The Jungle Book

Did we need a new ‘live-action’ version of Disney’s beloved 1967 cartoon? Probably not, but as they say in the jungle: forget about your worries – this is a glorious, computerised re-imagining of Walt’s world and Kipling’s kingdom.

Actually, Disney is currently remaking all its old animated classics for the CGI (computergenerated imagery) age – witness Ken Branagh’s confectionery Cinderella last year – and with Iron Man director Jon Favreau at the helm, this computerised menagerie becomes a truly amazing feat and a joyous spectacle, even with the 3D spectacles on.

I don’t need to tell you the story, which remains pretty much intact – Mowgli is the only human (played by cute, 12-year-old Indian- American Neel Sethi), being sent back to the man village to avoid Shere Khan the angry tiger (Idris Elba, bringing a bit of Hackney to the jungle).

What this version has is perhaps a bit more depth than your classic cartoon. Favreau opens up his Kipling volumes, bringing in themes of solidarity (the wolf pack poem) and man’s place in the environment. Mowgli’s innate human ingenuity is mistrusted by the animals as well as desired (the ‘red flower’ – fire – destroys as well as gives warmth and light) and, on occasion, admired.

Yes, there are songs, too, though just the two best ones – Bare Necessities, delivered with lazy offbeat charm by Bill Murray’s Baloo, and King Louie’s classic I Wanna Be Like You (Christopher Walken plays it as a cross between Brando’s Godfather and his Kurtz of Apocalypse Now), although only over the end credits does it really get the freedom to fly, complete with a somewhat strange new verse, the lyrics of which were written by Disney composing legend Richard Sherman.

To be frank, the songs don’t have the jazzy oomph and charm of the cartoon. But there is a real sense of wonder and adventure up on the screen here – the CGI creatures are utterly amazing, anatomically, zoologically accurate and seamless in their lifelike movements in the equally CGI’d jungle where the flora and fauna is just that little bit outsize, like the place of wonder in a child’s memory.

Favreau has form in this arena with his cheeky Christmas comedy Elf, with the outsize Will Ferrell, but here everything is so real looking I half-expected David Attenborough to show up. Instead, it’s the animals, all drawn by computer, who do the talking (Ben Kingsley, Scarlett Johansson, Lupita Nyong’o and the late Garry Shandling swell the voice cast with aplomb). It’s one of those rare moments of modern special effects where I really did wonder how they did it. Just the fur – wet, dry, dusty or bristling – is a minor marvel.

To further assuage fears of trampling our beloved memories under the elephants, the script is also funny, a bit scary (Elba is menacing, there’s a breathless wildebeest stampede and the flaming finale’s pretty hairy) and I was wholly impressed.

My seven-year-old thought it ‘got a bit boring in the middle’ – I have to agree with him, it is slightly baggy when Mowgli hangs out with Baloo too long, getting honey – but my five-year-old ‘loved it, all of it’.

What could have been a disappointment to so many – I have the Kipling books, the cartoon on DVD and the original vinyl album – turns out to be an immensely likeable big-screen experience, truly for all the family. It might not be a classic (because only time and the relentless march of technology will tell) but it’s certainly a benchmark in digital animation as well as a children’s adventure of enduring quality, excitement and heart.