The Jungle Book: Some Films are Better Left Animated

        The Jungle Book doesn’t quite deliver the magic and fun and that many might find in the 1967 version. Disney decides to take a completely new approach to the once animated children's classic and turn it into a hyper-realistic spectacle nearly 50 years later. Director, Jon Favreau, is not new to creating the spectacle with other CGI successes like the Iron Man. Favreau's work in The Jungle Book isn't the problem. The problem aligns in this concept Hollywood has grown so fond of. The concept of taking animated favorites, and through the use of CGI technology, turning them into realistic technical marvels.

And yes, it is hard to disagree that the technical marvels turn it into a spectacles that are hard not to look at. Although, no matter how realistic you can make a talking bear floating down river with a child on it’s belly, there is nothing realistic about a talking bear floating down river with a child on it’s belly. This realism appeal matched with the absurdity of the story takes away the film's entire appeal to logos. And when a film fails to hit audience members logically it becomes extremely difficult to invest into the characters on screen. Animation allows for skew in your perspective of logos. You are aware that the film will get unrealistic at times, and you open up your perspective and let the film take where it wants to go. I myself had a hard time opening up my perspective to allow this adaptation of The Jungle Book to take me to the places it tried to go.

The film follows a boy named Mowgli, played by Neel Sethi, as the only real piece of flesh and bones we get to see. The rest of the character we meet along Mowgli’s journey are CGI created animals voiced by a few of the stars of hollywood. Some of the characters we get to meet are quite fun and entertaining but at some points of the film you can distracted by a game of “what celebrity is voicing this zoo animal?” A notable good decision in casting, is Baloo the bear, voice by the always fun Bill Murray. Murray’s nonchalant and farce demeanor matches this lazy and goofy bear with precision, that guarantees for a good few laughs. The rest of the cast get the job but don’t exactly knock you off your seat.

Some will praise the visuals of this film rightfully so, some of the establishing shots of the landscapes ahead are appealing undoubtedly so. Then matched by the attention to little details like the movement of the grass or the fur on the animals the film is truly a pleasure to watch. But this doesn’t make up for the many flaws the film has in its storytelling. The film is enjoyable to watch but it stops there, whenever a character opens their mouth, most of the time you wish they didn’t. Blame doesn’t fall on the individual level but the more the institutional level. As Americans we seem to allow what we pay to go see to get more and more ridiculous. Bottom line: Some films are better left animated.