Explain the impact of digitally convergent media platforms on film production, distribution and circulation, including individual producers. Refer to The Jungle Book 1967 and The Jungle Book 2016 in your answer (15 marks)
The film “The Jungle Book” was adapted from Rudyard Kipling’s 1984 children book “The Jungle Book”. At the time of the first Jungle Book in 1967, high budget films did not dominate the Box- Office. There was a more equal gradient of low budget films to medium budget films to high budget films. The 1967 Jungle Book was released in October 1967. Disney chose October owing to there being no film seasons as there are in the modern- day. It was shown first in the US, before it was shown in Europe, and was first shown in major cities before being toured around smaller venues. 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, Walt Disney was the last mogul of Hollywood who controlled all aspects of production. 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. 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. The sole distributor for The Jungle Book was Walt Disney Studio Motion Pictures and handled the theatrical release marketing and promotion of the film. 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. The film was released in RealD3D, IMAX, IMAX 3D, with a worldwide opening figure for IMAX of $20.4 million from 901 IMAX screenings.
The 1967 Jungle Book used traditional animation methods. The studio used copies of hand-drawn pictures on transparent cels as well as a multiplane camera to create a more 3d effect then was previously possible. The characters were drawn depending on the actors’ voice, so the animations would reflect the personality of the actors’ voice, which was unusual at the time as the voice would typically be recorded after the characters were drawn. The trailer and film as a whole was targeted to family audiences and included happy & uplifting music to hit this audience, which differs to the older audience the 2016 film targeted. It was initially released in mid-October 1967, but made much of its box office by being re-released in 1984 and again in 1990. This helped the film preserve a sense of exclusivity, and kept the film fresh in audiences’ minds.
The 2016 Jungle Book had a budget of $175 million which puts it in the category for big Hollywood blockbuster films. The film was created mainly of the use of CGI, and although was primarily based in India, the entire production was shot in Los Angeles. The film used referenced photos taken by a team in India to create a realistic representation of location within the film. This ensured that the darker and more realistic representations of the animals suited the style of the animation, which attracted an older audience and meant that the film was given a PG rating compared to the 1967 film which was given a U rating by the BBFC. The trailer content and marketing campaign was digitally convergent with the themes of the film as it included darker images and scary scenes within the film, which contrasts with the family audience that the 1967 film targeted. Walt Disney productions aimed to do this in order to gain an older audience who was likely to be engaged to watch the film, as well as influence younger siblings to watch. Additionally, the first release of the film was previewed to an exclusive collection of 3500 Disney Fans at a convention, where the three main cast members were brought out on stage. This encouraged the fans to engage with the marketing campaign, and spread positive word of mouth about the film on social media platforms. The 2016 film used saturation distribution and was released simultaneously worldwide, which dramatically increased box office sales on its opening weekend, producing over $800 million worldwide.
Both the Jungle Book 1967 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. This was important as it 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 reins of the 1967 film in order to make it more suitable for his target audience whilst also ensuring that the quality was extremely high. 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. This contests to the 2016 film, which was released to wider audience in the cinema only one time and then released on DVD and Blu-ray format soon after and on Netflix for several months. 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.
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