8 Reasons The Jungle Book Remake Is Better Than The Original Animation

8. The Glaring Narrative Problems Are Fixed

My biggest complaint with The Jungle Book cartoon is its story. The basic set-up is great, but the film never felt like more than an excuse to get to the new location/song. Disney has done episodic before - Bambi is one of my favourites - but what the successes have over this is an overarching purpose.

In that film, Mowgli goes from wolves to Kaa to elephants to Baloo to King Louie to Kaa to vultures to Shere Kahn on a whim, with nothing more random emotional pushes sending him on his way. Bagheera jumps in and out whenever he cares to (that's literally why he leaves his ward with a bear) and because the villanous tiger doesn't actually appear until halfway through (and there it's out of the blue), the threat propelling the plot feels underdeveloped.

Reordering a few events, adding in some shocking twists from the original Kipling book and ensuring that everything that happens in the jungle ties into Mowgli's character arc means Favreau's film feels like a fully formed experience and not just a string of unrelated set-pieces.