Disney’s new live-action version of the 1967 film will have to take great care not to cause offence, critics say
Disney is bringing back The Jungle Book in a live-action remake, but worries over racial stereotyping that plagued the 1967 cartoon original are already making critics fret.
The film, which premieres in Los Angeles tomorrow, has a stellar cast, including Idris Elba as Shere Khan, Bill Murray as Baloo, Scarlett Johansson as Kaa, Lupito Nyong’o as wolfmother Raksha, and newcomer Neel Sethi as Mowgli. Director Jon Favreau promises a film that relies heavily on author Rudyard Kipling’s “strong mythic stuff”. But both Kipling’s book, which was written from a British colonialist perspective, and Disney’s animated adaptation have long been criticised for their racist overtones, and critics warn that it will take more than talking animals and other visual effects to avoid offence.
In the original film King Louie was an ape with poorer linguistic skills than the other animals. His “I Wanna Be Like You” song was sung by American singer and trumpeter Louis Prima in a Dixieland style. According to movie lore, when Disney animators first approached Prima, he joked with them: “You wanna make a monkey outta me?”
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