The Jungle Book (film)
The Jungle Book (or Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book) is a 1994 film directed by Stephen Sommers, loosely based on Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book and starring Jason Scott Lee as Mowgli.
A Walt Disney Pictures film, it includes several shout-outs to Disney's animated film version, including an orangutan nicknamed "King Louis".
Followed by two interquels with lower budgets and none of the same cast, The Second Jungle Book: Mowgli and Baloo and The Jungle Book: Mowgli's Story.
Not to be confused with Jungle Book, the 1942 film starring Sabu as Mowgli.
Tropes used in The Jungle Book (film) include:
- Anti-Villain: Shere Khan. He's a ruthless killer, but he kills only to preserve the law of the jungle. In the end, he even accepts Mowgli in the jungle and makes him the new keeper of the jungle law.
- Blond Guys Are Evil: Captain Boone.
- Canon Foreigner: Geoffrey Brydon, Katherine Anne "Kitty" Brydon, Dr. Julius Plumford, and William Boone.
- Composite Character: Another Tabaqui example, like the Animated Adaptation, Shere Khan's jackal lackey is absent, though the name is given to Boone's guide. Curiously a more accurate rendition of the novel's Tabaqui also appears in Mowgli's Story however.
- Death by Materialism: Boone sinks in the water due to being dragged down by all the gold he took from the temple...dragged down by his own greed. He doesn't drown though...Kaa follows him into the water and takes him out instead.
- Demoted to Extra: Most of the animal characters, while the movie focus more on Mowgli's interaction with other humans.
- Disney Death: Baloo AGAIN.
- Disney Villain Death: Tabaqui.
- The Dragon: Kaa appears to be this to King Louis, who summons him when someone attempts to steal treasure.
- Dreaming of Things to Come: A wise man told young Mowgli in his dream that he would confront Shere Khan without fear and become a "creature of the jungle".
- Family-Unfriendly Death: Everyone, except the aforementioned Disney Villain Death:
- Harley: Drowns in quicksand.
- Buldeo: Infected by salt.
- Wilkins: Mauled by Shere Khan.
- Boone: Killed by Kaa.
- Humans Kill Wantonly: Mowgli explains that animals only kill to eat or to keep from being eaten. He doesn't understand the concept of killing out of hatred or sport and is not impressed when one of the hunters tries to explain it to him.
- In Case You Forgot Who Wrote It: Was promoted as Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book.
- Ironic Echo
- Line-of-Sight Name: Mowgli dubbing the lead orangutang "King Louis" after earlier seeing a portrait of the French king wearing a similar crown.
- Missing Mom: Mowgli and Kitty's mothers died in childbirth.
- Montage
- Narrator: Kitty's father, Geoffrey Brydon
- Nature Hero: Mowgli
- Nice Hat: Once back in cilization, Mowglie takes notice of a portrait of Louis XIV, particularly his crown similar to the one he saw the lead orangutan wearing.
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Mowgli: (to Kitty) If you see him, tell him I know who took his hat. |
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- Noble Savage: "I AM NOT A MAN! And I am not an animal."
- Quicksand Sucks: The victim even explicitly states "It's sucking me down!" while struggling.
- Red String of Fate: Mowgli and Kitty
- The Remake: Arguably a remake of the 1942, which it probably owes more to than to the original book. (Definitely not a remake of the Disney animated film; it started as an independent production before Disney became involved.)
- Shout-Out: "All the bare necessities of life."
- Buldeo called Mowgli a "man cub".
- King Louie.
- Also, Bagheera is the one who leads Mowgli to the wolf pack in both this and Disney's version.
- Taxidermy Is Creepy: Mowgli, in a room filled with stuffed animals, imagines hearing them screaming, with each scream punctuated by a gunshot.
- Temple of Doom
- What Is Evil?: Mowgli doesn't understand the reason to kill other than protection and food. He doesn't know the meaning of "enemy" and "hate".
- You Killed My Father: Shere Khan killed Mowgli's father when he was a young child. Subverted that Mowgli doesn't avenge him by killing Shere Khan because he didn't know and wouldn't if he did.
- Buldeo ran off and left Mowgli's father to die.
- Killing for vengeance goes against the Jungle Law.
- Buldeo ran off and left Mowgli's father to die.
- Live Action Adaptation: Of the Disney Animated Canon film.
- Shown Their Work: Sort of. Despite retaining similar whimsical characterizations and dialogue as the animated version, it is the closest Disney has got to an accurate adaption of the original book, with a lot more scenes and references from the novel.
- Silence, You Fool: Shere Khan tries and often fails this with Tabaqui.
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Shere Khan: Shut up, Tabaqui! |
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