There have been a lot of adaptations of Rudyard Kipling’s THE JUNGLE BOOK–some have remained close to the tone of the stories and other have been more light-hearted fare, such as Disney’s 1967 animated feature. There’s not doubt that Disney has recently started to move away from their brand in order to embrace darker storylines, as illustrated by the recent adaptation of THE JUNGLE BOOK–followed closely by the recently-announced “Mary Poppins” sequel which is rumored to stick closer to tone of the original stories as well.
Neel Sethi is the only on-screen actor among an impressive voice cast including Christopher Walken, Idris Elba, Bill Murray and Lupita Nyong’o. The young Sethi is adorable and certainly had his work cut out for him, never once acting with an actual animal, but instead puppet reproductions and sometimes even the director, Jon Favreau, in his eye-line.
How did they do, though, with this gamble? Is the box office the only indicator of success?
For more about THE JUNGLE BOOK, take a look below at my spoiler-free analysis of the movie’s themes, symbolism and eagle-eye details to watch for. If you’ve already seen the movie, let me know what you think. If you haven’t seen it yet, let me know what you’re most looking forward to when you go!
