The Jungle Book on Stage

[DisneyFan09]

I should rephrase my statement as I wouldn't say Tarzan has eclipsed The Jungle Book as much as with Tarzan, there was suddenly an alternative movie for younger Disney fans and the new generations if they want a jungle movie about a boy raised by animals. Tarzan might be more to their sensibilities than The Jungle Book especially if they prefer the more "modern" films like Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Lion King, etc. So basically with Tarzan, I wouldn't call it more popular than The Jungle Book but the film's existence meant that newer Disney fans might prefer this film especially if they consider the Walt-era films outdated.

True. At least Tarzan is made with a modern sensibility in mind. At least in terms of it's dramatic potential, since Tarzan pretty much revolves around our hero's conflict between the two species that he's a part of. The Jungle Book tosses out all it's dramatic possibilities and feels like a randomly stitched story where it's episodic and never feels cohesive. Regardless of how Tarzan mostly handles the conflict as an underlying theme.

I know you and I have discussed how it's a shame that Tarzan is considered so underrated these days. I really blame it on the fact that Disney can't market it anymore so they don't see the point in making any effort with the film because I remember even in the mid-late 2000s, this was still a film they highly regarded. Germany must really like jungle films like this since the Tarzan musical was a huge success there.

True. Remember that the Hunchback musical was also a huge success in Germany as well.

[JeanGreyForever]

I should rephrase my statement as I wouldn't say Tarzan has eclipsed The Jungle Book as much as with Tarzan, there was suddenly an alternative movie for younger Disney fans and the new generations if they want a jungle movie about a boy raised by animals. Tarzan might be more to their sensibilities than The Jungle Book especially if they prefer the more "modern" films like Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Lion King, etc. So basically with Tarzan, I wouldn't call it more popular than The Jungle Book but the film's existence meant that newer Disney fans might prefer this film especially if they consider the Walt-era films outdated.

True. At least Tarzan is made with a modern sensibility in mind. At least in terms of it's dramatic potential, since Tarzan pretty much revolves around our hero's conflict between the two species that he's a part of. The Jungle Book tosses out all it's dramatic possibilities and feels like a randomly stitched story where it's episodic and never feels cohesive. Regardless of how Tarzan mostly handles the conflict as an underlying theme.

I know you and I have discussed how it's a shame that Tarzan is considered so underrated these days. I really blame it on the fact that Disney can't market it anymore so they don't see the point in making any effort with the film because I remember even in the mid-late 2000s, this was still a film they highly regarded. Germany must really like jungle films like this since the Tarzan musical was a huge success there.

True. Remember that the Hunchback musical was also a huge success in Germany as well.

The episodic storyline for The Jungle Book wouldn't bother me that much (since the book is like that) if the film actually had some heart. I still find it shocking that Mowgli never has any reaction to being separated from his wolf parents and siblings, who he has known his whole life, but he has such an emotional attachment to Baloo who he's only known for a day. Thank goodness the live-action remake rectified this because the wolves never even get a mention again in the animated film after the opening. And they're pretty prominent in the book.

Yes, Hunchback was an even bigger success I think there. I wonder if the American Hunchback stage show which is also being adapted or has been adapted in Germany now will be similarly loved.

[DisneyFan97]

Will any big Broadway stars be in this ?

[PatchofBlue]

I stumbled upon the full show on YouTube, and honestly, it's pretty solid. There is no scale large enough to accurately capture just how much I prefer this to the LA remake. I think it carries over all the heart of the animated film while also being charming in its own right.

I'll admit that none of the new songs really catch my attention, but I think that the choreography for the monkey song was pretty neat. And whoever had the idea to stage "Trust in Me" like that deserves a raise. The design in general is just out of this world.

My favorite tidbit here might be that "Bagheera" is played by the hookhanded henchman from Netflix' A Series of Unfortunate Events. I don't think the cast had a weak link. Even the kid who plays Mowgli winds up being so darn cute that he shoots the moon and blazes past "cloying" and just winds up being SO cloying that he's adorable.

It's a shame this wasn't strictly a "Disney production" because then it might have had a much more abundant afterlife with other stagings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LeD2j15Aco

[Disney's Divinity]

I love the remake. Probably another one like Snow White where I prefer it to the original (although LA Snow White is much messier than LA TJB).

This is an old thread, but it's hard for me to imagine TJB ever being a good musical if they couldn't even do it with Tarzan. Not impossible, just hard to envision.

[PatchofBlue]

I think the thing that really crippled "Tarzan" was the genre mismatch.

Disney's "Tarzan" was novel for being this animated action film and having all these elaborate chase sequences--which are really hard to replicate on stage. The musical adaptation tried to compensate with all the aerial gymnastics and whatnot, but that wasn't filling the need they thought it was, and too many of the film's iconic pieces were missing.

"The Jungle Book" doesn't really have that problem because it's much closer to a traditional story musical. There are some things they couldn't translate, like the destruction of the ancient ruins, but most of the novelty of this production was in how they creatively represented this exotic animal world, which made for a much more interesting experience.