My Dear Stephen,
It’s interesting that you bring up “Disney kids.” I was very much in the Disney camp growing up. I consumed every movie, watched Saturday and weekly cartoons, was devoted to The Magical World of Disney, which was a Sunday evening program of made-for-tv movies, including numerous sequels to The Parent Trap, owned all sorts of merchandise (two favorite pieces: a stuffed Figaro the cat that I bought at Disney World and an audio tape of Sebastian the crab sings Bob Marley), and have been to the parks, multiple times. With all this said, I lost interest in Disney over the past decade. I’ve seen a smattering of the recent animated films and live action films, but I just haven’t had the same enthusiasm for the brand that I once did.
With all this said, I think Disney is still the gold standard. The worst part about of seeing a family-friendly movie in the theater is having to sit through trailers for more sub-par family friendly films. Flatulence and cultural misappropriation jokes abound! I’ve never been so happy to not have children as when I had to sit through the trailers for the recent Ice Age animated mess. But then that CAD tracking shot of Cinderella’s Castle came on screen and I found myself comforted and excited for what I was seeing.
It’s the above reasons that Disney continues to receive recognition from the Academy in a variety of categories. Although voters are not the intended audience of these films, they still identify and react to the brand of Disney. Even though corporate Disney ruined so many things in the entertainment/media industry I hold dear (canceled My So-Called Life, forced Harvey out of Miramax, shut down Grantland) I still feel something when I see that magnificent castle.
Keeping this in mind, director Jon Favreau is the perfect match for Disney. His movie make you feel something. Through excellent performances and subtle camera work he evokes fear, joy, desire. If we look at the scene where Kaa is hypnotizing Mowgli, the camera circles Mowgli to the rhythm of Kaa’s movements. It is downright terrifying. If we were just watching the snake coil itself around the child I don’t think it would have the same effect. I have great hopes for Favreau’s future. Disney has already announced he’ll direct Jungle Book 2, but I hope that he can get back to his roots and use his talents for more interesting films.
The visual effects in The Jungle Book are astounding. As someone who really loves wildlife I felt such joy at seeing them come alive on screen. My favorite work was done on Bagheera, the panther. Usually when you see animation of big cats, it fails to convey their weight when jumping, but Bagheera has muscle and power. I also enjoyed the diversity within the Jungle Book’s ecosystem, including the weird and adorable pangolin. But would it have killed them to make Baloo look a little bit like a sloth bear?
Can we talk about the songs? Yes, when I think about the original animated feature I can only remember The Bare Necessities and I Wan’Na Be Like You, but they seemed so out of place in this version. Is there legality that every Disney version of The Jungle Book must include these songs? Furthermore, if they were going to include them, why not write a new song and go for that original song Oscar?
I agree with your thoughts on the voice work done in this film. Scarlett Johansson’s casting was ingenious and by far the best work that was done (although I also like Bill Murray’s Baloo). I’m somewhat hesitant to award to the performances because of the shift that has already taken place in the industry to use so many recognizable voices in these parts. My fear is that there would be an even bigger deal made of “stars” doing these parts to get awards, and take away the many faceless actors out there already struggling to make it in this industry.
My final thought on this film is that I liked it … ok. The Jungle Book is a strange piece of literature celebrating the romantic notion of being raised outside of civilization. There’s a lot in the book about man being at the top of the food chain because of guns (versus fire in the film) and if you’re going to emphasize fire as the great danger, I feel they could have gone a bit more into the escalating danger of deforestation. Although the film gets rid of the book’s imperialist themes of man conquering beasts, I wanted it to say something about the world we live in today. More interesting analogies to conservation or conflict could have moved it beyond being just a family friendly film with beautiful visual effects.
I’m off to do some light hibernation.
Yours,
Hilary
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