Jungle Book essay 1

Essay one

ach of the Jungle Book films use digitally convergent media platforms. This can be seen through the ways in which the films differ, for example, owing to the improved technology in today’s society, there is a large difference in how they are produced, distributed and circulated

The historical context of the “The Jungle Book” is exemplified through the adaption of Rudyard Kipling’s 1984 children book “The Jungle Book”. The sole distributor for The Jungle Book was Walt Disney Studio Motion Pictures and handled the theatrical release marketing and promotion of the film. At the time of the first Jungle Book in 1967, high budget films did not dominate the Box- Office. The 1967 Jungle Book recorded a narrative version of the film on audio, including the Oscar nominated songs, that were first to achieve gold record status for an animated film. Prior to the film being released, the 1950s and 60s were a disastrous time for the cinema, with the attendance falling rapidly, owing to competition from other forms of media. In regard to the production of the 1967 film. 

The technology for the 1967 film was pioneering owing to the hand drawn pictures on transparent cels. The studio used a multiplane camera to shoot a greater number of cels, at different distances, for the camera to create a 3D effect. The distribution was expensive, master copies of films were made, and hand delivered to cinemas. Cinemas were designed to hold mass audiences as audiences relied on cinemas to see the film and there was a huge delay before the film was made available on other platforms. 

The 2016 Jungle Book was produced by Walt Disney Pictures and directed by Jon Favreau, under his production company Fairview Entertainment. The film was a Hollywood blockbuster, owing to its $175 million budget. After three years of production, the film was released in April 2016, at a time to sustain the largest possible audience, as it coincided with summer holiday with USA. Films are exhibited in cinemas first, this gives a product commercial value and creates further demand for viewing. This was achieved by the usage of high key CGI was used in order to create a realistic representation of India. The re-make of The Jungle Book makes sense economically, as Disney wanted to use their successful business model of the 1967 film, whereby targeting a global market and a family audience. It used live action CGI, as it combined live action and animated animals interacting on a screen. The animals and their landscape were created by a computer by the British Digital Effects Company, House MPC. For instance, the producers took over a thousand photos in Indian locations to further create the realistic representation. This was seen in the marketing of the film through posters of the characters within the Jungle as well as on social media such as Snapchat, in which they created a filter for people to use to create awareness of the film’s release.

Film industries develop and change over a period of time. The case study of the Jungle Book films is a prime example of this. In 1967 Disney implemented varying production techniques. The Jungle book 1967 used hand drawn animations whilst this technology was in a somewhat adolescent time. This drove Disney to place great impetus on the values in which the films conveyed and spent greater time investment on the production of the film. Furthermore, JB67 was produced before the realm of the blockbuster in film; therefore, digitally convergent media to a certain extent initially as this technology was not yet developed. Disney were not the giant conglomerate of the modern era at this point and hence were unable to produce entirely in house. As a result, Disney spent less on distribution to be able to affirm the message underpinning the film; in fact the script was re-written multiple times to ensure a level of perceived perception. 

In comparison to this, todays film industry is much more focused on big budget films. There is less distinction between the quality of film to producing high box office takings. Jon Favreau invested in the realm of the Hollywood blockbuster and acquired a plethora of A-list actors such as Christopher Walken and Idris Elba in an attempt to construct complex A and B plotlines. Digitally convergent media such as social media further enabled the film to be marketed through word of mouth, Disney’s twitter page and the audience sharing their thoughts on the film. In comparison to the Jungle Book 1967, the film was distributed through multiple platforms rather than just Blueray and DVD such as Netflix, Sky, Amazon prime etc. This is owing to the expectations and reality of a consumeristic modern audience in the fact that they expect to be able to access new media easily, which major corporations fight for the rights to stream for them. 

The economic context of each the Jungle Book 1969 and 2016 differs owing to the fact that the first film did not have the ability to incorporate the now well-known brand name that Disney now holds, now being included in ‘The Big Three’ of production companies. The vertical integration in the 2016 version has allowed the film to reach a larger audience and created hype for the film through various well-known mediums that Disney has already established, such as rides in Disney Land and merchandise. The 2016 version used motion capture in order to create a modern version of the film. This allowed them to make it more suitable to older audiences. The 2016 film also used new technology through the fact that they distributed it in Imax cinemas. Through each of them using newer technology, they were able to reach a larger audience that were interested in the new form of storytelling, which allowed them to withstand losses from previous films that had failed to make as much money. For example, the 1963 release of The Sword in the Stone, which failed in the box office due to its darker content and led to Walt Disney taking the reigns of the 1967 film in order to make it more suitable for his target audience. The 1967 film was re-released four times in the cinema, then released on VHS only in 1991 and on DVD in 2007 and Blu-ray afterwards. These evolving re-releases and the fact that it had previously been vaulted by the studio led to a large increase in audience interest in the project. 

Overall, it is clear that digitally convergent media has impacted significantly in regard to the film production, distribution and circulation. As seen evidently shown through the historical, economical and industry, when comparing Jungle Book 1967 to The Jungle Book 2016.