It’s not easy becoming a monkey boy. Bradley Pierce found that out when his character started sprouting fur and other apelike features while playing a magical board game in the 1995 Robin Williams movie “Jumanji.”

“It was three and a half hours of makeup application every day for almost 70 days, and as a 12-year-old boy, sitting still for longer than five minutes can be challenging,” Mr. Pierce recalled in a recent interview. “One day early in the shoot, Robin sat in one of the makeup chairs next to me to keep me company and give me tips on how to get through the application process, because he had done it on ‘Mrs. Doubtfire.’ He was incredibly kind and generous with his time, energy and wisdom.”

“Jumanji” was a challenging shoot, not least because of the complicated story line. In 1969, young Alan (Adam Hann-Byrd) gets sucked into the titular game to the horror of his friend Sarah (Laura Bell Bundy). Twenty-six years later, orphaned siblings Peter (Mr. Pierce) and Judy (Kirsten Dunst) restart the game and release an adult Alan, played by Williams. To complete the adventure, they, along with a grown-up Sarah (Bonnie Hunt), battle stampeding elephants and rhinos, carnivorous plants and a monsoon.

The film proved a monster hit, earning $262.8 million worldwide, and has now spawned a sequel, “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle,” starring Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart and opening Dec. 20. Members of the original film’s cast, as well as the director Joe Johnston, shared their memories of its demanding production.