 90s that I guess go watch movies for a profession wanted to say about it. The IMDb score is a 7.1 out of 10. Rotten Tomatoes is a 63% Letterboxd. We got a 3.6 out of 5. That's respectable, I would say.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

And you and I. I gave it a four out of five on litterbox and you gave it a 4.5 out of five. Pretty strong cast, pretty strong ranking there okay nostalgia nostalgia. This you're just so you're said. You're letting the nostalgia give it that extra little, extra oomph into your extra half yeah gotcha, gotcha, okay.

Speaker 1:

Well, we've also got ebert score. Are you ready for this cast? I'm ready. Ebert gave it a 1.5 out of 4. This man doesn't like fun. That's what I'm saying. He likes the wrong kind of fun. I want to know what upset him about this. What's his opening line? It's always.

Speaker 1:

Jumanji is being promoted as a jolly holiday season entertainment, with ads that show Robin Williams with a twinkle in his eye. The movie itself is likely to send younger children fleeing from the theater or hiding in their parents arms. Those who do sit all the way through are likely to toss and turn with nightmares inspired by its frightening images. So he's just basically lambasting it because it's scary, as if kids didn't grow up through the 80s, tortured and terrified. The underlying structure of the film seems inspired by interactive video games or just a board game. This is a little attempt to construct a coherent story. Instead, the characters face one threat after another, new grotesque dangers. He so, he's just. It's like those video games where you achieve one level after another by killing and not getting killed, the ultimate. Am I reading the right jumanji here? This is 19, yeah, 1995. Like he's talking about video games, but that one doesn't come out for two decades. This man, is he ahead of his time? I don't know. I don't know how to feel about this Cass.

Speaker 2:

There's no video about it at all.

Speaker 1:

Did Jumanji even get a video game back in the day? Jumanji 95 video game. I'm just curious, I have to wander down this route. Jumanji 96 video game. According to the Jumanji Wiki fandom, jumanji A Jungle Adventure Pack is a North American exclusive released in 96. One player. That seems wrong.

Speaker 2:

What was it for?

Speaker 1:

It an exclusive, released in 96 one player. That's seems wrong. What was it for? Like it was just a pc game. Was there not a an actual game? That's? That's disappointing, you figure. Wait, wait, hold on jumanji video game.

Speaker 1:

We're just ruining this podcast by me just googling stuff do your homework, nick I know right, well, I didn't think about it until, like, we talked about games and I'm like, okay, well, I guess there is is a video. No, this is the new game. Get out of here, okay, anyway, moving on, moving on, there's too much crossover right now. Yeah, ebert's just not having he probably was having one of his quote-unquote off days and was just like this is terrifying for children. Now, there were moments in the movie where the lion and the monkeys were kind of freaky, but then like the mosquito coming through, like the window and the glass on the top of the car, like and even like the jungle, like trying to literally eat our young hero in the movie, like as it's crawling through the house, you know, peter, and yeah it's terrifying, but I wasn't sitting there going like I'm traumatized by this, you know no, and I mean I'm a bad example because I like tour growing up anyway, but I just more mean, like it's just I don't know, there's nothing scary about it.

Speaker 2:

Like yeah, like you're kind of on the edge of your seat like hoping that they don't get like attacked or anything, like you're cheering them on to like finish this game.

Speaker 1:

But I think I honestly think it's the right amount of scary Like they used enough practical effects like the lions partly practical the alligators or crocodiles, whichever one it was, the spiders there's enough practical mixed in with all the CGI of the stampede. On top of that there are stakes that happen. He gets sucked into that game for 20 years and that's a pretty crazy sequence in itself. But then even Peter tries to cheat and slowly gets turned into a monkey and that's a whole other psychological scary thing there are. Yeah, it does a good job of for being a kid's family movie of creating stakes and potential danger without having to like axe anybody pretty much or chop them up into little pieces inside the house.

Speaker 2:

So would you agree, okay, that now that you mentioned that like that kind of stuff, was a little far like saying what happened with alan I, I was, I was unfazed by it, and that's coming from a very sheltered child for me.

Speaker 1:

Were you was, was it bad for you or are you just now retrospecting it?

Speaker 2:

a little bit like I just feel like I don't know, even because again that kind of stuff wouldn't freak me out, but it's just remembering, like all the stuff that they said that happened, like that could have happened to alan, and I'm like dang, like that's kind of scary to think about, like what mr parish went through being like oh, everyone thinks I killed my son.

Speaker 1:

Like definitely sorry. It's definitely a thing that I think you think about as an adult. You're like, oh my gosh, this these poor parents like really had to go looking for their son and everyone thought that I murdered him, kind of thing yeah so I think it's one of those.

Speaker 1:

It's. It's a movie that does the job well enough that the kids are entertained. And then there's something for the parents to think about. I think too many parents ebert included I don't even know if he has kids but they're so concerned about like, oh my gosh, this isn't a kid's movie. And half the time, like you think about shrek, you think about all these movies with innuendo and sexual jokes and stuff. It's like that goes completely over kids heads, like because what happens is you watch it later and you finally get the joke and you go oh, that's what he was saying, and then you turn into the adult. I can't believe they put that in a movie. So it's a vicious cycle. That's all I'm going to say.

Speaker 2:

I mean the parents got to be entertained too when they watch this kid's movie.

Speaker 1:

Right.

Speaker 2:

Give them this like one tiny little thing that will go over kids head, but the parents are like, huh, that is funny. So yeah, I agree.

Speaker 1:

I think this movie I think it's the reason it's so good is because it does have so much heart to it.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

And I think you really feel that through the lesson that Robin Williams Allen character learns. Through it, you know like the importance of family, like not knowing really what he had. But it's also there's a evolution of his character from being brave brave enough to stand up to his dad and just tell him how he really feels and like not be afraid to be like, instead of turning into a shouting match of like I don't want to go to the school. Instead he's like hey, I don't really want to. I feel like you're just sending me away, kind of thing.

Speaker 2:

Right, and I think that's the fun part about the ending, where it's like he does get a happy ending with his parents Like it. They were playing the game, so it starts with alan and sarah and I thought that was like that's beautiful. It's not like it's dark, where oh no, this is the life that he's stuck with.

Speaker 1:

He doesn't get that closure with his parents.

Speaker 2:

He doesn't get to live his childhood like I I think, they did a really good job with that, so I still think that's family friendly, because if it wasn't, it would have just ended that way where yeah, like the game's over a pg-13 version of this is the game's over and then they just have to move on with their life.

Speaker 1:

Instead and this was a smart move by the director, joe johnston was like they're like, we're gonna make it. Uh, it's a wonderful life type ending where everything returns back to normal and yeah and it's the good, happy, feel good ending where they're at home. It's even at christmas time, so it's like, yeah, this is clearly a nod to that. So some questions that came up. You brought this up before we started, but so you were asking why did you think it just chose the kids?

Speaker 2:

so elaborate on that well, it was like when I was re-watching it yes, in the beginning with the two kids like getting rid of the game yeah they heard.

Speaker 2:

They heard the drums, they heard it, but they were like no, we got to get rid of it, we got to go like before something happens. But alan later on, of course, like years later, starts hearing it and he wants it like he goes down into the pit, which I still believe is just not safe. That you just leave that out in the open, like construction workers are just like, oh, we'll leave that alone I don't think.

Speaker 1:

I don't think there's construction workers that work overnight, though, or just watch the facility, I think that's why they have fences so either way, I was like that just doesn't feel super, super safe.

Speaker 2:

It's not safe Either way. Alan heard the drums and I was just kind of like in the mindset of does the board game go to like broken kids?

Speaker 1:

I don't like using the word broken, but it's like it almost is calling to problematic, someone that needs a lesson learned, basically Because I initially had said like, well, no, it's kind of like this evil, it's a somewhat evil like it's. It's because I initially it said like, well, no, it's kind of like this evil, it's a somewhat evil like thing. That's like if you open it's, it's don't open the pandora's box, basically yeah but that's a good point of like. It's more like it's latching on to someone that needs, like some something yeah, guidance.

Speaker 2:

So it's almost like this best and worst case scenario, you know because if you remember, like when we see um gosh, why am I drawing on their names already? Uh, judy and peter yeah, when you see like them talking to their aunt they hear the drums, but nora doesn't she doesn't hear it at all. Yeah, she's like looking at them, like what are you guys looking at?

Speaker 1:

right, and they're also troubled kids, so because they just lost their parents. You know, peter's not talking to people except his sister, so it's just it becomes more of like a parable or like a monkey's Paul type of story in that sense, where it's like you're learning your lesson by by the when these extreme situations, kind of thing.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Okay, I get what you're saying. Yeah, that the board game itself chooses not just any random person, people that need it, and particularly just kids, because it's a kids movie too, so so, yeah, I think that that's, that's. That's definitely fair for sure. I think I think that's, but that's the thing is like just structurally. It's a plot device. It's used to like help alan go through his journey a, not be afraid, b be his own person and then realize kind of the value of what he has with his family and stuff, and the same goes for peter and judy as well right, but I think it's and even future movies.

Speaker 2:

I still feel like the kids like in those movies were called to it when they were like trying to get through high school and they all came together and learned their own lessons, like with you know, a couple of them becoming confident, one going off, like you know, the grid not wanting to be on her phone as much so it's like they all grow, so I don't know it. Just it made me wonder what made like. Made the board game go to the kids like they did, like it did so?

Speaker 1:

it chooses. Sounds like you're about to get some character development buddy like no, we're gonna suck you in a game for 20 years in this ridiculous jungle. That that's what we're going to do. That's how you learn.

Speaker 2:

That sucks. That'll teach them.

Speaker 1:

Oh gosh. Well, we're not taking this to a particular year, we're taking it to the mid 80s and we will generally talk about that as we're casting. But before we dive into that, I'm going to ask the general question how does this movie change? Taking it back, almost it back, almost just a decade really, how do you think it changes?

Speaker 2:

The CGI Pretty much. I would say, yeah, I feel like that's the main thing, because I feel like I think the theme would still be there. I think it would still kind of almost be set in the same year. But I was actually thinking like, would it be set in the 80s, or I think so.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I mean you just push it back. You know, because even even the original it's what they're in 1965 or 69, uh, looking up more information, but when? But it's just a, it's a back to the future situation, it's just a jump in time, yeah, really to allow for alan to be gone long enough that everybody thinks, well, I think he was murdered, his parents are gone. You know, like the world has changed so much 1969. So, but yeah, so I think you just move it. You could take it right back to 1969 or just take it to 1959. You're going to get like a fifties kind of vibe in the, in the prologue and stuff.

Speaker 2:

So I think it's just fine, I think, I think it stays the same. It's just the cgi is going to be what's different, right, yeah, but like what kind of vibe would it give like? Just because I feel like when you do like that kind of like cgi, is it going to be almost like that friday or friday 13th that's not what I meant uh, a nightmare on elm street vibe, like what I.

Speaker 1:

I just kind of wonder how that cgi would be yeah, I think I mean just based off of some of the special effects and stuff, it uh, it was originally the industrial light magic, which is the people, the star wars people, lucasfilm stuff.

Speaker 1:

They were the ones who did it for jumanji, but I think again yeah, but I think that they would just lean more on the puppetry and the animatronics which was provided by amalgamated dynamics, uh, so that's kind of I think you would just lean on that or like a Jim Henson company and just really nail all that stuff. The only thing that I think would be interesting to see is like, how does the stampede look? Practically, because that's I think that's a point in time, too, where they're not still afraid to use elephants and rhinos and stuff. I don't know how they make that work, but it's definitely like that scenes. It's very like Jurassic Park T-Rex coming with the stuff falling off the shelf and they take off running.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

But the funniest thing I thought about that was the stampede comes and goes but then it just keeps re. They're just going down the street and they keep people keep running to like it's a. I think it's used three times and I'm just like this is the most Looney Tunes stuff in a live action movie that I've seen outside of a Looney Tunes thing maybe. Or like Shaolin Monks or, I'm sorry, shaolin Soccer or those movies.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Where it's just like and nobody's making a snarky comment about it Like there's no, it's just, they're just part of the world. It's kind of like when the monkeys find the TVs and they see the Wizard of Oz playing, like it's it lives inside that campy world but it finds it rides the balance. Just enough of like here's some scary, here's some funny, here's some cheese and here's some heart that goes on top of it. So I think I think that's the. The thing that helps that movie stand out is just that it it is balanced enough like some people might sit there go. No, it's hokey and it's cheesy, it's stupid.

Speaker 1:

I'm like eh you weren't a kid of the 90s, so you're just ebert complaining that's scary.

Speaker 2:

You just don't enjoy fun. You just don't enjoy fun.

Speaker 1:

Nobody enjoys fun anymore. All right, fun can be scary too, like that's why we ride roller coasters, right? Right cast is like I've never read a roller coaster no, I mean, I mean, I have I was just like oh yeah, right, um no, oh god.

Speaker 2:

I had a thought, and now it left, never mind it left you in the jungle.

Speaker 1:

You must wait till the dice read five or eight.

Speaker 2:

Oh, I was going to say that, yeah, like scary is fun, because my dad used to scare me with the Jason mask, so it was for fun. It was for fun, though.

Speaker 1:

It's fun. It definitely isn't coming up in your therapy, all right. Well, we've talked enough, at least at this point. I think we'll have some more conversation as we're casting, but I think we're ready to dive into the cast. Are you ready, cass?

Speaker 2:

I am ready.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so it's a smaller cast, not too many people, but we've got some highlights here. Obviously, we're going to leave the four players of the game itself in the top main cast, but we're going to quickly just bounce through our 30 seconds or less, which gives us four other characters, and we are going to actually include a young Alan, a young Sarah, nora Shepard, their aunt, aunt Nora, and then Carl Bentley, the shoemaker turned police officer. After Alan ruins his state of the art shoe that he wants to make for Wilt Chamberlain, it goes wrong. But we're going to cast these four just very quickly. We'll have a very brief discussion about each, but we're we're wanting to save time for the main cast.

Speaker 1:

So again, uh, just to run these down young alan was played by adam hanbird. Young sarah was laura bell bundy. Nora shepherd was baby new earth. Uh, you might know her from cheers and uh, oh, my brain can't work today. I'm so sorry, uh, but you know from cheers. Uh, I will look up the other one. And then carl bentley, played by david alan Greer, who's just great in everything like he's. He's one of those guys that I look at him was like this guy is hilarious, or like he does drama really well too. So anytime I see him pop up in a movie I'm like I'm so glad he's here. Yeah, gosh, they're not listed. Frazier he was. She was on Frazier, that's. That's who baby was in. So, anyhow, we're gonna do with that and and cast. Let's just go one by one. We won't list all, we won't take turns listing each of our four, just to help not confuse the audience. So, real quick, give me your and yours very much sticking to a mid-80s cast, correct yes okay, so young alan, who do you have in mind?

Speaker 2:

will wheaton will wheaton.

Speaker 1:

Most people probably know him. He's the one of the kids on stand by me, correct?

Speaker 2:

yes okay, yes, and then beyond that, he did a lot of like sci-fi, I believe, or something of that nature and if you, if the listeners, are big bang theory fan, he is in that, playing as himself okay, interesting, I didn't know he's playing himself.

Speaker 1:

I remember seeing him and be like oh, it's will wheaton. Yeah, he, he plays himself okay, okay, so so, cas, I decided to do a little something different. So I'm kind of flipping it Like I had this whole grand idea and I was actually kind of proud of it of a Kurt Russell Goldie Hawn Jumanji.

Speaker 2:

Oh my God, so was I.

Speaker 1:

But I shifted to something. I shifted this to being an Eddie Murphy vehicle and that might be showing my hand a little early with the Alan Parrish casting, but I'll talk about that more when we get to Alan Allen. But I decided like, let me just flip this as if it's going to be an Eddie Murphy kind of production, in the vein of coming to America and stuff with which is a little more action adventure, cause he, he has this great run, you know, and then he hits 84, beverly Hills cop, and then 85, he's doing a lot of music videos and stuff, and then 86, the golden child, which really didn't take off, and that's kind of it's got a murky ground for him. It's not his best work. So I'm gonna just say we throw Jumanji there yeah, when did 48 hours come out?

Speaker 1:

oh, that was, that was yeah, it was earlier it was, it was before 88. Uh, 48 hours was actually in 19. Well, that's a lot, that's not. That's not 48 hours. That's what we're talking about, right? 48 hours, eddie murphy. Yeah, what's happening? You are letting me down damn you google but yeah, it's in the early 80s because that was like his first big movie outside of snl was what really took off for his film career, because after that obviously he has this great run coming to america is actually yeah, 82 thank you you're welcome.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so he has a great run through the early 80s and then like the later 80s, but that mid-80s run it's a little little hit and miss here and there yeah so I'm just going to imagine, to get back us back on track, a eddie murphy vehicle.

Speaker 1:

So for the young alan, I'm picking todd bridges and most people know him as willis from different strokes. That's pretty much his one claim to fame, pretty much, um, but that's who I've got. You know, you need a young guy that's just going to be wide eyed and ready to take on the world kind of thing, and but he's still afraid to like stand up to the bullies, and I think that I think both of our choices are going to kind of nail that for sure.

Speaker 2:

Yeah definitely sarah uma thurman uma thurman, so in 80s yeah 80, 87, because I think she started acting around that time. She was in shows, so it was before. Um, oh gosh, it's slipping my brain um robert downey jr's in the movie. Um, oh my gosh, I can't think of it right now. Um thurman yes, it was um, because it had. Wow, I am drawing a blank on what it is. Oh my gosh Something, johnny.

Speaker 1:

Johnny Dangerously.

Speaker 2:

No, johnny, be Good. Johnny Be Good Got it, johnny, be Good, love it we're professionals here.

Speaker 1:

We know what we're talking about on this show.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, we know movies.

Speaker 1:

We know movies. We've seen stuff.

Speaker 2:

We've seen film the moves, yeah so all right, yeah, so so she's done a couple of stuff before that, but she would have been like 17 around that time, so it would work yeah, you're definitely using the flex option on our kid casting because we've decided in 2024 we're letting the rules be a little flexed when we're casting kids because it's hard.

Speaker 1:

Um, speaking of casting a young female, in the 80s I chose for young sarah kim fields. You know her as 2d from facts of life again big tv star of like the late 70s, early 80s, for that role. They had a lot of TV movies with the Facts of Life cast around this time and Kim returned for that role specifically. But yeah, same thing. You're going to have the girl that young Alan wants to be with and he, you know, he flirts with her. Then her boyfriend gets mad so she comes to apologize and then she gets traumatized when he gets sucked into the board game Perfect.

Speaker 2:

And then gets attacked by bats afterwards.

Speaker 1:

Yes, exactly so. Nora Shepard, Aunt Nora, originally played by Bebe Neweth, again of Cheers and Frasier fame. Who do you have for that one?

Speaker 2:

I went. Karen Allen of the Indiana Jones.

Speaker 1:

Okay, karen Allen, you know, known for that, one known for Animal House as well. Later on in the 80s she does Scrooged so big 80s staple Love that, okay, that's a lot of fun. I could see that for sure. Who I'm going to give you is again a TV star at the time. There's, you know, that's the thing about a lot of the African American actors of the time that are notable is a lot of them are come from television, you know we don't see, you've got your Eddie Murphy's of the world and Morgan Freeman's and but and but.

Speaker 1:

A lot of them, just um, are on tv playing iconic characters at the time. They haven't been given quite the opportunity to jump to like big screen uh, acting. There's only a handful that get to do stuff like that at this point. But Felicia Rashad from the Cosby show Mrs Cosby herself is who I'm pulling for. Nora Shepard, I think she's got the right kind of sarcastic tone, very dry attitude, and then it's going to be great when she's freaking out when alligators swim by or the monkeys get in her car and stuff. So I think both are a pretty solid pick. Karen Allen's definitely tied to Action Adventure anyway, so that's going to be fun for her. It's going to be kind of same hat for her, and then Felicia's's gonna get a chance to step out of the cosby shadow. So, uh, you know we're saving her transitioning out of that quickly.

Speaker 1:

Who is your carl bentley? Who's gonna replace david allen?

Speaker 2:

greer for you so because you just said you're doing like a whole eddie murphy okay, okay, I picked eddie murphy himself.

Speaker 1:

Oh, my gosh, sinbad was right there, cass, I know, but I I saw eddie and I was like no, that's perfect, because all I could think.

Speaker 2:

But I saw Eddie and I was like no, that's perfect, because all I could think about was 48 Hours. And I was like I have to.

Speaker 1:

Well, it's fair, because he's probably the biggest African American name at the time. That's not Michael Jackson or Prince as an actor.

Speaker 1:

As a comedian, it's his moment in time To shine, for sure. But there's plenty of great Actors that are going on at the time at this point. You know, initially I thought about sinbad, who was kind of playing a lot of smaller roles, and then there was part of me that really wanted to just continue this like die hard kind of connection, and just put, uh, carl winslow's, played by original bell johnson, in it and just be like this is it? It's perfect, it's gonna keep going. So I'm gonna. I'm gonna adhere a little bit more to my ruling. I'm flipping things around, so I'm putting tom hanks here.

Speaker 1:

Oh okay, tom Hanks, it's before big in 88. It's right around the time in 84. He's done bachelor party the year before, which we would call the early eighties. He did splash in 83 with John Candy and Ron Howard directed, but in the 85, he does man with one red shoe volunteers 86. It's the money pit, nothing in common. And every time we say goodbye.

Speaker 1:

So he's because he's kind of a comedic character. At this point he's leading in movies, but he hasn't taken off yet. He's not tom hanks as we do him in the 90s, which we talked about in our league of their own episode. He just dominates the 90s, basically. So I'm giving him this shot right here to be the funny guy, and I can see him doing the same freak out that david allen greer does when the car gets finally taken by the jungle. He's just like fine, take it like. I can see him doing a great freak out job and he's just and him and eddie murphy being like chained to each other in the car, like having that interaction is gonna be fun too. He's just gonna be great. I think his freak out.

Speaker 1:

I hear his woody freak out voice and I'm just like this is good, this is gonna work, yeah great, yeah, that's, that's a perfect example but yeah, and I think that that's the thing it's like, it's hard to top David Allen Greer's performance in this, because he does such a good job being, like you know, the guy that looks up, looks out for the kid at the beginning, and then years later, he's still trying to be the good guy, trying to be a cop, and then once he finds out it's Alan, he's just like are you kidding me? This is your fault, this is all your fault. Anyway, so that's our, that's our 30 seconds or less, which we probably didn't do, 30 seconds less, obviously, but we're going to the main cast now. So, cast For our main cast we're starting off with. Actually, we have five, I lied.

Speaker 1:

We're going to start with Mr Parrish, I forgot and Van Peltz. It's a dual role, kind of similar to Peter Pan plays when the dad would play Hook at the same time. That was kind of the mentality they had with this, which I is a great. Uh, move on their half. It kind of gives it that timeless vibe. It harkens back to that kind of thing.

Speaker 1:

But also jonathan hyde, who plays him, I think, just nails both roles like perfectly. Like I would want to see him actually play captain hook in some version, like I think he would have been great for that. I'll keep that in mind next time hook comes around. I don't know if that's that's a tough one to bring up again because we love it so much. But yeah, if you don't know, if that's a, that's a tough one to bring up again Cause we love it so much. But yeah, if you don't know Jonathan Hyde, he's basically known. He's one of the rich guys in Titanic. He's in he's. He is the rich British guy in Anaconda. He's also the rich British guy in the mummy, if you needed the snarky, snotty, snobby, rich guy in the yeah, but he does excellent here.

Speaker 1:

Like Van Pelt's a little over the top, but it just fits, it just works. It's a lot of fun. But even when it comes, like to the final scene, when he's like got him at gunpoint, he's like any last words, like he knows when to really zero in and just give it like the dramatic gravitas that it needs.

Speaker 2:

You know, Correct, I agree.

Speaker 1:

For sure, for sure. Tim Curry had discussions for this part and I guess he ended up not doing it, but he would later voice a character in the Jumanji TV series in 96. So he's played traitor slick. I'd ever watched the show, did you ever?

Speaker 2:

watch the show? No, I didn't know there was.

Speaker 1:

I faintly remember there being a show. It's one of those. I don't even know what channel is on.

Speaker 2:

I feel like it was a thought at that time. No, because it was 96 1996.

Speaker 1:

So, uh, you went first in the 30 seconds or less, so I guess I'll go first here that's great.

Speaker 1:

Thank you, you know I try to be nice but, um, I'm gonna give you, I'm gonna give you an actor that a lot of people won't know the name, but he's a great character actor. Uh, most people know him from rudy. He is the caretaker of the notre dame, like football field and stuff. Charles s dunn, he's just, he's just got a. He's got a quality to his voice, he's got a. He carries himself very well, a very strong individual. Um, he's known for that. He's in a time to kill and he's an alien. 3 actually.

Speaker 1:

But in the 80s he's still doing a lot of tv work, um, and some lesser known movies. In 86 it's no mercy, a tv movie called apology, cagney and lacey the tv show, and then he makes appearances in the equalizer tv show and miami vice and in 85 also a movie called cat's eye. Um, you might have also seen him in gothica like. He played a small role in that as well, but I just think he's got a lot of again gravitas, like we talked about. He's very strong figure. Anytime he's in a scene, especially in those rudy movies like, he's just really like pointed and giving like his thoughts and stuff. So I think he's going to be really fun here and yeah, and playing the dad, but also like he, he's good, he's got great tv dad energy and I feel like that's going to translate well to mr parish. But then van pelt as well, like he's just going to be very commanding and it's going to be a lot of fun for him.

Speaker 2:

I like it.

Speaker 1:

So who do you have for Mr Parrish Van Pelt?

Speaker 2:

I did struggle with this one Because I feel like Jonathan Hyde just did such a great job with it, because you are getting that serious role, but you're also getting the fun role of Van Pelt. Yes, but I did want to have someone fun that would actually fit the role really, really well. So I am giving you Christopher Walken.

Speaker 1:

Okay, okay, christopher, you don't hear a lot about Walken in the 80s, like he had a great run at the end of like the 70s and stuff, and you don't really Nothing immediately comes to mind, was that when he did the Bond movie, maybe?

Speaker 1:

Maybe, Because he's got Deer Hunter and Deer Hunter in 1978. And before that and after that obviously he plays just the old guys. I feel like the 80s was like his last, like you know, middle aged run maybe. But in the 80s, you know, he starts off. After Deer Hunter he's doing things like Heaven's Gate, the Dogs of War, the Dead Zone, a View to a Kill is in 85. This is about that point where he's playing villains and stuff. It seems like Everything else I'm not familiar with at close range in 86. There's nothing in 84.

Speaker 2:

Puss in Boots.

Speaker 1:

That's not the Puss in Boots that we know that's not it.

Speaker 1:

The picture is so funny though and boots that we know that's not it, but the picture is so funny though, let me, let me see this. Let me see this real quick. It's christopher walken and he's just looking at a cat. He's just talking to the cat. That's funny, that's really funny. Puss in boots delightful tale of a cat who becomes a sharp gentleman and sets out to restore his master's name so he, like, takes over christopher walken's. Is that the actual puss in boots story? I don't even know. I just realized I don't know the actual origin of the puss in boots. Like story from like back in the day, like fairy tale story. Now I just feel completely misled by shrek, oh my gosh a little bit, it's fine another time perhaps, yeah, learning new things, but no, I could see that like walking, you know you've got walking.

Speaker 1:

You've got willem dafoe around that time, even a ben kingsley like that, that very proper actor with a little bit of uniqueness to them, especially walk-in. He's just gonna make a very interesting dad, but also he's gonna really ham it up his van pelt. I feel like, so that's a, that's a pretty strong choice, I would say. And like he's gonna be a name, everybody's gonna go, oh, he's in this, cool, yeah, check that out for sure. Okay, moving on, we've got the first of the two shepherd kids that pop up 30 years later when he comes out of the jungle Peter Shepard, who's played by Bradley Pierce. Some people will know him from, I guess, sonic the Hedgehog and the Borrowers. I remember the Borrowers, I do remember him in that. That was a 90s movie. And then is he Chip in Beauty and the Beast. That's my wild guess. Is that who he plays? I'm not sure I think he plays yeah yeah, he voices Chip.

Speaker 1:

So that's interesting. He goes from Chip to Jumanji, some Sonic the Hedgehog I'm assuming he's the voice actor in the TV show or movies that came out around that time. Cool, cool, cool. So yeah, he does. I think he's for for a kid actor. He's really good. I feel like he really nails his scenes. Like he starts off quiet and a mute and then you just learn like he just doesn't care to talk to anybody and then, once he does start talking, you're like, oh, he's just as mischievous as judy, like they're both kind of like two peas in a pod basically yeah definitely, and he he kind of gets a little kevin mcallister influence, because he's the one in the piggly wiggly uh store who basically sets up the trap for van pelt to save uh judy and sarah from him so he's.

Speaker 1:

He's a well-rounded like kind of character and he's the only he gets to even break the fourth wall when he goes after the axe. He's trying to chop down the door with the axe. He stops, looks at the camera. His timing is really good, I think, in this movie. He kind of nails it. Even underneath all the prosthetic, when he becomes the monkey, he's able to still emote and stuff, which is a lot to ask for a kid his age.

Speaker 2:

A child.

Speaker 1:

For a child. For a child? Yes, there's like there's now. Yeah, with all this nickelodeon stuff coming out, now there's even discussion like do we even need kids in movies? Should we put kids in movies? And it's like, oh, it's, it has to. You have to take it on a case-to-case basis and really just need to put parameters in place just to make sure the kids are okay and make sure that parents are just forcing them into this career.

Speaker 1:

You know, because that's even something macaulay culkin had to deal with and lindsey lohan and somewhat the olsen twins, but but yeah, I think he does a great job here. So, uh, for me I picked someone who's very familiar to audiences from the fresh prince of bel-air in the 90s. I'm giving you alfonso ribiero. Uh, he's known for playing carlton banks dancing with the stars. Um, he's also the. He was the host for america's funniest home videos for a moment here a couple years back. But in 84 he's the kid that dances in the Pepsi New Generation commercial with Michael Jackson.

Speaker 1:

Because he's a, he's a he's. That's what he was known for. He was like this kid who could dance and that's the same Michael Jackson video I believe that he caught. He got caught on fire and started like where he started, having surgeries and stuff. So kind of, in fact, you know, kind of kind of sad. But beyond that, in 84 to 87 he's doing silver spoons tv. He appears on shows like magnum pi before he gets his uh, iconic role of carlton banks. So I'm giving you alfonso rubiero at that age and he's, I think he's just gonna have a lot of fun with it. It's the same reasonings for a bradley pierce. He's, he has a strong on screen. He knows his character, has great comedic timing and stuff. And then it's the 80s, so he of course he's probably going to throw in a dance move or something in there somewhere, because that's just his go to at this point in his career. So yeah, who do you have for Peter Shepard Cass?

Speaker 2:

So I wanted to try to keep the vibe of, you know, someone that is quiet but can be mischievous okay the actor that I picked. I feel like we don't hear his name as much because he died in 2003 okay and this was before it 1990 came out, and I thought he would be a really good pick. I went jonathan brandis jonathan brandis.

Speaker 1:

What you guys? What do we know him from?

Speaker 2:

mainly you. You would know him from it, sorry, not TV series, miniseries.

Speaker 1:

Yes.

Speaker 2:

Because that was when it was three hours long and they broke it in half. But, he was Bill, he was the young Bill. Okay, gotcha so he was like the main face of that like of the kids, and he was in an episode of like Full House at one point. He really honestly didn't have big, big roles.

Speaker 1:

Correction, he was in Corey's favorite 1992 movie, ladybugs, with Rodney Dangerfield.

Speaker 2:

Okay.

Speaker 1:

And then he's also in another franchise called the NeverEnding Storycast. You may have heard of it. It hasn't ended yet. It's a never ending story. He plays Bastion in A NeverEnding Story 2, the next chapter, so a lot of 90s kids probably are familiar with him from there, right? But he's also, yes, in the it miniseries.

Speaker 2:

There you go.

Speaker 1:

Your horror fan is showing Cass.

Speaker 2:

I know I'm sorry.

Speaker 1:

You immediately were like well, he's in this, but I don't really know anything else. I'm like Neverending Story is right there, cass.

Speaker 2:

I'm sorry. Listen, the two main things that I know him from are it and full house. He was only in one episode of full house, so, okay, that's fair, it's fine, but I just I think he would do a really good job, cause even the character bill was kind of like you know, quiet and reserved, but he still gains like that courage and stuff. So I feel like it'd be fun to see him in mid 80s so he would have been young, but I still think that was. It's still a good age for him to play this role yeah, for sure, for sure.

Speaker 1:

Cool. Yeah, I like that pick for two. I like when I like when we pick people that kind of got some roles but then kind of got lost and fell under the radar a bit, and so I'm glad to see yeah give people like that second chance that they need.

Speaker 1:

So okay. So moving on, we've got judy shepherd, played by kirsten dunst, kind of the it girl of the 90s at this point, even as a child, you know. She had that role in interview with a vampire among and then went on to obvi, star in spider-man movies and bring it on. So she's had a really interesting career after being a child star. But I think she's also really good here as well. There's a reason she was a child star or even a young teen star at this point because she does. She's just very sarcastic. She has great lines, but then she, even though that they both do a good job of being slightly unlikable in the beginning and then, like you learn about their backstory and why they are the way they are and you're sort of like, okay, I get it now, like I'm totally behind you guys now, kind of thing I like judy as a character.

Speaker 2:

I think she's, I feel like she's in a way relatable with like the mischief and stuff, because even like when you first meet her, she's like messing with the woman that sold them the house. Yes, like she literally just plays this whole thing about her parents dying. Like what? On a? On a ship, if I'm not mistaken oh, I don't even remember.

Speaker 1:

It was just a very wild story and just making her feel awful.

Speaker 2:

And then she just walks away laughing but you could just tell that she is a good character. She cares about her brother a lot and she, she's like one of the first ones that wants to like finish the game, like I think she knew instantly like okay, we do need to finish this game, like when her and peter start playing it. But I, I like her, I I think she's fun and I don't know.

Speaker 1:

They're just siblings that have gone through a very traumatic event and they're just depending on each other and they probably got moved around, you know, at least once or twice in schools and stuff, and so she's just taking up for herself. It's her shield, her defense mechanism, basically.

Speaker 2:

Right and it's just good that they both have each other like they do, because if she didn't like, if they had a terrible relationship, they would both just be kind of alone in this serious moment. But because this happened to them, they do have a close bond with each other and it's nice to see, like, how much they even grow like throughout the movie and stuff. Yeah, siblings.

Speaker 1:

Oh yeah, well for my judy shepherd I picked again. This is the only other other person I'm picking from the cosby show, but I am bringing lisa bonet. Most people will know her as the mother of zoe kravitz. They were was married at one point to lenny kravitz. Um, but from 84 to 91 this is her cosby show run in early, early 84, 85. She's still very much a teenager. She actually gets a spinoff in 87 to 89 of a different world where she goes to college. I didn't know this until doing some research here, so it looks like a fun one. Marissa Tomei is actually in it too, so it looks like a fun series.

Speaker 1:

It lasted a couple seasons I guess. But yeah, most people will know her from the cosby show obviously. And then she in 85. The only other thing outside of that she's doing like tales from the dark side of tv show and some abc after school specials. But I think she it's lisa bonet. If you're familiar with her just from the cosby show, but also who she is as a person like, she just kind of fits like that sarcastic kind of playing the system, going against type, you know, not really wanting to conform to normalcy type of character, and I feel like that.

Speaker 1:

That's judy pretty much to a t yeah um, and so I just think she's gonna have a lot of fun with it and I think her it'll be interesting to see her and alfonso riviero kind of paired up and he I think a lot of people will expect carlton, but he's definitely gonna be playing like okay, he's a good actor, like yeah, he drops the carlton, like I think that's the thing people are.

Speaker 1:

He just he played Carlton so long and he people expect him to play that. So like you're gonna be surprised when he's like, oh, he's actually playing this quieter kid that slowly opens up the movie and she's gonna play the dramatic teenager that you suddenly realize is like oh she's, she actually cares about her family and stuff.

Speaker 2:

I like it. I think it's a good. That's a solid pick actually.

Speaker 1:

Well who do you have for judy?

Speaker 2:

I wanted to. I I let me just say it I picked jennifer connelly. It's okay 86. She was doing labyrinth so I was kind of giving that vibe of, you know, still being a mischievous kid yeah, but like growing into, like herself, as like a person, like caring, like about a brother, caring about just everything again.

Speaker 1:

Like being able to open up there's some crossover here with your logic. I see, I see what you're throwing down. I see what you're stepping in. It's a bit of a layup, but I'll allow it, because who doesn't other than cory? Uh, everyone loves some jennifer connelly in their lives more jennifer connelly to be exact.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so I think that's fair. I think I think you're. You know, I haven't seen a lot of her 80s stuff, like outside of labyrinth I want to see once upon a time in america, but I think she has a smaller role in that and she really seems to get like a lot of like teen roles in the early 90s as well, before she becomes a full-on adult, as we all learn in, uh, in the very dramatic movie that comes out in, like the is it 99 or is it oh, requiem?

Speaker 2:

for a dream, isn't it 2000?

Speaker 1:

like yeah, I think it's 2000 because that's the reason cory's like I can never watch her in a movie. I'm like I've seen actresses do weirder stuff in a movie, like calm down, like okay, but I get it because that movie is really heavy.

Speaker 1:

The movie's heavy but nobody looks. That goes why I don't want to watch jared leto, because he was in that movie. You know, like they have other reasons for not watching Jared Leto. No comment. Transitioning out of that, good choices on our half, we got two more left here.

Speaker 1:

So let's start with Sarah Whittle, played by Bonnie Hunt. Most people will know her from Beethoven, the Green Mile. I didn't know she was in that, actually I forgot she was. And Cheaper by the Dozen, she's the mom of the 2,500 kids that Steve Martin and her put together. That's a lot of kids. She does a good job.

Speaker 1:

She's not who I think you would typically expect in a big family movie like this. You would think they would have gone for a starlet like a Catherine Zeta-Jones or somebody of. I'm not saying Bonnie Hutt's not pretty, but she gives more best friend mom energy in a way. But she's also very funny. So I think she nails like being this girl who was traumatized by this very crazy event and then goes on to be like a psychiatrist basically, and is using all of these practices and stuff to be like it's not real, it's not happening, this is all crazy. And then and she does so well when he's like he shows back up, she passes out, and then they're trying to like get her to play the game and she's like I won't do it, I won't do it, I won't do it.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, she's no, has no longer a choice and she realizes like we've got to finish the game well, and you bring, you bring up, like all these other actresses for sarah, when jodie foster, demi moore, madonna, michelle pfeiffer and like uh, uh, kirstie Allen, or Kirstie Allen, uh or Alki, yeah, Jamie Lee Curtis.

Speaker 1:

Even even Helen Hunt was brought up before Bonnie Hunt.

Speaker 2:

So it's like thinking of names like that, you would expect someone in that role, but then again I still think she did a really good job, because this is someone that went crazy after Allen's disappearance. You kind of need someone that like not looks like disheveled but I think you understand what I mean Like where it's like more like kind of laid back.

Speaker 1:

There's some baggage going on yeah. And she does it in a humorous way, but it's also like a believable, like yeah, I think. I think that's how most people would react when they're presented again with a board game that potentially tried to kill them.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

But I think that's another win, for Joe Johnston and the casting team behind the scenes are going like this is actually we want to. We want to fit the character more than getting like just a name in the movie per se.

Speaker 2:

Right.

Speaker 1:

But my choice. Most people will know her from commando the color purple running out of luck and American flyers. Commando and color purple are 85 is the year, and then in 86, she's in soul man. This is Ray Don chunk. She's a canadian actress. Uh, she was initially in saint, elsewhere the tv show and 84, then city limits and fierce city, as well as the cheech and chong krizkan brothers or krizian brothers movie that came out that same year and beat street. Uh, she actually got. Uh, I guess her first big role was quest for fire, which is this role like a stone age caveman movie.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, where she's playing like a woman that they find and kind of capture and then let into their gang of cavemen, I guess, or whatever. It's an interesting movie. I watched it a while back. But Ray Dong Chong, she's just, she's kind of like a Nick girl of the moment and I think that she's just going to be between commando and color purple and I think she's just going to have a lot of fun in this role, for sure.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I agree. Who is your Sarah?

Speaker 1:

Whittle, or did I already spoil it? Yeah, yeah, you did Not. To be fair, you didn't have to say anything earlier, but tell me why you chose Goldie Hawn.

Speaker 2:

Honestly well and not to already spoil my Alan pick, but it was. I picked Alan first, I just, but I won't explain why I picked Alan. But I liked the idea of Goldie Hawn because it's still the same age range with her and Bonnie Hunt.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Or just or that character in general. But I just I wanted someone that would fit that role and Goldie Hawn is pretty, but I still like look at her as almost like she could pull off, like what Bonnie Hunt did.

Speaker 1:

Well, she's very much a comedic actress.

Speaker 2:

Right.

Speaker 1:

She's pull off like what bonnie hunt did. Well, she's very much a comedic actress, right she's? She's, she kind of got her start doing a lot of comedy and stuff and that's pretty much just her, her, her, her, her lane, if you will yeah so I think I think that's spot on, honestly, because, again, that's kind of where I was going to if I had gone down the same road.

Speaker 1:

But I think it. I don't think there, I think it's, it's not, it's not on the nose, it's's just like, yes, that's exactly who it would be, you know in that movie.

Speaker 1:

And you know she's doing Wildcats in 86 where she's like the coach of a football team, so she's doing comedy stuff, like before that in 82. She was in Best Friends alongside Burt Reynolds, so this is in her wheelhouse for sure, 100%. And then you know when you get to Kurt it's all going to make sense why this works so well, especially so yeah but I'll just go ahead and let you segue into that. So tell me why you chose kurt and then what led it to you going like go pick goldie too.

Speaker 2:

So yeah, I, I picked kurt for alan because kurt russell does a lot of character acting to begin with, like, and what one thing that I really like about him is the movie like death proof, kind of like proved that for me like that was the first time that I ever seen him doing something like along those roles.

Speaker 2:

So it's like when I watched him in that I was like, oh, kurt Russell can do a lot of different type of roles like this, so I wanted someone that gave me Robin Williams, where it can be fun and just kind of over the top, and I think, like as of now, like with Kurt Russell being older, you don't see him in those type of roles. They're more serious, because I, if I'm not mistaken, recently he's been in that um, is it Godzilla show? Was it the Godzilla? He?

Speaker 1:

was in the Godzilla show, where him and his son played the same character, but before that he's doing like the same. He's playing Santa Claus in some Netflix movies right but he he's had an interesting career.

Speaker 1:

I mean he's he was known as, like this Disney kid back in the late sixties and seventies. He was in the computer war, tennis shoes in 69. And then he kind of gets in gun smoke and TV shows like that police story, and then finally kind of gets his bearings in the eighties once he's casted in the thing Yep, and then also before that and escape from New York in 81, a great movie in 1980 called used cars. It's the guys who made back to the future with I. Definitely 80 called used cars. It's the guys who made back to the future with I. Definitely recommend that. It's a lot of fun.

Speaker 1:

He was the voice of copper in the fox and the hound too, if you need to understand his range. But yeah, in the mid 80s, like in 86, you get big trouble, little china, and from there he kind of gets pegged as like oh, he's action guy, so tequila, sunrise, tango and cash backdraft, you know, and then into tombstone and stuff in the 90s, right, so he's, he's been all over the map and that's why I also thought of him as well, because he has a comedic nature. It's more of a carefree kind of lucky kind of thing, like he's just a good hang guy, like you see that in like captain ron and things of that nature plus, he would pull off the beard when alan comes back right, like that manic energy that robin robin william again, as we've stated many times on this show is a one for one.

Speaker 1:

You're not going to find a replicate. But weirdly it's like Kurt is like the flip side of that for this role when, like Robin Williams is more of a comedic actor and he gets put in this kind of leading man kind of action role. It's like you pulled the action guy in and said, okay, now be pulling your funny stuff, pulling the the disney stuff side of yourself, which he's completely capable of doing. So I think that's.

Speaker 1:

I'm glad that we both pretty much had the same pick, because I was just like yeah, that's perfect and him and goldie together, like they're gonna be an overboard a year later or the end of the mid 80s. So it's just. It just just add that to the canon of movies they've been in together, because their, their chemistry is great anyway oh yeah, it's perfect yeah, and he's also good at.

Speaker 1:

The most important piece, I think, of robin williams performance in jumanji is his monologue. After the kids are trying to reverse psychology him and be like, oh, we don't need your help, and he stops them. He's like I've seen things you've only seen in your nightmares and he's just so stone cold, sober about it and I I was like I'm like this is so good, like I think that's the thing Like when Robin Williams commits to something like he commits, like he's yeah, he's playing basically the man, crazy man from the jungle.

Speaker 1:

But then you see that scene and you're like, oh, he's seen stuff, you know. And Joe Johnston had reservations over casting him just because of his reputation for improvisation and him just because of his reputation for improvisation and he was just worried he wouldn't adhere to the script. But robin williams understood that it was like this tight, structured story and he generally would film the scenes kind of as outlined in the script and he was kind of allowed to improvise, usually when scenes with bonnie hunt, so like. That just shows you robin williams is very committed to the character when it comes to movies and stuff and he's constantly goes to surprise you and I think that's what makes him so endearing is that while he is this funny man and this manic being that goes 100 miles an hour, he can super hyper, focus that into these roles, like this dead poet society, even in pieces of hook.

Speaker 1:

You know, like he's, he's gonna, he's gonna give you drama on top of the on the comedy as well so like I said before, I put eddie murphy here and I think it's kind of the same thing, to an extent in the same vein, of like comedy guy becoming action hero.

Speaker 1:

Eddie Murphy already was becoming kind of that comedy action guy because, like you said, 48 hours Beverly Hill Cop in 84 and he kind of tries to emulate that again down the road, but it never quite hits the same. And so I think that this at least it hits into that family friendly world that he taps into later in his career with, like the daddy daycare and things of that nature. But I think this is going to be a fun role for him to also kind of tune into and he'll get to be the yeah, he'll be the crazy guy coming out of the box, basically, but he'll also it'll be interesting to see. It would be interesting to see how he would handle those dramatic pieces. And he's been nominated, you know, for dream girls as an Oscar. So it's not like he doesn't have the chops for it. I just think he wasn't given that many opportunities early on because he was Eddie Murphy, he was the biggest guy on the planet.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and I just, if you think of like Shrek, just thinking how he is as like Donkey, like the screams and things like that, like I could just see him doing that for that role as Alan so. I 100% agree with it. I think he would do a really, really great job with it. I think it would be fun with him. Yeah, but no, I mean, eddie Murphy is definitely still one of those actors that can honestly do it all. It's the same like examples that we've been using with, like with Kurt Russell and everyone else.

Speaker 2:

But it's just, I think he would. It would be a good role for him, especially leading man in that sense of this fun family adventure film.

Speaker 1:

Right, but that's the thing. Adventure film right, but that's the thing. Eddie murphy, that's. We don't get to cast him a lot of movies because at this point he's so big. Not only is he in beverly hills cop at 84, he's so big that as an actor and comedian he releases a single, a music video, a song party all the time at 85, and it's a hit, it's a banger. It actually got like, it's successful, like he's. This triple threat before the triple threats were occurring like we see them nowadays.

Speaker 1:

Cause, like you couldn't tell me, I don't think anybody was going to sit there and go like, yeah, the guy from SNL who has his raw standup series or show and then gets played as the funny guy in 48 hours and then gets this action movie, the ability to lose cop, he's going to come out with a song and we're going to take it seriously. Like, imagine, like Jack Black has tenacious D, but there's a humor to that, like it leans into the Jack Blackness of it. It'd be like. It'd be like if Kevin Hart tried to release a pop song, like five years ago that's what this is Cause. Like when Kevin Hart was at the peak of his powers. Or Chappelle, if Chappelle tried to release a song. How serious would we have taken that we wouldn't have. But because it's Eddie Murphy. Like he gets the pass, like he, it's the past, like he, it's because he's he just reaches that level of superstardom so anyway, gotta have it all gotta have it all.

Speaker 1:

Well, that's our cast list. You know, I think we both kind of nailed like the vein we were trying to go down to. I think we did a decent job trying to replicate this in an 80s aesthetic yeah and I like where we both I I like just that we both were on the same page when I was going the more traditional route.

Speaker 2:

And then I was like I'm gonna make an eddie murphy movie and I was like okay, all right, cool, that was perfect, and you and I never usually pick the same stuff, so the fact that we were both on the same page with. That was perfect it was that same exact example was them having good chemistry too like you know, they have good chemistry.

Speaker 1:

They might stay together for a while. Maybe they'll get married, who knows, they don't have to get married, they just live together. It's fine's fine.

Speaker 2:

They'll have a few kids.

Speaker 1:

They'll go on, I'm sure, but anyway, let's wrap this up. It's a mini, so we can't stay on too long, but that is Jumanji in the mid 80s. Thank you for tuning into this episode of Quantum Dreamcast. Please be sure to subscribe. Hit the like button, follow us on the Apple, on the Spotify, on the YouTube, on TikTok, instagram. We're all over the place. Okay, just hit the like, hit the subscribe, tell us, give us some good reviews, tell Cass she did great. Maybe we'll bring her back.

Speaker 2:

Whoa please.

Speaker 1:

And then we'll catch you next time. But just to wrap it up, we love Jumanji, we love Robin Williams, and I think that's why we'll talk about it more. But anyway, that's it for us. We'll see you next time. Say good night, cass good night cass.