Law of the jungle

The Jungle Book

DISTRIBUTOR: Disney

RELEASE DATE: 7 April 2016 (Vic, Qld, Tas, NT); 14 April 2016 (NSW, WA, ACT, SA)

RATING: PG

A new imagining of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book will attempt to entertain young audiences by combining the best elements of past productions – the playful joys of the classic 1967 Disney cartoon, with the moral heart of the author’s original stories.

Iron Man director John Favreau helms Disney’s live-action re-make of The Jungle Book. Twisting the original tale, he introduces us to Mowgli (Neel Sethi), a lost boy who is raised in the jungle by a pack of Indian wolves.

Kipling’s stories were never short of a MORAL STING in the tail.

When Bengal tiger Shere Khan (Idris Elba) threatens his life, Mowgli goes on a journey of self-discovery in the company of protectors Bagheera the panther (Ben Kingsley) and Baloo the bear (Bill Murray). The man-cub aims to return to the society of humans, but this will be a journey mixed with joy and sadness.

Some he meets, like the python Kaa (Scarlett Johansson) and the giant ape King Louie (Christopher Walken), have less savoury plans for him. Mowgli will also come to realise he is caught between worlds. The humanity he’s heading towards knows nothing of the natural wonders he’s always enjoyed.

Favreau has created a dreamlike setting and worked almost entirely within computer-generated landscapes. Audiences will be amazed to learn the rich jungles of India featured are creations of technical wizardry. However, the director has kept alive the playful heart of the 1967 production by recruiting that film’s composer Richard M Sherman, and including some original songs including The Bare Necessities, this time sung by Murray.

Some of the biggest changes, though, relate to the plot. Kipling’s original intention for Kaa was to have him as a tolerant mentor for Mowgli while Favreau pitches Johansson’s python as a threat to the boy’s life. It’s not surprising too, that in a time of increased environmental sensitivity, Shere Khan’s motivation for wanting to kill Mowgli now relates less to hunger and pride and more to the threat mankind presents to the jungle.

Why? Because Khan has suffered wounds from men in the past and warns how dangerous they can be – but then Kipling’s stories were never short of a moral sting in the tail. His Jungle Books read like fables, frequently including verse that summarises lessons to be learned:

‘These are the four that are never content: that have never been filled since the dew began – [the crocodile’s] mouth, and the glut of the kite, and the hands of the ape, and the eyes of Man’.

The greed of mankind colours the behaviour of King Louie and drives other elements of the plot. But there was a book sounding this warning long before Kipling or Favreau put pen to paper – the Bible:

‘The leech has two daughters: Give and Give’ (Proverbs 30:15 ESV).

There is no end to human desire – in the buzzing city or the pristine wilderness – because we don’t understand the joys we find in either place. They are undeniably good, but that’s exactly why we mistake them for the source of the happiness they bring.

God created all things good and imbued them with a scent of his character so they would lead us back to him, the source of every joy. The Jungle Book will undoubtedly evoke the pleasures of nature and community that western society has lost, yet we will do well to remember these are gifts which have a giver. Otherwise we’ll forever drink them in like the leech, and never find our fill.

This review comes from The Lutheran April 2016. Visit the website to find out more about The Lutheran or to subscribe.