It started with Gasazi, because I got letters from kids. Gasazi has an ambiguous ending, which was: Was the boy fooled by the magician, or had the boy witnessed real magic? And kids would write me letters. They’d want to know what happened. Did he really turn the dog into a duck?
I’d write them letters, and say, “Well, thanks for writing, but I can’t tell you. What do you think?” I didn’t expect them to write me another letter and tell me, but I didn’t want to give them the impression that I knew something and I was withholding it. I wanted them to think that what existed on the page was a living thing, and that it just was; it is. And if it has a solution, it’s for them to provide.
And that was the same thing with Jumanji. Jumanji has a somewhat unresolved ending, because the game falls into the hands of a couple of boys that we learn on the last page of the book are not going to be particularly apt players of the game. And kids would write back, “What happens to these boys?” Sometimes they would actually write their own story of what happens to the boys who find the Jumanji game at the end.
You see somewhat unresolved endings in films and when you see them, you understand that they’re clear indications that there’s a sequel coming. I never had that in mind. I didn’t want to suggest that there was a sequel coming only that the story lived on; that even when you close the book, the action of the story continued. It may not continue in another book, but it does continue, because there’s this alternate reality. And I wanted the children to think about that. I wanted the kids who read the book to think about that alternate reality and they did. They sent me a lot of Jumanji games and what they thought happened next.
And I’d gotten enough of those over the years to on occasion have actually given it some thought and be tempted by the idea of doing it. And then about a year and-a-half ago, I succumbed. And it was not because I was interested in exploiting or cannibalizing my own idea. It really had a little bit to do with the fact that in the same way that when I undertook Jumanji after Gasazi, one of the motivations was, “I think I can do this better.”
I looked at Jumanji, and even though I was very happy, satisfied with what was there, I realized that there were some elements missing in the story, which is that Peter and Judy, though they’re bored and their boredom results in them finding the perfect gift, which is the cure for their boredom, there’s not much more that you learn about them. They have a sibling relationship. The girl is somewhat protective of the younger brother. But I wanted to write a story where the relationship of the siblings had more to do with the story.