Saturday 25 August 2007

BBC doing live-action Jungle Book

I loved “Babe”. It is actually one of my favorite movies of all time. Sure it is aimed at children, but the story is told in a refreshingly original way. It moves along slowly, unlike all the manic kids films today, and there is nary a fart joke to be seen.

I also love the idea of animals talking. I sometimes just wish I could talk to my two little girls (two black girl cats, Murphy and Sophie) and just see how they are. I would ask them questions like why they feel to need to vomit, not on the tiled parts of my flat, but on the carpets.

Although I didn’t love “Narnia” I was impressed with the talking animals once again…especially the beavers.
The combination of these talking animals and the dark tone, especially during the sheering of Aslan was frightening and exciting.
How I would love to have a film that uses the CGI of “Babe” and the dark tones of “Narnia” but was more adult and less whimsical.

Someone heard me.

The BBC has teamed with Pathe for a $50 million live-action adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's “The Jungle Book.”

Woo hoo!!

BBC natural-history filmmaker John Downer will direct, using the technique of filming animals in the wild and then using CGI to make them appear to talk. Downer will shoot in the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve in India and mix the footage with that of trained animals on jungle sets in the U.K. and against bluescreens.

The decision to use a natural-history filmmaker is a risky choice. I am sure he will film a world were a bear, a panther, a tiger, a boa constrictor, wolves, monkeys, elephants, and vultures all live on the same continent and make it plausible. And I am sure his footage will be stunning, but can he do story and pacing?

That is a big question, however any of you who have watched any of David Attenboroughs wildlife specials will know that they are some of the most riveting and exciting stories ever put to film. “Planet Earth” is a must see for all of you.

The story is about a boy raised by wolves who is kidnapped by monkeys and rescued by his animal friends. But to become a man he has to face a fight with the tiger Sher Khan on his own

. Production is scheduled to get underway in September and take two years to complete. However I am sure in that time the budget will get just a teensy bit higher.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This could be a really amazing film. I think the nature documentary route is wrong though.
If it was based in reality but very stylized (like 300) with dark shadows and deep colors it could capture the wonder of the story.
this way you would not have to worry about the question of how these different animals have come together.