The Jungle Book (1994 film) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book
Theatrical release poster by John Alvin.
Directed by	Stephen Sommers
Produced by	Edward S. Feldman Raju Patel
Screenplay by	Stephen Sommers Ronald Yanover Mark Geldman
Story by	Ronald Yanover Mark Geldman
Starring	Jason Scott Lee Cary Elwes Lena Headey Sam Neill John Cleese
Music by	Basil Poledouris
Cinematography	Juan Ruiz Anchía
Editing by	Bob Ducsay
Distributed by	Buena Vista Pictures (North America and other select territories) MDP Worldwide (all other territories)
Release date(s)	December 25, 1994 (1994-12-25)
Running time	111 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$30 million
Money made	$43.2 million

Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, simply known as The Jungle Book, is a 1994 American adventure film co-written and directed by Stephen Sommers, produced by Edward S. Feldman and Raju Patel, from a story by Ronald Yanover and Mark Geldman. It is the second film adaptation by The Walt Disney Company of the Mowgli stories from The Jungle Book (1894) and The Second Jungle Book (1895) by Rudyard Kipling, and the first live-action adaptation of Walt Disney's animated film of the same name from 1967.

The film stars Jason Scott Lee, Cary Elwes, Lena Headey, Sam Neill, John Cleese, and Jason Flemyng in his first theatrical film role. Unlike most adaptations of Kipling's stories, the animal characters in this film do not speak.

Released on December 25, 1994, by Walt Disney Pictures, the film received generally positive reviews and grossed $43.2 million in theaters against a $30 million budget.

In 2016, Disney released another live-action adaptation, The Jungle Book, which was more similar and faithful to both the 1967 animated film and Kipling's book.

Plot

In 1887, during the British Raj in India, Mowgli is the 5-year-old son of the widowed Nathoo, whose wife died in childbirth. Nathoo works as a tour guide. On one of his tours, he leads Colonel Geoffrey Brydon and his men, as well as Brydon's 5-year-old daughter Katherine nicknamed Kitty. Fellow guide Buldeo and two soldiers kill several animals for sport, which enrages Shere Khan, a tiger who serves as the jungle's keeper, and he begins to pursue the tour group. That night, Kitty gives Mowgli her late mother's bracelet as a gift. Mowgli tells Nathoo of a dream where he faced Shere Khan and showed no fear, becoming a tiger himself. Shere Khan attacks the encampment. He succeeds in killing the two soldiers, but when he tries to kill Buldeo, Nathoo defends him and is subsequently mauled to death by Shere Khan. In the confusion, Mowgli is lost in the jungle with his pet wolf cub, Grey Brother, and Brydon and his men presume him dead. Mowgli is taken by Bagheera, a gentle black panther, to the wolf pack. Mowgli also befriends a bear cub named Baloo.

Fifteen years later, Mowgli, now an adult, discovers Monkey City, a legendary ancient city filled with treasure belonging to King Louie the orangutan, who has his treasure guarded by Kaa the python. Forced to fight for his life, Mowgli succeeds in wounding the snake with a golden dagger that he retrieves from the treasure horde. Winning King Louie's respect, Mowgli keeps the dagger as a trophy.

Elsewhere, Kitty and Colonel Brydon are still stationed in India. She and Mowgli meet again, but neither recognize the other. Kitty is also in a relationship with one of Brydon's soldiers, Captain William Boone. Infatuated with her, Mowgli travels to Kitty's village and enters her home, alerting the guards. Kitty sees that Mowgli is wearing her mother's bracelet and realizes who he is. Boone and his men manage to capture Mowgli and find the dagger from Monkey City in his possession. Kitty and Dr. Julius Plumford, a good friend of Brydon's, decide that they must reintroduce Mowgli to civilization. In doing so, Mowgli and Kitty fall in love, much to Boone's displeasure. Eventually, Boone convinces Mowgli to tell him of Monkey City and the treasure hoard that it holds, but Mowgli refrains from revealing its location to Boone upon realizing his lack of respect for the jungle. Boone later proposes to Kitty, although she is hesitant to concede. Around this time, after Boone and his men publicly humiliate him, Mowgli returns to the jungle as he does not feel at home in the village. After Boone's cruel treatment of Mowgli, Kitty realizes she cannot marry Boone, so she decides to go back to England to get away from him.

Meanwhile, Boone and his associate Lieutenant Wilkins team up with Buldeo (who is now an outlaw) and Tabaqui, Boone's guide. The men recruit a third henchman, Sergeant Harley, and gather some bandits to capture Mowgli in order to find out where the treasure is. Wilkins and Boone shoot Baloo when he comes to Mowgli's defense, much to Mowgli's distress. Buldeo and the bandits then ambush Kitty and Brydon, who is shot and wounded in the process. Even though Mowgli, along with Bagheera, Grey Brother, and the rest of the wolves, attack and kill most of the bandits, Buldeo manages to capture Kitty and Brydon and hands them over to Boone and his men, who plan to use them as blackmail: If Mowgli leads them to the treasure, Kitty and her father shall live. That night, the group learn Shere Khan is hunting them due to their shooting of Baloo. Because of this, Mowgli decides to escape.

The next morning, Harley catches Mowgli escaping with the aid of Bagheera and chases him, only to fall into quicksand and drown, despite Wilkins' attempts to save him. Mowgli then has an elephant take the injured Brydon back to the village, after promising him to rescue Kitty. As the group make progress, Tabaqui decides that Mowgli is no longer needed and tries to murder him, only to be killed himself after toppling off a cliff. Later, Wilkins becomes separated from the group and is mauled to death by Shere Khan. Eventually, the remaining party enters Monkey City, where Buldeo inadvertently entombs himself in a trap while trying to shoot Mowgli. Only Mowgli, Kitty and Boone reach the treasure room, where Mowgli and Boone engage in a fierce fight until Mowgli injures Boone with another dagger. Mowgli then escapes with Kitty, while Boone begins greedily pocketing treasure, only for King Louie to summon Kaa, who proceeds to attack and kill Boone.

As they escape from Monkey City, Mowgli and Kitty are confronted by Shere Khan, who roars at them. However, Mowgli roars back, leading Shere Khan to become impressed at his bravery, acknowledge him as a creature of the jungle, and allow Mowgli and Kitty to leave peacefully.

Mowgli and Kitty meet both the Colonel and Baloo, both of whom have recovered from their injuries under Plumford's care. Mowgli becomes the new lord of the jungle after fulfilling his childhood dream of facing Shere Khan with no fear and he begins a relationship with Kitty.

Cast

• Jason Scott Lee as Mowgli, a wild man who was orphaned at 5 years old and was raised by the animals in the jungle of India.
  • Sean Naegeli as 5-year-old Mowgli
• Cary Elwes as Captain William Boone, Kitty's suitor who desires the wealth of the ancient ruins.
• Lena Headey as Katherine "Kitty" Brydon, the daughter of Colonel Brydon who is the childhood friend and romantic interest of Mowgli.
  • Joanna Wolff as 5-year-old Kitty
• Sam Neill as Colonel Geoffrey Brydon, Kitty's father who is the head of the British army stationed in India.
• John Cleese as Dr. Julius Plumford, Colonel Brydon's friend who is the medical professional of Brydon's battalion and who assists Kitty in teaching Mowgli the ways of man.
• Jason Flemyng as Lieutenant John Wilkins, a soldier in Brydon's battalion and Boone's close friend.
• Ron Donachie as Sergeant Harley, a brutish soldier who sides with Boone in the mutiny.
• Stefan Kalipha as Buldeo, an outlaw who knows about the ancient ruins. Buldeo was a character in Kipling's stories, but was altered in this version.
• Anirudh Agarwal as Tabaqui, a jungle guide who joins Boone's party in the hunt for the treasure. He was a golden jackal and Shere Khan's henchman in Kipling's stories.
• Faran Tahir as Nathoo, Mowgli's father who was the guide for Brydon's battalion until he was killed by Shere Khan. This was Tahir's film debut.

Trained animals

• Casey as Baloo, a male black bear who was rescued by Mowgli as a cub and his best friend among the animals.
• Shadow as Bagheera, a wise male black panther who took Mowgli to be raised by the wolves and watches over him.
• Shannon as Grey Brother, a male Indian wolf that Mowgli had since childhood and has been his closest companion.
• Lowell as King Louie, a male orangutan who is the leader of a community of monkeys in the ancient ruins.
• Bombay as Shere Khan, a male Bengal tiger who is the keeper of the jungle law. Unlike most versions where he is the villain, he is a neutral force of nature in this film.

Kaa is portrayed by both a computer-generated and an animatronic python, as well as a trained anaconda. Other trained animals included monkeys, Indian elephants, camels, horses, zebus, and wolves. The sounds used for the monkeys were actually those of chimpanzees and siamangs. KNB FX Group crew member Shannon Shea doubled for Baloo in certain shots in animatronic bear suit.

Video game

The film was adapted into a 1996 game, which includes clips from the film, while providing an original story and new characters. The game follows the player in his or her quest to save the jungle. Soldiers have stolen King Louie's crown and the player must recover it to prevent the jungle from losing its magic. The player is aided by a Scotsman named Ilgwom ("Mowgli" spelled backwards) and his chimpanzee Lahtee, while also guided by a spirit made from Mowgli's memories.

See also

In Spanish: El libro de la selva: la aventura continúa para niños