Disney’s new take on the Rudyard Kipling story it introduced to a generation of wee’uns back in 1967 is being steered to the screen by one of those kids. Jon Favreau is, of course, now a seasoned Hollywood director, but his affection for The Jungle Book hasn't faded. His treatment of the yarn will stick close to the beats of that beloved animation, as we'll no doubt find out when the first trailer breaks shortly. One thing that has changed, as demonstrates by this glorious world-first still from the film, is the technology powering Disney’s world. Bear in mind that only Neel Sethi's serenely drifting Mowgli is the only physical component in this shot. The rest? Computer wizardry.
Favreau and his team of state-of-the-art VFXers, led by MPC, have revisited the techniques of Ang Lee’s Life Of Pi and James Cameron’s Avatar to carve a jungle world full of eye-popping colour and detail. The human cast – newbie Sethi aside – have all been performance-captured against Pinewood green screen. Those actors include Bill Murray (Baloo), Christopher Walken (King Louie), Idris Elba (Shere Khan), Scarlett Johansson (Kaa) and Ben Kingsley’s Bagheera.
“We wanted to make sure that film fit more in our times,” explains Favreau of his more Kipling-ified update. “But I wanted to make sure that whatever images were looming in my memory, I captured them so it evokes the original."
For the full scoop on Favreau’s exceedingly good-looking Kipling adaptation straight from the horse’s mouth, pick up the new issue of Empire on September 24. The Jungle Book opens in the UK on April 15, 2016.