Walter Budwing is one of the main protagonist of the space adventure game Zathura. He has a younger brother Danny who is the secondary protagonist and an older sister Lisa in the film version. He is portrayed by Josh Hutcherson.
Personality:[]
Walter doesn't get along well with his little brother, Danny, and is very mean and jealous of him. During his adventure in space, he begins to grow close to Danny even when The Astronaut, who is later revealed to be an adult counterpart of Walter, told him his own playing of the Zathura game and wishing his brother away and not completing the game. When Walter gets home, he is now a nice and better brother to Danny. He is also shown to be jealous of The Astronaut when Walter's older sister, Lisa, compliments The Astronaut's eyes. Walter also cares about his older sister, Lisa.
Appearance:[]
Walter has slender white skin, short, thick black hair, and dark blue eyes, and worn a dark blue shirt over a long sleeved shirt with a blue star on the left sleeve, black shorts with white linings on both left and right sides, white socks, and white sneakers with blue markings on their sides and brown edges.
Role of the film[]
At the beginning of the movie, Walter is seen playing a game of catch with his dad. After a few turns, it is Danny's turn to play catch but Walter intercepted the throw, causing Danny to storm into the house in anger. Later, Walter is chasing Danny and when they ran into their dad's den, they ended up ruining a project that he was working on, leaving him to go and make another copy. While their dad is gone, Walter turned off a video game that Danny was playing and started watching TV. After Danny has accidentally threw a ball into Walter's face, he got up and chased Danny and found him in the dumbwaiter. After Danny told Walter that he's jealous because their dad "thinks I'm smarter than you.", Walter responded by lowering the dumbwaiter into the basement. Shortly after Walter went back to watch TV, Danny showed up with the board game Zathura. After Danny turned the key and pressed the button, a card came out and Danny has Walter read it to him. After reading the card, "METEOR SHOWER Take Evasive Action", Walter and Danny are surprised when, suddenly, they saw a small meteor coming out of nowhere and going through the card. Suddenly, more meteors started falling into the room causing Walter and Danny to avoid being hit. When it is over, Danny looked at a huge hole in the roof. Walter believed that it is just nighttime, but Danny does not agree. After Danny opened the door and called Walter over, they both realized that they have been sent into space. When Walter and Danny tried to tell their older sister Lisa, she does not believe them. As she went to get ready for her date, she is cryogenically frozen. After reading the instructions, Walter realized that the only way to get back home is that they would have to finish the game. After turning the key and pressing the button, Walter got another card that read, "YOUR ROBOT IS DEFECTIVE." A robot then appeared, and while Walter is arguing with Danny, the robot grew and started chasing Walter. After flying out and back into the house, he then stood there, waiting to attack Walter. As soon as Danny took his turn, Walter snagged the card and ran from the robot. The card revealed that the house is getting to close TSOURIS-3 causing the house to tilt, but eventually the house passed by and Walter saw the robot in the basement. When it suddenly activated and started to repair itself, Walter slammed the door shut, keeping it trapped. Walter and Danny then took Lisa, who is still frozen, back upstairs and into the bathroom. Walter then told Danny that he is going to take his turn but Danny does not like the idea. After Walter moved ahead four spaces, Danny refused to take his turn. Danny went into the kitchen and wanted to make something to eat, but Walter said that because they are in space, there would not be any water or heat, which he is wrong on both counts. After Walter is getting into another argument with him, Danny said that he no longer wanted to be treated badly or ignored and treated like a brother. When Walter agreed, Danny took his turn. The card read, "YOU ARE VISITED BY ZORGONS". When the Zorgon ship appeared, it immediately opened fire causing Walter and Danny to try and flee, but after narrowly escaping from fire coming down the chimney, Walter took another spin. When the card came out, it simply said, "REPROGRAM". When Walter held it up to the Zorgon ship however, nothing happened. Danny is reluctant to take his turn, but he is eventually forced into it. When the card appeared and read, "RESCUE STRANDED ASTRONAUT", an astronaut appeared and has both boys shut off all power. When the astronaut told Walter to go to the basement and blow out the pilot light, he does not because the robot is still in there, and simply lowered the thermostat. After getting rid of the Zorgons, Walter told the astronaut that after he is done eating, he wanted him out of the house. When the astronaut refused, Walter held up a card that he previously got and stated that he was a fleet admiral. The astronaut then held up the same one and responded that "it's just a card bugnuts." Since Danny was the one who spun him, Danny got to choose what happened with the astronaut. Just as the astronaut is about to leave, he brought up the Zorgons and Danny allowed him to stay, angering Walter. When all three headed back to the game, Walter noticed that somehow Danny's piece had moved ahead of his, and an argument ensued with the astronaut attempting to break it up. Walter grabbed Danny's piece and moved it back to the position that it was originally in. Shortly after this, a card popped out, accusing Walter of cheating, and Walter is suddenly lifted skyward and hanging onto the hole in the roof tightly. The astronaut succeeded in saving Walter and bringing him back inside the house. Walter gets serious and sits against the wall to think. After Danny has a spin, Walter's spin gave him a gold card. Walter said that he is going to win the game. After Danny said that he does not care who won, another argument commenced with Walter blaming Danny for everything and their parents getting a divorce. Danny became enraged and ran upstairs. As the shooting star passed, the astronaut told Walter that whatever he wished for, nothing good can come of it. After the star passed, Walter refused to tell the astronaut what he wished for. When the astronaut ran up to the bedroom and found it empty, Walter appeared and said that the wish worked. After being lashed out at by the astronaut, Danny appeared and Walter said that he wished for a football, which is signed by Brett Favre. When Danny asked why he wished for a football instead of the game ending, Walter said that the astronaut yelled at him. The astronaut finally explained himself. He was a player of the game, too, and was also fighting with his own brother. After receiving a gold card himself, the astronaut wished that his brother was never born. After the wish, he felt horrible, and tried to keep playing in an attempt to get another gold card and wish his brother back, but it was not his turn. With his brother having never been born, the astronaut remained trapped in space. Suddenly, the astronaut felt it getting warm and questioned if Walter blew out the pilot light. An explosion occurred and when the three of them went to the living room, a huge portion of it is missing, especially where Danny threw the game. After Danny decided to get the game after the astronaut could not, he is grabbed when a Zorgon used its tounge. He is saved by Walter. As both boys headed up the stairs, the robot that had attacked Walter earlier, was now fully repaired. As it grabbed Walter by the throat, Walter held up the reprogram card, causing the robot to now attack the Zorgons. When Walter spun after Danny, he got a card that read, "HIT TIME WARP. Go Back three spaces. Repeat last turn." When Walter's piece went back three spaces, he is given another gold card. When the star passer, Walter wished that the astronaut had his brother back. Suddenly another Danny appeared. When Danny questioned why he wished for another Danny, Walter said that he did not. After thanking Walter, the astronaut placed his hand on Walter's shoulder and turned into a younger version of Walter before vanishing. Walter then realized that the astronaut was an older version of himself. As soon as Zathura is reached, it is revealed to be a black hole. With the game ended, Walter and Danny made amends and Walter even asked Lisa if she still thought that he has gorgeous eyes. Their bond renewed, and after they left with their mother, Danny's bicycle, which had been orbiting their house, fell from the sky.
Trivia:[]
- His actor, Josh Hutcherson, had done additional motion capture of the Hero Boy in The Polar Express 2004 movie, which is based on another book written by Chris Van Allsburg.
- Walter said that he has a girlfriend, who does not appear in the movie.