From Board Games to Video Games and the World of Avatars: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

In the digital age, the relationship between film and literature demonstrates how different forms of art can collaborate to improve the storytelling experience. Rather than competing, these mediums complement one another, each bringing their own strengths to the storytelling process. This mutual relationship not only enhances the audience's experience but also fosters a greater appreciation for both film and literature (Hutcheon, 2006; Sanders, 2016). The various film adaptations of Chris Van Allsburg’s picturebook Jumanji (1981) are excellent examples of how literature and film can complement and improve one another over time. The first major adaptation of Jumanji was released in 1995 starring Robin Williams and directed by Joe Johnston. Decades later, the story of Jumanji was revitalized with the releases of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) and Jumanji: The Next Level (2019) both directed by Jake Kasdan. These adaptations illustrate the changing nature of storytelling across mediums and how each new iteration introduces new perspectives and engages contemporary audiences in novel ways. Mikhail Bakhtin’s concepts of heteroglossia and dialogic relationship (1981) are great tools for understanding how different voices and cultural contexts interact within and between texts, thereby revealing the dynamic nature of storytelling and interpretation. Thus, this paper aims to investigate how Bakhtin's concepts of heteroglossia and dialogic relationship function in Jake Kasdan's 2017 sequel, focusing on how the film adaptation evolves in response to its contemporary context.