The Jungle Book Review

4.5 Stars

In 1937, Walt Disney released the first ever full-length animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.  He followed it up with Pinocchio and just kept going with classics like Dumbo, Bambi, Cinderella, Alice In Wonderland and Peter Pan.  He broke the mold again in 1964 when he combined animated characters with live action in Mary Poppins.  In 1967, Disney released their 19th animated feature film, The Jungle Book based on the novel by Rudyard Kipling. 

In 2010, Disney teamed up with director Tim Burton to bring their animated classic Alice in Wonderland to life with Johnny Depp as the classic Mad Hatter.  In 2014, Maleficent was released as the live action version of Sleeping Beauty starring Angelina Jolie.  In 2015, the live action version of Cinderella hit theatres.  This year, we were blessed with two releases in this new tradition: Pete's Dragon and The Jungle Book.  Next year, Beauty and the Beast will be released.  Looking at Disney's page of future releases, this is just the beginning.

The Jungle Book is the story of Mowgli, a boy raised by wolves in the jungle.  He is forced to leave his home when threatened by the Tiger Shere Kahn.  He embarks on a journey of self-discovery with the help of his protector the Panther Bagheera and his new friend the Bear Baloo.  

The preview looked breath-taking.  The animation, the action and the scenery looked all unbelievably believable, and the movie delivered in a big way.  Newcomer Neel Sethi plays Mowgli, but he's surrounded by an all-star cast.  He's in the capable hands of Director Jon Favreau and has Bill Murray (Baloo), Ben Kingsley (Bagheera), Idris Elba (Shere Kahn), Scarlett Johansson (Kaa), and Christopher Walken (King Louie) to keep him company.  Watching The Jungle Book, I started in awe wondering how much of the set and how many of the animals were real and how much of all of this incredible film was created digitally.  Eventually, I stopped asking and just enjoyed the journey thoroughly.  I watched the 30 minute Blu Ray extra documentary about the making of the film and was surprised to find that very little of the set was real, mostly performed on blue screens, and none of the animals were real.  All of it was flawlessly created by a computer and the geniuses at Disney.  

Coming up, the live action version of Beauty and the Beast will star Emma Watson.  Disney also plans to remake Pinocchio, Peter Pan, The Little Mermaid and Dumbo.  Dumbo is always one that tore at my heart and made my eyes well up.  This one is going to be directed by Tim Burton and I cannot wait to see what they can create.

I predicted 4.5 stars for this live action re-imagination of the Disney classic and it did not disappoint in the slightest.  The Jungle Book was nearly perfect and is destined to find a home in my personal collection. So, what movie will be on my mind next?  We shall see.