Rated: PG

Score: 8.5/10 Stars

On April 15, 2016, The Jungle Book was released in theaters. With a high score of 8.1 out of 10 stars, and a solid 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie was breathtaking and created a wonderful story for all ages.

I consider myself a pretty intense Disney fan, and with the releases of live-action movies like Maleficent and Cinderella, I was expecting failure from The Jungle Book. As one of my top favorite Disney films, The Jungle Book holds a special place in my heart. Bagheera is definitely written down in my list of future cat names, after all. However, I can honestly say that this movie not only held up to my expectations, but exceeded them as well.

The voice acting was phenomenal. Initially, I was not expecting to like Scarlett Johansson as Kaa, considering his voice actor, Sterling Holloway, was a famous favorite of Disney’s voice cast. He was featured in Aristocats, Alice in Wonderland, Bambi, etc. Most famously, he was the voice of Winnie the Pooh. Hearing that a female was playing the part was discomforting for me, to be quite frank. However, I am so incredibly glad that they casted Johansson. Her raspy and sultry voice was completely alluring and developed the character in a way that the original did not capture. This was a perfect way for Disney to include a female voice actor, rather than keeping a dominantly male cast.

The CGI of the movie was beautifully crafted and quite honestly so captivating, it was hard to believe that the animals were fake. Developers analyzed jungle creature anatomy so intensively to create a realistic story. Bagheera’s character was the most appealing, seeing as the way the sunlight shone on his fur revealed the hidden spots of a panther.

To be honest, the most difficult part to believe in the film was Mowgli and Baloo’s characters. Neel Sethi was introduced as the main role. It was noticeable that he was new to the acting world because he lines ran together in a childish way. However, considering that he’s twelve years old and was capable of working with a green screen and fake animals was very impressive, and I’m sure his acting will only improve from here on.

The other disappointing factor was Baloo’s appearance. Baloo, as stated in the film, is a sloth bear. This explains his blue coloring, long arms, and skinny claws in the original film. In the live-action version, he is displayed as a brown bear, which are not found in the jungles of India. But considering this is the only inconsistency that I picked up on after one viewing, I’m still impressed.

Another influential character was Lupita Nyong’o’s Raksha, the wolf mother of Mowgli. The amount of expression and emotion that the producers were able to create through a CGI character was incredible, and Nyong’o did a fantastic job of giving the character so much development that was not introduced in the original.

Finally, the story perfectly expressed elements from the novel and cartoon film. There were parts that made me cringe, like the chase scene with King Louie, and Kaa’s disturbing introduction. But the songs “Bare Necessities” and “I Wanna be like You” were still included to give the movie a playful and comforting feeling. The credits animation was also captivating, and if you waited around long enough, you were able to listen to Johansson’s version of “Trust in Me.”

Overall, I was extremely pleased with the film and suggest that anyone go see it. It is perfect for every age, as long as you love a heartwarming story and the beauty of jungle animals.