Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, also known as The Jungle Book, is a 1994 American adventure film co-written and directed by Stephen Sommers, produced by Edward S. Feldman and Raju Patel, from a story by Ronald Yanover and Mark Geldman. It is the second film adaptation by The Walt Disney Company of the Mowgli stories from The Jungle Book (1894) and The Second Jungle Book (1895) by Rudyard Kipling, and the first live-action adaptation of Walt Disney’s animated film of the same name from 1967.
The film stars Jason Scott Lee, Cary Elwes, Lena Headey,
The Jungle Book (1994)
Sam Neill, and John Cleese. Unlike most adaptations of Kipling’s stories, the animal characters in this film do not speak. Released on December 21, 1994, by Walt Disney Pictures, the film received generally positive reviews and grossed $70.7 million in theaters against a $30 million budget. In 2016, Disney released another live-action adaptation, The Jungle Book, which was more similar and faithful to both the 1967 animated film and Kipling’s book.
Plot.
In 1887, during the British Raj in India, Mowgli is the 5-year-old son of the widowed jungle guide Nathoo, whose wife died in childbirth. On one of Nathoo’s tours, he leads Colonel Geoffrey Brydon and his men, as well as Brydon’s 5-year-old daughter Katherine nicknamed Kitty. Fellow guide Buldeo and two soldiers kill several animals for sport, which enrages Shere Khan, a tiger who serves as the jungle’s keeper, and he begins to pursue the tour group. That night, Kitty gives Mowgli her late mother’s bracelet as a gift. Mowgli tells Nathoo of a dream where he faced Shere Khan and showed no fear, becoming a tiger himself. Shere Khan attacks the encampment.RELATED:
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He succeeds in killing the two soldiers, but when he tries to kill Buldeo, Nathoo defends him and is subsequently mauled to death by Shere Khan. In the confusion, Mowgli is lost in the jungle with his pet wolf cub, Grey Brother, and Brydon and his men presume him killed. Mowgli is taken by Bagheera, a gentle black panther, to the wolf pack. Mowgli also befriends a bear cub named Baloo.
Years pass and Mowgli grows into a young man. One day, a monkey steals the bracelet and lures Mowgli towards a legendary lost city honoring Hanuman, filled with treasure belonging to King Louie the orangutan, who has the treasure guarded by Kaa, a gigantic python.
Forced to fight for his life and the bracelet, Mowgli succeeds in wounding the snake with a bejeweled dagger that he retrieves from the treasure horde. Winning King Louie’s respect, Mowgli keeps the dagger as a trophy.
Elsewhere, Kitty and Colonel Brydon are still stationed in India. She and Mowgli meet again, but neither recognize the other. Kitty is also in a relationship with one of Brydon’s soldiers, Captain William Boone. Infatuated with her, Mowgli travels to Brydon’s fort and enters her room, alerting the guards. Kitty sees that Mowgli is wearing her mother’s bracelet and realizes who he is. Boone and his men manage to capture Mowgli with Buldeo’s help.
Pre-production.
Raju Patel, an Indian producer, figured the 100th anniversary of Kipling’s “Jungle Book” stories publication should be commemorated with a film adaptation. The production was originally intended to be an independent production until Disney got involved, and; in exchange for distribution rights in the United States, the United Kingdom, the Nordics and Benelux; provided for half of the production budget, estimated between $15 to 20 million. In countries other than those chosen by Disney, MDP Worldwide (Mark Damon’s company) was the sales agent for the film rights.
Animals.
For the principal animal actors, a male black bear named Casey was chosen to play a role of Baloo, a male panther named Shadow was chosen to play Bagheera, a purebred female wolf named Shannon was chosen to play Grey Brother, a male tiger named Bombay was chosen to play Shere Khan, and a male orangutan named Lowell was chosen to play King Louie. Lowell was the only animal to play his character all the way through and, according to Sommers, was the easiest and most entertaining animal to work with. Sommers did not want the animal characters to speak and had them perform with the actors and exhibit natural behavior as much as possible. In total, 52 animals including tigers, leopards, bears, wolves, elephants, bulls, monkeys, and horses appear in the film.
Filming.
Filming in Jodhpur in India took eight weeks and included scenes with rhesus macaques and Asian elephants. Indoor scenes like the lost treasure city set were shot on sound stages in Bombay. The jungles in India did not have the exact rainforest look envisioned by the filmmakers, so the jungle scenes were mostly shot in Fripp Island, South Carolina (scenes featuring Bagheera and Shere Khan) as well as Ozone Falls State Natural Area and Fall Creek Falls State Park in Tennessee (scenes featuring Baloo and the wolf pack). Scenes featuring Lowell were shot in a Los Angeles studio against a blue screen due to the production not being able to bring him to India. One of the Asian elephants in the production was named Shirley, and she lived at Wild Adventures Theme Park in Valdosta, Georgia.RELATED:
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