Should your kids see Disney’s The Jungle Book movie? Check out my full spoiler-free The Jungle Book Movie Review | Safe for Kids? #TheJungleBook
The Jungle Book Movie Review | Safe for Kids? #TheJungleBook
Another Disney live action movie? I know. There’s a lot of buzz surrounding the remake of beloved animated classics. And the latest The Jungle Book is definitely one that makes us scratch our heads (and check for bugs). But as always and in all honesty, I’m sharing The Jungle Book Movie Review for parents. Is it safe for your kids to see? Check out what this mom thinks of the visual appeal, the story, the 3D effects and of course that PG rating. Should you take your kids to see the latest Disney movie? Or should we stay with the 1967 classic? I don’t hold back in this spoiler free review.
The Visuals
It’s been almost 50 years since the original Disney animated The Jungle Book. Of course, technology has come a long way. The Jungle Book offers a vivid capture of realistic scenery and highly sophisticated CG animals. Your kids will begin to wonder why the tiger at the zoo isn’t talking to them. And in the Disney way, the blending of the two is seamless. Bright colors, crisp picture, it certain is an upgrade since the 1967 version. Kids and adults will appreciate the efforts here to make the characters seem as lifelike as possible.
The Story
My memory of the 1967 version is certainly fuzzy. It’s probably been a good 20+ years since I last watched the animated tale. Jon Favreau does a great job of telling the classic tale with a darker twist. Don’t worry, your favorite The Jungle Book songs are still preserved in there. But even I found it a bit creepy to see a giant Christopher Walken monkey singing “I Wanna Be Like You.” The bigger storyline is the acceptance of others. Covering racism, inequalities and stereotypes – the animals do a really go job of talking about these hot topics in ways that kids can easily relate.
Mowgli seems much younger, much smaller than the cartoon – but your kids are going to fall in love with his tiny heroism. I did. I wanted to take him home with me. With all of the qualities of a fierce and independent child, your kids will relate to this guy in every way. A great role model for kids to look up to. The voice casting was incredible. Bill Murray certainly stood out as my favorite – and had most of the punchlines your kids will be laughing at.
Is 3D Worth It?
I will say this first. If you kids are NOT good at keeping glasses on their face for the 1 hour and 29 minutes long movie – skip 3D right away. But the clean, crisp picture, the vivid colors and even the few things that did pop out on the screen – I loved The Jungle Book 3D. I appreciated the small details and the animation techniques much more. A must do for movie lovers. My 7 year old kept the glasses on his face the whole time – so intrigued the whole movie, he didn’t think to take them off once.
That PG Rating
So let’s get down to the meat and potatoes of this review. That PG rating. Hands down, I’m extremely glad I did not bring my 3 year old toddler to see this one. She would have had nightmares about the lifelike animals for sure. The evil characters were much darker than the animated classic. The snake Kaa, the Tiger Shere Khan and even the ape King Louie all had much heavier and creepier roles in the film. Showing your kids stills of the characters may help in your decision making for taking smaller preschool age kids. And you can also show them this trailer for a good evaluation too. And certainly if your children are afraid of animals (especially talking and realistic looking ones), then this certainly is NOT the movie for them.
There are a few scenes of “animal killing” that may have your kids asking you questions. Be prepared for that. And scenes with fire that are a bit scary. And jumpy me had a few suspenseful animals jumping at the screen moments that had me gasping. Didn’t phase my 7 year old though. I did bring him to screen this film and he LOVED every minute of it. But a boy who’s always had a thing for animals (wild Kratts, tons of books and lots of useless fun facts), he was enthralled throughout the film, not scared in the slightest. No foul language though, which I extremely appreciate.
The moral of the story? If your kid loves animals, like really loves them, they’ll seriously enjoy The Jungle Book. But no matter what the movie tells them, don’t let kids hug wolves in real life, ok? Ha! In all seriousness, The Jungle Book offers an updated, colorful, vivid and darker remake of the beloved cartoon classic. While I certainly will NOT be bringing my 3 year old to see this one, it’s definitely a movie I recommend for about Kindergarten age and up. Will it replace the classic version? Probably not. But I think Mowgli certainly will be a rising star that will stick with this generation of kids.
Ready to dive into Disney’s newest live action film, The Jungle Book with your family? Be sure to grab your FREE kids activities and my adorable DIY The Jungle Book Craft idea (featured on Babble) too!
What did you think of Disney’s The Jungle Book remake?
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I personally can’t wait to see this, but it looks like it will be a mommy-time movie and not a mom me and me flick. I’m so glad you wrote this and weighed the pros and cons based on what you’ve seen. It’s much easier to tell my toddler daughter no than to deal with nightmares for weeks. I’ll get to show her this one when she’s a bit older.
Thanks, Katy! I always do my best to provide an honest review as to not cause parent stress over a movie
I think I will wait until my son is quite a bit older before letting him see this. He sometimes think Curious George is scary!
Thank you! I wanted to take them this past weekend but, was iffy about it with the previews; they really were not a good gauge if the movie would hold my kids’ interests. I held off because I wasn’t sure of a lot of the different aspects which you covered. Truly appreciated!
I certainly wasn’t aware that this was an issue, but it’s good to know if I decide. to take the Grandkids. Thanks.