Zathura
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Zathura is an illustrated book by Chris Van Allsburg as well as a film based on the book. In this book, two boys, Walter and Danny Budwing, home alone in a large American Craftsman house, discover a space-themed board game where everything inside it becomes real. The boys are eventually drawn into an intergalactic adventure when their house is magically hurled through space. The story is similar to Jumanji, another illustrated book by Van Allsburg. There are references, both visual and textual, to Jumanji.
Walter and Danny, two quarrelsome brothers, find the Jumanji game in the nearby park. Danny looks deeper into the box, however, and discovers another game inside of it, Zathura. He starts playing, and Walter finds himself having to help his sibling rival to get home. To finish the game, they must endure a malfunctioning gyroscope, a meteor shower, low gravity, a defective robot, and an invading Zorgon. The game is eventually "finished" when Walter is sent back in time prior to Zathura's playing by a black hole.
Fritz appears in the book as a toy dog in a car on the first page.
[edit] Film version
- See main article, Zathura (film).
A film version gives a sister to the boys, introduces a derelict astronaut to the plot (whom the sister develops an infatuation with, until the astronaut is revealed to be Walter's older self later on), and multiplies the number of the Zorgons and Zorgon ships. The robot changes from a cylinder-shaped silver robot with claws to a rocket-propelled machine with a buzzsaw. The game also goes from a cardboard board game to a retro tin toy. In the movie, the boys are competing for their divorced dad's attention. The film is set in the 21st century, while the book has illustrations that suggest a 1950s look, both before and after the board game starts.
[edit] Cast
Josh Hutcherson as WalterJonah Bobo as Danny
Dax Shepard as Astronaut
Kristen Stewart as Lisa
and
Tim Robbins as Dad
