A modern viewpoint

  Disney is bringing back The Jungle Book in a live-action remake, but worries over racial stereotyping that plagued the 1967 cartoon original are already making critics fret. The film, which premieres in Los Angeles tomorrow, has a stellar cast, including Idris Elba as Shere Khan, Bill Murray as Baloo, Scarlett Johansson as Kaa, Lupita Nyong'o as wolfmother Raksha, and newcomer Neel Sethi as Mowgli. Director Jon Favreau promises a film that relies heavily on author Rudyard Kipling's “strong mythic stuff”. But both Kipling's book, which was written from a British colonialist perspective, and Disney's animated adaptation have long been criticised for their racist overtones, and critics warn that it will take more than talking animals and other visual effects to avoid offence. “The first Disney Jungle Book was based on Kipling; the next one will be based on the movie, so it'll be another generation removed from Kipling, which will help,” Robert Thompson, professor of television and popular culture at Syracuse University, told Yahoo Movies. Hollywood is highly sensitive to accusations that it lacks racial sensitivity and resists diversity, so the decision to remake The Jungle Book might seem particularly risky. In the original film King Louie (who is not in Kipling's book) was an ape with poorer linguistic skills than the other animals. [...] On the film's release, the character of King Louie was widely criticised for connoting inequality between African-Americans and Caucasians. [...] In February, Favreau told the website Collider of his love of New Orleans jazz and how his whole musical baseline had come from watching Bugs Bunny and Disney cartoons. “The archetypes introduced to a young Jon Favreau also affected who I am. So I didn't want it to be distracting, but I definitely wanted to introduce to the next generation some of the influences I was introduced.” A Hindi version of the film is set to be released in India at the same time, with Indian actress Priyanka Chopra standing in for Johansson as the seductive snake, Kaa.