It was mentioned online that this trailer hit US television yesterday morning and so to the UK audience that isn’t up to date with Disney’s live action ventures then this trailer probably passed you by.
If I’m honest I was a little sceptical of Disney’s announcement that a live action rework of The Jungle Book was in pre-production. The animated classic is a childhood favourite and like many individuals my age it informed much of my movie knowledge growing up. Alongside The Lion King, The Jungle Book was a sight to behold on the tiny 11″ kitchen VHS set-up.
So you can understand my apprehension when this was announced. However, following the four second teaser over the weekend that gave us a glimpse of the dense Indian jungle, there was a sense of mystery that begs the viewer to explore. Jump to today and Disney have finally released a trailer for us to dissect, applaud, and breakdown for our readers.
My only issue with this trailer is that Scarlett Johansson’s voice is a little too friendly compared to the Kaa from the animated version. Voiced by Sterling Holloway, famous for his long standing association with animation, most notable of course his work as Winnie the Pooh. Holloway gave Kaa a ssssss-inister slur with his elegant hypnotic sss-peech. And yet, while Favreau’s dense mysterious vision of Mowgli’s jungle is a marvel to look at, the whole trailer is let down by Johansson’s largely inadequate casting.
I hope I am proved wrong when The Jungle Book is released in the UK in April of 2016 because it does look impressive in the short 2 minute glimpse we’re given in the trailer. Although Johansson’s casting is questionable I’m still in awe at the cast Disney have managed to put together, the majority of which is perfect on paper.
Bill Murray as Baloo, Idris Elba as Shere Khan, Ben Kingsley as Bagheera, and my favourite of them all, Christopher Walken as King Louie. If the film is as good as the talent combined then The Jungle Book will certainly be one to look out for next year.
In case you aren’t sure why Christopher Walken is such an inspired choice as King Louie just imagine him reenacting this classic Dinsey scene from the 1967 original. Oh and throw in Bill Murray as Baloo for good measure.
~ Happy Viewing ~
Back to the Viewer 
Hmmm. I’ll be the under-impressed one here other than to say that digi-jungle looks lovely. Hopefully, it’s GOOD Favreau at the helm, but we know Disney has him saddled up and doing things their way because that’s how they roll.
Also, hopefully the acting is appropriate for the film (and family units), as Kingsley has been up and down in performances and some of the live-action remakes have been scattershot (Oh, Maleficent, wha’ happened?). I bet everyone is making a nice paycheck and maybe a cut of the gross or something, as this one’s practically guaranteed an audience it’ll deserve if it’s as good as it looks in this tiny slice.
I’m also secretly hoping there’s at least some blooper reel where Sir Ben does Bagheera doing Don Logan from Sexy Beast (the “NONONONONO!!!” scene) because how could you not want to see that at some point? The kids won’t get it, but I’d laugh my ass roight out of the theatuh if this happens.
Oh, I like Scarlett in some stuff, but yeah… her voice gave me chills. And not in a good way.
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Favreau can be a little hit and miss, you’re right, but from the looks of it this live action remake will capture the essence of The Jungle Book. Despite the dominant images of Shere Khan and Bagheera, it still looks pretty fun and the little snippet of Murray whistling Bare Necessities was fantastic
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Great trailer breakdown, James! I like your analysis comparing the original. The voice cast is definitely impressive. Some of those shots look great, but Holy CGI, Batman. A lot of the FX look good, but I’m still a little hesitant. Let’s hope the visuals are on par with Life Of Pi. I know there’s tons of hype, but some of this looked like a video game. Granted, I’m old school ;) Looking forward to seeing more footage… still open minded.
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The CGI does look a little intimidating as it constitutes the making of every shot in this trailer but I’ll also keep an open mind and hope they pull it off. Although nothing will be the original
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Yeah I have much confidence the live action version will not top the oldie. God, that clip was great, I totally forgot how much of a goofy dude Balloo really was. Hahah.
I share your concern about Kaa being voiced by Johansson too man. But. . . then, she was pretty incredible with her voice work in Her, so who knows. It might work, but what we’re given here so far I’m not feeling that part so much. Hopefully Favreau delivers something that is different but special in it’s own right.
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I can’t get over how great the casting of Baloo and King Louie are! I mean Murray and Walken is the best thing about the film so far and they hardly feature in the trailer at all! Johansson was great in her but she for that particular role perfectly, a conniving, manipulative, often clumsy snake? I’m not so sure
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#snakesex
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Haha pretty much!
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I didn’t know about this so thanks for the write up. Want to watch the original now.
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