Jungle Book Animals

Jungle Book—the Movie

Saw the new Disney movie, Jungle Book. Computer-generated imagery has come such a long way. The waterfalls, flowers, and animals in the opening scene looked incredibly life-like, a feast for the eyes and worth seeing just for that. My family prefers the 2-D version of movies. I still jumped in several places, such as when Shere Khan, the enemy tiger, leaped out of the camouflaging jungle growth. The violence and anxiety-provoking danger might be too intense for little ones.

The little boys who played Mowgli as a toddler and the main character are adorable. Neel Sethi, the older Mowgli, managed the perfect blend of vulnerable little man cub and know-it-all pre-adolescent. I haven’t read the original book, so don’t know whether Mowgli returned to the man village as he did in the first movie but not in the current movie. Have to admit, I missed the part where he meets the little Indian girl drawing water and becomes ensnared by her.

Bill Murray was excellent as the bear, Baloo. I loved his rendition of the song, The Bare Necessities. He sang it with a jazz vibe perfect for his voice. Ben Kingsley’s resonant speaking voice gave authority to the panther, Bagheera.

The only part I didn’t care for, nothing to do with the actor, Christopher Walken, was the size of King Louie, an orangutan in the first Disney movie and a Gigantopithecus in this one since orangutans aren’t native to India. The face and eyes were amazing and creepy, but the size, rather than menacing, looked silly to me.

The Animals in the Jungle

I was surprised that all the other animals of the movie are native to India, albeit not necessarily sharing the same habitat as they do in the film. I was curious enough to look them up. A bird that looked like an American bald eagle was an Indian bird called a kite. Wolves and brown bears do live in northern India in the Himalayan Mountains, not in the jungle. Mowgli is raised by a wolf pack while Bagheera watches over and trains him. I would have liked a little more interaction between Mowgli and the elephants, again visually spectacular.

The Moral of the Story

The moral of the movie was nice, especially for impressionable kids—appreciate your individual gifts while recognizing that we are strongest when using those gifts to work together.