The Jungle Book (franchise) as Baloo, Ben Kingsley as Bagheera, Idris Elba as Shere Khan, Scarlett Johansson as Kaa, Lupita Nyong'o as Raksha, Giancarlo Esposito as Akela, and Christopher Walken as King Louie. The film was released on April 15, 2016 to critical acclaim. After a fierce tiger threatens his life, Mowgli, an orphan boy raised by wolves, leaves his jungle home and, guided by a stern panther and a free-spirited bear, sets out on a journey of self-discovery. Following the film's early financial and critical successes, the studio has begun work on a sequel film. Favreau is reported to return as director, while
The Jungle Book The Jungle Book The Jungle Book (1894) is a collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, who is raised in the jungle by wolves. The stories are set in a forest in India; one place mentioned repeatedly is "Seonee" (Seoni), in the central state of Madhya Pradesh. A major theme in the book is abandonment followed by fostering, as in the life of Mowgli, echoing Kipling's own childhood. The theme is echoed