Disney Recaptures Classic Story in Live-Action Epic ‘The Jungle Book’

Dyan James

Widely described as a spectacular remake, Disney’s classic “The Jungle Book” is back again as a live-action epic adventure. Written by Justin Marks and directed by Jon Favreau, this latest version of “The Jungle Book” (based on the tales of Rudyard Kipling) tells the same time-honored story of man-cub Mowgli (Neel Sethi) who’s raised by Raksha (Lupita Nyong’o) and Akela (Giancarlo Esposito), Indian wolves who took in Mowgli as a baby from black panther Bagheera (Ben Kingsley).

Although Mowgli is human, he was trained by Bagheera to survive in the ways a wolf would survive, but begins to face challenges, fall behind his wolf siblings and, much to the chagrin of Bagheera, attempts to survive using human techniques instead of wolves’ ways. Thanks to the threats of the menacing man-eating tiger Shere Khan (Idris Elba), Mowgli hastily leaves the jungle. With the help of Bagheera and Baloo the bear (Bill Murray), he sets off on an odyssey in which he learns life lessons and how to navigate the hazards of the jungle.

Unlike the original movie, there are only a few songs that make their way into the film but it wouldn’t be a genuine “Jungle Book” without them: “The Bare Necessities” and “I Wanna Be Like You” appropriately score the film without turning it into a musical.

Playing the only actual human character in the film, Hollywood newcomer Sethi is earning strong reviews for his portrayal of Mowgli while critics commend Murray for bringing his usual comical wit to the voice of Baloo. Also lending their voices are Scarlett Johansson as Kaa the snake and Christopher Walken as fire eating ape King Louie.

Along with Sethi and Murray, the movie itself is garnering rave reviews, so much so that even at this early stage, Favreau and Marks are already in talks to begin work on its sequel. The art of remaking animated classics into live-action films has been nothing but profitable for Disney and this film can likely be added to that list.

“The Jungle Book” opens nationwide Apr. 15.