Director and sometime actor Jon Favreau took the helm for Zathura, "an enthralling, imaginative romp" through space. Josh Hutcherson and Jonah Bobo are the pint-sized explorers who embark on this colourful adventure, but sadly they didn't travel far at the box office. Despite great reviews, it failed to recoup even half of its $65m budget. Perhaps this DVD edition will launch it into the stratosphere.
Spaced Out
"I wanted to use as many practical effects as I could", explains Favreau in Race To The Planet, "I wanted this film to feel nostalgic. " He references movies such as Spielberg's ET that balance fantasy with down-to-earth reality.
According to actor Dax Shepard, Favreau's approach to moviemaking meant the cast had a fun time on set. For instance, the house that serves as the boys' spaceship was mounted on a gimbal and Dax recalls, "It was basically like being on a ride at Disney World for three months - and they paid me!" There's plenty of behind-the-scenes footage here and throughout the disc to back up his testimony.
Another featurette takes a close-up look at the painstaking work of the miniatures team as they build a six-foot model of the boys' house using tiny bricks and strands of thyme for climbing ivy. Elsewhere monster maestro Stan Winston reveals his involvement in the design of the Zorgons. These were basically stuntmen in rubber suits with CG only employed to erase their heads from the final picture. There's also test footage of the robot and 'frozen Lisa' who was actually a mannequin made from a full body cast of actress Kristen Stewart.
The game board itself was a pivotal piece of design and it's looked at in detail in Making The Game. Favreau admits that he's "obsessed with vintage stuff" and along with his team of designers explains how it reflects a "50s philosophy" as well as having a personality to drive the story forward.
The rest of the cast are quite happy to play second fiddle as revealed in a separate featurette. Tim Robbins (as dad) reveals that the script appealed to his own boyhood fantasies. In finding the right children to carry the film, Favreau explains that he wanted to get away from drama school kids who are "like little robots".
Growing Pains
Of course, without a great script Favreau and his actors would be lost. The Right Moves gives kudos to screenwriter David Koepp who had the tough job of adapting a skeletal story from an illustrated book by Chris Van Allsburg (the man behind Jumanji and The Polar Express). Essentially Koepp bridged the emotional gap between cool action scenes with lots of "relationship stuff" for the two boys. Van Allsburg gets his own shout in another featurette where he talks about his journey to becoming one of America's best-loved book authors and illustrators.
"For me this has nothing to do with Jumanji," says Favreau in a forthright and engaging audio commentary. He explains that the studio wanted to capitalise on that film's success so Zathura was marketed as a sequel, but that wasn't the only bee in Favreau's bonnet. Apparently the suits 'pressured' him to not hire Kristen Stewart because she didn't have a "comedy background." He also talks a lot about getting the tone of the story right, saying, "The more invested you are emotionally, the more laughs you get."
Wrapping up the extras is a robotic pratfall hidden on the control panel in the main menu. (Just click the 'Go' button.) It's a shame there isn't more interactive fun for the kids, but this edition of Zathura really does convey the magic of old-fashioned moviemaking.
EXTRA FEATURES
