New VFX Progression Shots for ‘Jungle Book’ Released

Disney has released a new batch of hi-res progression stills and animated GIFs showing how director Jon Favreau and his innovative virtual production team brought the nearly full CG world of The Jungle Book to life. Check them out below, read our April issue feature story on the film’s VFX, and don’t forget to pick up The Jungle Book on Blu-ray, DVD or On-Demand — available now.

In addition to the critically acclaimed movie starring Neel Sethi as Mowgli and the voices of Bill Murray (Baloo), Sir Ben Kingsley (Bagheera), Lupita Nyong’o (Raksha), Scarlett Johansson (Kaa), Giancarlo Esposito (Akela), Idris Elba (Shere Khan) and Christopher Walken (King Louie) — which has raked in more than $935 million worldwide — the Blu-ray and Digital HD releases include behind-the-scenes featurettes “The Jungle Book Reimagined,” “I Am Mowgli,” “King Louie’s Temple: Layer by Layer” and scene-by-scene commentary by Favreau.

Mowgli (Neel Sethi) walks alongside a stand-in Bagheera head held by another performer, which was then replaced with the CG panther and digital environment filled in.

Wide and close shots of Mowgli (Neel Sethi) sitting on Baloo as they float down a calm river. Director Jon Favreau stood in the bluescreen set pool to help Sethi perform realistic dialog with the to-be-inserted CG bear.

Wide and close shots of Mowgli (Neel Sethi) sitting on Baloo as they float down a calm river. Director Jon Favreau stood in the bluescreen set pool to help Sethi perform realistic dialog with the to-be-inserted CG bear.

The amount of physical interaction between Mowgli (Neel Sethi) and the digital characters like Bagheera required highly detailed fur simulation as well as careful attention to the character performance animation.