The Jungle Book (2016 film)

The Jungle Book is a 2016 American fantasy adventure film, directed by Jon Favreau from a screenplay by Justin Marks, and produced by Walt Disney Pictures. Based on Rudyard Kipling's eponymous collective works, the film is a live-action/CGI remake of the 1967 animated film of the same name.

Synopsis
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.

Live-action roles

 * Neel Sethi as Mowgli
 * Ritesh Rajan as Mowgli's father

Motion capture voice performances

 * Bill Murray as Baloo
 * Ben Kingsley as Bagheera
 * Idris Elba as Shere Khan
 * Lupita Nyong'o as Raksha
 * Scarlett Johansson as Kaa
 * Giancarlo Esposito as Akela
 * Christopher Walken as King Louie
 * Garry Shandling as Ikki the Porcupine. This is Garry Shandling's very last role, since he passed away in 2016.
 * Brighton Rose as Grey Brother
 * Jon Favreau as Pygmy Hog
 * Sam Raimi as Giant Squirrel
 * Russell Peters as Rocky the Rhino
 * Madeline Favreau as Raquel the Rhino

Production
On July 9, 2013, the film was announced, with Justin Marks set to write the film.

On November 5, 2013, it was announced Jon Favreau would direct the film.

On March 6, 2014, it was announced Idris Elba would voice Shere Khan.

On April 23, 2014 it was announced Scarlett Johansson and Lupita Nyong'o would voice Kaa and Raksha, respectively.

On June 25, 2014, it was announced Ben Kingsley would voice Bagheera.

On July 15, 2014, it was announced Neel Sethi would play Mowgli.

On July 28, 2014, it was announced Christopher Walken and Giancarlo Esposito would voice King Louie and Akela, respectively.

On August 1, 2014, it was announced Bill Murray would voice Baloo.

Richard M. Sherman who, alongside his late brother Robert B. Sherman wrote songs for Disney's original animated Jungle Book is going to write new songs for this film, and "The Bare Necessities" is going to be recycled from the original and sung by Bill Murray.

On January 13, 2015, the film's release date was pushed back from October 15, 2015, to April 15, 2016.

On September 18, 2015, Disney released the first teaser trailer for The Jungle Book. A special extended version of this trailer was presented before 3D showings of The Force Awakens.

Trivia

 * Because Orangutans are not native to India, this iteration of King Louie is a  instead (an extinct species of ape).
 * Kaa is a female instead of male: this is the third time that a Disney character has been depicted as the opposite gender from their original Disney depiction, the first being Bagheera in The Jungle Book: Mowgli's Story, and the second being Jaq in Cinderella (not counting Rafiki's and Terk's film and Broadway versions), as well as the second time any Jungle Book character is depicted as the opposite gender from his original Disney depiction.
 * In The Jungle Cubs: Born to Be Wild DVD, there is a scene, where Kaa tries to eat Mowgli, before Baloo throws Kaa into a big hole. The fighting scene between Kaa and Baloo in this film, may have been inspired from the scene from Jungle Cubs.
 * Even through King Louie is now an official villain, in that film, he was already believed to be a villain, by some Disney fans.
 * This is Disney's third live-action film adapted from The Jungle Book. The other two were Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book and The Jungle Book: Mowgli's Story.
 * The soundtrack album is scheduled to be released the same day as the film, April 15th.
 * The trailers and TV spots for the film are in 1:85.1 aspect ratio, but during the showings of Zootopia in theaters, the Super Bowl trailer is in 2:39.1 aspect ratio.
 * This is only the fourth of many live-action re-imaginings of Disney animated films released in the 21st century, following Alice in Wonderland, Maleficent and Cinderella. Upcoming are Alice Through the Looking Glass and Beauty and the Beast, with many others in development.
 * This is Garry Shandling's last movie, since he died in 2016.
 * This is the second of three Disney movies released in 2016 to feature the voice of Idris Elba. He previously voiced Chief Bogo in Zootopia, and would later voice Fluke in Finding Dory.