The Jungle Book is one of Disney's all time classics. Originally released in 1967, it is a movie that I fondly remember from my childhood and is still a much-loved film today. However, recently, Disney have decided to adapt a number of their classic animations into live action, including Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty (albeit from the villain's point of view) and the upcoming Tarzan and Beauty and the Beast. Nonetheless, it was a big surprise to me when not one, but two Jungle Book live action adaptions were announced, this particular Disney produced version and the other to release in 2017 under the direction of Gollum himself Andy Serkis and with the title "Jungle Book: Origins." The reason for my shock can be summed up with one question: what makes the Jungle Book different from these other movies? It is dominated by an animal cast rather than majority humans. I was afraid that this was maybe a step too far for Disney and they might not be able to pull this off. Luckily, the trailer released today put some of my fears to rest. Check it out below and then I'll tell you my thoughts.
First of all, I'd like to address a common complaint in the comments of the video above: the effects are not terrible. Look at the images below of Baloo the bear and Shere Khan the tiger. These visuals are incredibly realistic. That is, of course, my opinion and some people might not agree. Bare (sorry for the pun) in mind then that there are still 7 months until release for the studio to tighten up the effects and improve any issues brought up by the fans. However, there is something to be said for the size of the animals. While characters like Bagheera (the panther) and Shere Khan look to be an average size for their species, others are ridiculously large, such as Kaa. And as for King Louie? More like King Kong if he was an orangutan. Now maybe that's just in the trailer or maybe the director is trying to approach things in a different way by showing the scale of these jungle creatures from the perspective of a young boy. We'll find out come April next year.
I acknowledge that this trailer was a teaser and that is why I am not as irritated as I typically would be if a trailer did not give any idea of the plot. However, aside from being a teaser, this is a movie that outlined the entire plot with only one character speaking throughout the whole video (unless you count the awesome Baloo whistle at the end): a young boy is raised in the jungle and comes across a number of talking animals. Simple. I'm sure more will be revealed that has been added in later trailers. For example, I don't remember a volcano action sequence in the original but it is something I am excited to see more of. This teaser was designed to show off the main selling point of the film and that is the look of the animals and the environments which I have already discussed.
I said that I didn't remember a scene in a volcano in the 1967 classic. However, what I am certain of is its status as a musical. Funnily enough, that is one of the things oddly absent from this trailer. Apart from the voice of Scarlett Johnasson as Kaa (who sounds perfect in the role), we hear no characters talk. The studio seem to be marketing the movie as a darker take on the tale, and I hope that this is nothing but clever advertising. While I am interested in the direction being taken, there is still fun in the original Jungle Book. I only hope that Disney hasn't completely reinvented the wheel and removed all essence of humour in their possible desperation to create an entirely new version. However, Bill Murray has been confirmed to be singing "The Bare Necessities" in his role as Baloo so I still have hope that the film will still share some similarities to the original.
I love the 1967 Jungle Book and I am excited to see this movie. This is looking to be a visual masterpiece while offering some new additions to the plot. However, I think that some humour and light-hearted scenes will still be included despite the tone of the teaser. Hopefully Disney can once again deliver something special with this movie.
Excitement Meter: 8/10
Directed by Jon Favreau
Release Date: April 16th, 2016
Starring: Neel Sethi, Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong'o, Christopher Walken, Scarlett Johnasson
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