The Jungle Book (2016) – The 1967 Version Was Superior And Best Left Alone

Warning  - Spoiler Alert!

I probably have a solitary voice here.  I saw the movie and I preferred the 1967 version.  Here is why.

The Jungle Book was the last film which was personally supervised by Walt Disney, and it showed.  The film had the characters crafted in a way that balanced the story to appeal both to children and adults alike.  One may claim that the 2016 version boasts of similar abilities – but there is a difference.  The 2016 version is just too dark!

The sinister Shere Khan is just so hateful and full of spite. What may I say of Col. Hathi? The new version of Col Hathi is so demanding in terms of obeisance and authority, one wonders whether this was what Rudyard Kipling wanted.  There are many characters in many other movies that demand such obeisance – so what was so special about the 2016 Col Hathi? Nothing.  Absolutely Nothing.

King Louis was just another King Kong. Kaa was a sheer waste. If we wanted to see giant monkeys and snakes, we are better of with King Kong and Anaconda, thank you.

Kaa resembles a villain we have seen before – a deceptive back-stabber. By the way, where was Kaa's sense of humor?  Col Hathi and Kaa’s characters made sense only because we have seen the 1967 version of the Jungle Book.  For the first timers, Kaa leaves an unimpressive image of a subplot gone horribly boring.   Baloo was a lovable buffoon, but to think he would want Mowgli to be filled with bee stings is a bit too much. 

Most movies now suffer from the desire to outdo each other in terms of computer graphics they use.  Movies also suffer from the Harry Potter hangover wherein dark characters created a charm of their own.  These characters soon became a turn off for many Harry Potter book fans in the films directed by Director David Yates.

The Jungle Book (1967) was all about fun and hope. I just did not see the point of why the new version wants to show the ugliness of the world?  There are other films that can do that, but to allow The Jungle Book to become a vehicle for a peek in to the darkness of the human heart is unpardonable.

By the way, the new version completes makes a trash of the songs  “Bare Necessities” and “I wanna be like you”.

I was unfortunate enough to spend my post tax money on this junk. Save your money and go back to 1967 version – that version has a heart and is in no need of any lobotomy that the 2016 version desperately needs.

© Nitesh Kotecha