WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

New stars bring the Disney classic The Jungle Book roaring back to life.

The original 1967 Disney animated musical is a classic, with generations of fans whistling its tunes (“The Bare Necessities” for one) and ever drawn to the story of Mowgli, the Rudyard Kipling– created character raised by wolves in the jungle. That’s why ushering The Jungle Book back onto the big screen wasn’t a task director Jon Favreau took lightly.

“The film came out a year after I was born, and it must have been an early influence on me,” says Favreau, known for directing Marvel’s Iron Man and Iron Man 2. Disney produced a live- action Jungle Book in 1994, but it ’s the 1967 film that Favreau considers to be the jumping- off point for his remake, an action- packed live- action/ computer- animated hybrid.

Attracting a modern audience to the film was at the foref ront of Favreau’s mind. “Audiences have become very sophisticated over the decades,” he says. “The film has more thrills and more of a sense of danger than the original. At the same time, it ’s a PG- rated Disney film, so kids will love it too.”

Casting Mowgli was one of the film’s challenges, Favreau says. “When a film has one live- action character surrounded by special- effect wild animals, you’re going to watch that actor for a long time,” says the director. “So it was important that I found somebody that audiences would enjoy spending that much time with.” Neel Sethi, a 12- year- old who makes his film debut in the movie opening April 15, was that actor. Parade spoke with Sethi and the new stars of The Jungle Book— and celebrates the voice talent that first brought the characters to life nearly 50 years ago.