New Hampshire city in 'Jumanji' marks 30th anniversary with animal
costume race
[June 21, 2025]
By KATHY McCORMACK
Madeline Murphy remembers the instructions she was given on the set of
“Jumanji” when she was an extra some 30 years ago: “Pretend you’re
frightened and you’re screaming because an elephant’s coming after you.”
So, that's what she did in the Central Square of Keene, New Hampshire,
running back and forth, over and over, on a long day in November 1994.
“I was pretty tired by the end of the day, and it was cold," said
Murphy, 61. She got a check for $60.47 — and several seconds of screen
time.
Murphy was one of about 125 extras cast in the classic Robin Williams
film, which is marking its 30th anniversary. It's spawned several
sequels, including one planned for next year. The city of about 23,000
people in the southwestern corner of the state is celebrating its ties
to “Jumanji” this weekend.
A featured event is a “Rhino Rumble Road Race” saluting the film’s
stampede scenes of elephants, rhinos and zebras on Saturday. Runners in
inflatable animal costumes are sprinting about a quarter mile (less than
half a kilometer) around the square.
There's also a cast party, a parade, and a scavenger hunt, among other
events.
Keene gets picked thanks to coffee craving
Based on the 1981 children’s book by Chris Van Allsburg about a
mysterious jungle adventure board game, the movie version of “Jumanji”
is set in the fictional small town of Brantford, New Hampshire.
Veteran location manager Dow Griffith was crisscrossing New England in
search of the right spot. A coffee lover who grew up in Seattle, he
recalled feeling desperate one day for a good brew. He was a bit east of
Keene at the time, and someone suggested a shop that was near the
square.
“I took my cherished cup of double dry cappuccino out to the front
porch, took a sip, looked to my left — and by God — there was the place
I had been looking for!" he told The Associated Press. “So really, we
have coffee to thank for the whole thing.”
Scenes were filmed at the square that fall and the following spring. The
fall scenes show a present-day town that had declined. Extras played
homeless people and looters, in addition to panicked runners fleeing
from the jungle animals.
Joanne Hof, now 78, had needed her son's help to spot herself behind the
elephants, running with her hands up. Hof, a reading specialist, bought
a videotape of “Jumanji” and showed it to the kids she worked with.
“They were very impressed that I was in the movie,” she said.
The spring scenes, appearing early in the film, depict the town in 1969.
Extras drove classic cars around the pristine-looking square and others
walked around, dressed for that time period.
“I told the makeup person, ‘Do you know how to do a French twist?’"
recalled Kate Beetle, 74, of Alstead, who said she can be seen for "a
micro-second" crossing a street. “They just found me the right lady's
suit and right flat shoes, and then the hair is kind of what I suspect
did it.”
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Actor Jonathan Hyde enjoys a moment with crew during filming of
Jumanji on Nov. 17, 1994 in Keene, N.H. (Maureen E. McHugh via AP)
 The city helped transform itself
The “Jumanji” crews worked well with the city in getting the permits
to transform Central Square into a dilapidated, neglected piece of
public property, recalled Patty Little, who recently retired as
Keene's clerk.
“They brought in old, dead shrubbery and threw it around and made
the paint peel on the gazebo,” she said. Items such as parking
meters and lilac bushes were removed and a large Civil War-era
statue was brought in to cover a fountain. Graffiti was on the walls
and crumpled vehicles in the stampede scene were anchored in place.
Everything was restored, and fresh flowers were brought in the
following spring, she said.
Crews spent a total of about a week in the city for both settings.
Little, whose classic 1961 Ambassador is caught on camera, could see
everything happening from her office window.
“Did I get a lot of work done? I don’t know during those days,” she
said.
Locals watch and meet Robin Williams
A crowd turned out to watch a long-haired, bearded Williams run down
the street in a leaf-adorned tunic. In the movie, he had just been
freed from the game that had trapped him as a boy for years.
“He's shorter than I thought he was!” one viewer said, according to
local chronicler Susan MacNeil's book, “When Jumanji Came to Keene."
Others said, “He has great legs — muscular, isn't he? But so hairy!"
and “Isn't he freezing dressed like that?"
The mayor honored him with a key to the city. Williams, noticing the
mayor was a bit shorter, suddenly announced at the presentation, “'I
am the mayor of Munchkinland,'” with a voice to match, City
Councilor Randy Filiault recalled.
He stayed in character for 15 to 20 minutes, “just bouncing off the
walls," approaching people in the audience and pulling their hats
over their eyes. Eventually, he stopped, ending with a solemn “Thank
you,” Filiault said.
“I am really seeing something cool here,” Filiault remembered
thinking. “How fortunate we were.”
When Williams died by suicide in 2014, people left flowers and
photos beneath a painted “Parrish Shoes” wall sign advertising a
fictional business left over from “Jumanji."
Former Keene police officer Joe Collins, who was assigned to watch
over then-child actors Kirsten Dunst and Bradley Pierce, also died
by suicide, last year. Festival organizers planned a discussion
about mental health and suicide prevention to pay tribute to
Williams and Collins.
“I think Robin would have been impressed with that,” said Murphy,
who met Williams and shook his hand.
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