5 Things You Didn't Know About Disney's The Jungle Book

Almost 50 year’s after Disney’s original Jungle Book animation was released, it has been re-imagined and re-invented into an animated feature film produced by Jon Favreau. The film is released today and stars Scarlett Johansson as the voice of Kaa, Idris Elba as Shere Khan, Christopher Walken as King Louie and Bill Murray as Baloo. Take a look at the stars of the film posing with their animal characters here. We’ve had a look at the classic Disney film and Rudyard Kipling’s original book and have come up with the bear necessities you need to know about the film!

Walt Disney’s Last Film

The 1967 release of The Jungle Book was the last animated film Walt Disney worked on before his death in 1966 and the last animation Disney film to have its production personally supervised by Walt.

How To Say Mowgli

Walt Disney’s film is an adaption of Rudyard Kipling’s original story which was written in 1894. According to Kipling’s daughter, the first syllable of Mowgli’s name ‘Mow’, should rhyme with ‘cow’ rather than ‘show’. Disney wasn’t alone in mispronouncing Mowgli as other film adaptations also made the same mistakes; however, Kipling’s daughter is said to have never forgiven Disney for the mistake.

The Beatles

It was hoped The Vultures in the 1967 Disney film would be voiced by The Beatles. Unfortunately, their schedule was too busy and the band didn’t have time to record their lines.

100 Million Leaves!

The Jungle Book animators for the 2016 film were responsible for animating more than 70 different animal species and creating around 100 million leaves with visual effects!

A Mythical Look

The lead role of Mowgli, played by 12 year old Neel Sethi was shot as his own entire element. His pieces were then combined with the CGI and special camera shots used for creating the animated back shots in order to achieve the mythical look that director of the 2016 release, Jon Favreau, was looking for.

If all this talk of the new film release has got you excited, have a look at the film’s trailer and get a taste of what is to come at the cinema! Let us know which version of the film you prefer, the 1967 release or the new film out now!