Jefferson "Seaplane" McDonough is one of the five selectable playable characters in Jumanji's video game form. In both " Welcome to the Jungle" and "The Next Level", he was the chosen avatar of Alex Vreeke.
2017 Film[]
In "Welcome to the Jungle", Alex Vreeke chose Seaplane as his avatar for the video game JUMANJI and was instantly pulled into the world of the game. Sometime in the game, he managed to make it to the Transportation Shed level, but lost two lives while trying to fly out from there. He found refuge in Alan Parrish's old house, where he remained and stayed out of sight of his enemies.
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Seaplane at Parrish's house
20 years later, when the game is found by Spencer Gilpin, Anthony "Fridge" Johnson, Martha Kaply and Bethany Walker, they are unable to select Seaplane McDonough as a playable character, since he is already in use. They make their way to the Bazaar where Seaplane realizes they are players, too, and helps them escape Van Pelt's men. He leads them to Parrish's house and tells them his history in the game. Since he already has lost two of his lifes, he does not dare to make another attempt to exit the game. Seaplane is of the opinion that he has already passed some months in the game. Only when he uses old-fashioned terms and names people from years ago, they find out that he is Alex Vreeke and tell him he has already passed 20 years in the game.
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Seaplane at the Shed
Together, they succed in entering the Transportation Shed, and Seaplane flys them out with a helicopter so that they get across the canyon. In the midst of happiness, Seaplane gets bitten by a mosquito, which is one of his weaknesses, and is about to lose his third and last life. Bethany, as Shelly Oberon, performs CPR on Seaplane, thereby giving him one of her spare lives to save him. The five of them eventually make it to the Jaguar Statue where they overcome all dangers and finish the game. Seaplane is the first to be transported home. When the others arrive in the detention room, they wonder why Alex is not with them. They go to the Vreeke house and learn that the game has sent Alex to 1996 to when he first entered the game. They see him as an adult, and he tells them that he has two children and that his daughter is named Bethany after his lifesaver.
Causes of Death[]
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Seaplane bitten by a mosquito
- Shot-down: At the beginning of his life in Jumanji, after commandeering the Transportation Shed's Hot-Air Balloon, he crashed it.
- Shot-down: After the Hot-Air Balloon failed, he commandeered a plane to fly past the gorge but his plane was shot down by fighter jets piloted by Orangutans.
- Mosquito bite: After piloting the group out of the gorge, he was finally bitten by a Mosquito and faced permanent death, until Shelly (Bethany) voluntarily gave him the last of his spare lives through CPR.
2019 Film[]
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Alex as Seaplane and Bethany as Cyclone
In "The Next Level", Alex is put back into his old avatar Seaplane after agreeing to return to JUMANJI with Bethany, but Bethany's avatar is now a black horse named Cyclone. They meet Martha, Fridge and Spencer who are accompanied by Spencer's grandfather, Eddie Gilpin and his friend, Milo Walker, and have their avatars exchanged. Luckily, Martha, who still has her former avatar Ruby Roundhouse, is able to identify a body of water with magical powers so that the others can switch back to their original avatars.
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Seaplane trying to avoid the riged stepping stones
While in the mountains, the two old men are captured by Jurgen the Brutal's men. The group follows them to Jurgen's fortress to free them and retrieve the Falcon Jewel. Seaplane is tasked with retrieving Milo who now has the avatar Cyclone and is trapped inside a metal cage inside of a barn. Unfortunately, the barn's floor is riged, and stepping on some of the stones causes poisoned darts to be fired. Seaplane is shot twice to death, but on his third attemmpt succeeds in rescuing Cyclone. When he touches him, Cyclone's STATS are displayed and Seaplane is impressed to find out that Cyclone can fly. The two reunite with everyone and with Cyclone's flying abilitiy, they are able to finish and complete the game.
Causes of Death[]
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Seaplane shot by a dart
- Shot by a dart: While trying to reach Milo trapped inside a cage, Alex stepped on a trap in the ground and triggered a deadly poisened that killed him.
- Shot by a dart: Alex, having learned from his mistake, tried to avoid being shot again. He lost his second life before reaching and saving him.
Trivia[]
- Seaplane McDonough is the only character in both the 2017 and 2019 films not to display his avatar checklist of strengths and weaknesses, so it is unknown what his full list of character stats are. Since Seaplane (Alex) referred to Mosquito bites being "one" of his weaknesses, he may actually have more strengths and weaknesses than shown in the films.
- He is also the only character to not have his player switch avatar with anyone else in “The Next Level”.
- His symbol on the 2017 film's closing credits next to his actor's credits fittingly is the evacuation chopper.
Behind the scenes[]
- In both the films, Seaplane McDonough is portrayed by Nick Jonas, the youngest of the Jonas Brothers.
- Originally, Tom Holland was cast as Seaplane McDonough, but he had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so Nick Jonas was cast in his place.
Images[]
