Here’s Your First Look at Disney’s Live-Action “The Jungle Book”
One of the highlights of the D23Expo last month was our first glimpse at the footage from Disney’s The Jungle Book. I know every person in that room was as mesmerized as I was by not only the stunning overall look and feel of the project, but by the fact of how seamlessly the live action blended into the most realistic animation I have seen to date On Monday, the rest of the world will finally get their first look and understand why.
Directed by Jon Favreau (“Iron Man”), based on Rudyard Kipling’s timeless stories and inspired by Disney’s classic animated film, The Jungle Book is an all-new live-action epic adventure about Mowgli (newcomer Neel Sethi), a man-cub who’s been raised by a family of wolves. But Mowgli finds he is no longer welcome in the jungle when fearsome tiger Shere Khan (voice of Idris Elba), who bears the scars of Man, promises to eliminate what he sees as a threat. Urged to abandon the only home he’s ever known, Mowgli embarks on a captivating journey of self-discovery, guided by panther-turned-stern mentor Bagheera (voice of Ben Kingsley), and the free-spirited bear Baloo (voice of Bill Murray). Along the way, Mowgli encounters jungle creatures who don’t exactly have his best interests at heart, including Kaa (voice of Scarlett Johansson), a python whose seductive voice and gaze hypnotizes the man-cub, and the smooth-talking King Louie (voice of Christopher Walken), who tries to coerce Mowgli into giving up the secret to the elusive and deadly red flower: fire.
The all-star cast also includes Lupita Nyong’o as the voice of the fiercely protective mother wolf Raksha, and Giancarlo Esposito as the voice of wolf pack’s alpha male Akela. The Jungle Book seamlessly blends live-action with photorealistic CGI animals and environments, using up-to-the-minute technology and storytelling techniques to immerse audiences in an enchanting and lush world. While at the same time keeping many of the parts we first fell in love with in the animated classic. I defy anyone, no matter what their age not to sing along and tap your toes when Baloo assures us that the bear necessities of life will come to you.
Save the date- the adventures of Disney’s The Jungle Book swings into theaters on April 15, 2016.
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