‘Iron Man’ director Jon Favreau relies heavily on motion-capture techniques for his live-action adaptation, surrounding actor Neel Sethi (as Mowgli) with a slew of CG animals and environments.
Here’s the first look at Jon Favreau’s adaptation of Disney’s 1967 animated feature, The Jungle Book. Beloved for decades for its catchy soundtrack and anthropormophic animals, The Jungle Book has never looked like this before; the Iron Man director relied heavily on motion-capture techniques for his live-action adaptation, surrounding actor Neel Sethi (as Mowgli) with a slew of CG animals and environments:
The Jungle Book, due in theaters October 9, 2015, is directed by Favreau from a script written by Justin Marks (Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li). The film is being produced by Brigham Taylor, who also produced Disney's Tomorrowland
MPC is the lead visual effects studio for the live-action/CG hybrid film, with Rob Legato (Hugo, Avatar) serving as VFX supervisor. Christopher Glass and Alex McDowell (Watchmen) are the production designers and Matthew Libatique (Noah) is the cinematographer.
Here's the official synopsis:
Directed by Jon Favreau (“Chef,” “Iron Man,” “Elf”), based on Rudyard Kipling’s timeless stories and inspired by Disney’s classic animated film, “The Jungle Book” is an all-new live-action epic adventure about Mowgli (newcomer Neel Sethi), a man-cub who’s been raised by a family of wolves. But Mowgli finds he is no longer welcome in the jungle when fearsome tiger Shere Khan (voice of Idris Elba), who bears the scars of Man, promises to eliminate what he sees as a threat. Urged to abandon the only home he’s ever known, Mowgli embarks on a captivating journey of self-discovery, guided by panther-turned-stern mentor Bagheera (voice of Ben Kingsley), and the free-spirited bear Baloo (voice of Bill Murray). Along the way, Mowgli encounters jungle creatures who don’t exactly have his best interests at heart, including Kaa (voice of Scarlett Johannsson), a python whose seductive voice and gaze hypnotizes the man-cub, and the smooth-talking King Louie (voice of Christopher Walken), who tries to coerce Mowgli into giving up the secret to the elusive and deadly red flower: fire.
The all-star cast also includes Lupita Nyong’o as the voice of the fiercely protective mother wolf Raksha, and Giancarlo Esposito as the voice of wolf pack’s alpha male Akela. “The Jungle Book” seamlessly blends live-action with photorealistic CGI animals and environments, using up-to-the-minute technology and storytelling techniques to immerse audiences in an enchanting and lush world.
Source: Walt Disney Studios
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
