in the latter camp, saying "Jumanji" "went down a lot of dead ends," "got too complicated" and was "a little inconsistent tonally." But the 1995 film, which starred Robin Williams and Kirsten Dunst and was at the forefront of computer-generated effects work, was a decent hit for Sony, generating $262 million in worldwide box office. So, for the past decade, Sony executives have pined for a sequel.

"There's been so much time since 'Jumanji' that I started wondering if they'd be marketing to the children of the people who saw the movie in theaters," says Van Allsburg by phone from his Rhode Island home.

Van Allsburg, the Caldecott Medal-winning writer and illustrator of 15 books, including "The Polar Express," watched without much enthusiasm as Sony tried to fashion a "Jumanji" sequel over the years.

"I didn't think having a couple of different kids playing the same game would be all that interesting," he says. "Once you've seen a rhino stampede, it's not going to be that much different in someone else's house."

So Van Allsburg came up with a solution, devising a new game, a game glimpsed on the final pages of "Jumanji." As director Favreau noted, "Zathura" (published in 2002) has the same basic concept as "Jumanji," but Van Allsburg says the newer book is deeper. In "Jumanji," a brother and sister tested their courage. With "Zathura," Van Allsburg tapped into sibling rivalry, presenting two brothers needing to discover the importance of family.

"It's clearly related, but it's not a sequel," says Van Allsburg's producing partner, William Teitler. "It's like a brother or cousin or something."

Favreau, coming off a huge hit directing "Elf," was looking for a movie that would continue expanding his capabilities as a director. After breaking through writing and starring in the hipster-lexicon landmark of lounge living, "Swingers," Favreau, 39, has steadily, determinedly changed the way Hollywood perceives him.

Favreau used that creative freedom to impose his distinct artistic sensibilities on the material. Like "Elf," "Zathura" uses mostly old-school practical environments instead of computer-generated effects and emphasizes the connections between the characters at the expense of a preponderance of gags.

"Originally, the script had more banter between the brothers, the stuff you might find in 'Beverly Hills Cop' or 'Bad Boys,' " says co-producer Peter Billingsley. "Jon took that out. He wanted the movie to feel real. If two kids were in a house that was transported into outer space and bad things are happening, then there is a seriousness to the mistakes that isn't always fun."

Says Favreau: "The studio was watching over our shoulders, constantly questioning anything that was not related to something that could be incorporated into the trailer. Everything is questioned that isn't funny or isn't exciting. But a lot of times, you're laying pipe emotionally, and scenes are serving purposes that might not, at first blush, seem interesting."

Favreau's model for all this wasn't "Jumanji," but Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment movies from the 1970s and '80s, films like "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "E.T."

"We looked at a movie like 'E.T.' and wondered, 'Why is that not considered a kids' movie?' " Favreau says. "It stars kids. It's a PG movie. It's a science-fiction adventure. But what Spielberg did was take a very relatable family situation and present it in a real way. It's almost like an independent drama at the beginning. Then once you create that framework, you put the family into incredible situations, but never at the expense of the reality of what the family is going through."

Favreau believes the key to making a good family movie is "believing in the lesson of the film and not feeling saddled with making it appropriate for kids. You really have to care," Favreau says.

"I was really proud of that aspect of 'Elf.' It left people feeling a little happier, friendlier, more hopeful. It brought about some Christmas spirit. But that never took precedence over making the thing funny or entertaining."

Favreau will be leaving family films behind with his next movie, an adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' novel "John Carter of Mars," in which a Civil War veteran is transplanted to the Red Planet.

"It's a chance to do something really big," Favreau says. "I don't know yet if I've hit that level. But I think I'm at the point in my career where I have enough enthusiasm and energy and probably know enough about the technology where I have a shot at it."

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