THE JUNGLE BOOK Trailer
What with Disney giving all their classic animated films the live-action treatment, it was only a matter of time until we’d get a live-action Jungle Book.
The trailer is impressive, but the giant amount of CGI on display here does make you wonder: it must’ve been hard for new-kid-on-the-block Neel Sethi, who plays Mowgli, to interact with all the green screens and actors fitted with giant motion capture suits. Fortunately, they picked a star cast of excellent, experienced actors to take on the animated characters, like Kaa, the snake (Scarlett Johansson), Shere Khan, the tiger (Idris Elba), and Baloo, the bear (Bill Murray), who will surely have made it a little easier for young Sethi.
It’s interesting to note that director Favreau made the decision to cast a woman for the role of Kaa, as Kaa is voiced by a man (Sterling Holloway) in the 1967 original (as most roles were voiced by men). Johansson has already proven with her performance as A.I. Samantha in Her that she’s an excellent voice actor, and based on her narration of the trailer, she’s going to impress again.
So far, the other live-action productions of Disney have been successful: both Maleficent and Cinderella were relatively well-received, and I’m expecting The Jungle Book to be a hit, too.
The Jungle Book is directed by Jon Favreau (of Iron Man and Chef fame), and stars even more famous people than those mentioned before: Lupita Nyong’o, Christopher Walken and Ben Kingsley too are part of the cast.
The film will be released on April 15, 2016 in both the U.S. and the U.K. For international release dates, check here!
Are you looking forward to seeing The Jungle Book? Let us know in the comments!
Does content like this matter to you?
Become a Member and support film journalism. Unlock access to all of Film Inquiry`s great articles. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about cinema - get access to our private members Network, give back to independent filmmakers, and more.
