Jumanji (1995) holds up fantastically well.
Like the CGI obviously is 30 years old (woof) but I didn't have to put much effort into setting that aside.
I watched a bunch of behind the scenes featurettes and they talked about how they used CGI and animatronics and puppets, and they did everything they could practically. So like with the monkeys destroying the kitchen, they filmed the actual kitchen and actual props getting knocked over, and then added the monkeys after. Or when the rhino bursts through the library wall, they built a big steel rhino (but just like roughly the shape) and then CGIed over it.
Also apparently they had to invent/reinvent how to animate hair. And I learned that halfway through watching the movie (because the lion looked weird and I couldn't figure out why, so I went googling) and it immediately radically increased my appreciation.
So many movies now have actors working with green balls, when they could just use a prop because it's like a mug or something, so they can CGI over it. Or they're in a green room when they could film on locations. CGI these days is so good, but you can absolutely tell when something is real? Even if you can't point to something specifically that's wrong.
Also they talked about how much harder it was to do Jumanji was than Jurassic Park, because in Jurassic Park nobody really knew what these animals looked or moved like. But with Jumanji most of the audience had probably seen monkeys, lions, elephants, rhinos, etc in a zoo multiple times. So they have to get it right because if they're off even a little it would have stood out.
