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THE JUNGLE BOOK – John Debney
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Rudyard Kipling’s 1894 collection of short stories, The Jungle Book, has been a source of inspiration for filmmakers for decades. A series of stories about the adventures of the man-cub Mowgli, who is raised by wolves in the jungle after being orphaned as a baby, the book chronicles his encounters with the good-natured bear Baloo, the wise panther Bagheera, the seductive and untrustworthy snake Kaa, a gang of monkeys who try to kidnap him, and the menacing tiger Shere Khan, while he learns important lessons about life and man’s relationship with nature. Prior to this year, the most popular and influential version of the story was the animated musical made by Walt Disney in 1967, which introduced a whole generation to the story via popular songs like “The Bare Necessities” and “I Wanna Be Like You”. For this new live-action version, director Jon Favreau returned to the slightly more serious tone of Kipling’s original stories, but followed much of the basic plot of the animated film, while simultaneously creating staggering photo-real environments for Mowgli to play in, and astonishing CGI animals for Mowgli to interact with. The film stars 12-year old newcomer Neel Sethi as Mowgli, and features voice talent that includes Bill Murray as Baloo, Ben Kingsley as Bagheera, Idris Elba as Shere Khan, Scarlett Johansson as Kaa, and Christopher Walken as King Louie, leader of the Bandar-Log monkeys. Read more…
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