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The Jungle Book | 2016 | PG | - 1.4.1

Raised in India by a wolf pack, a young boy (Neel Sethi) leaves his jungle home when an evil tiger (voiced by Idris Elba) threatens to kill him. An authoritarian panther (voiced by Ben Kingsley) and a funny bear (voiced by Bill Murray) help the boy navigate the jungle as he encounters a hungry python, a gangster ape and destruction caused by humans. Also with the voices of Lupita Nyong'o, Giancarlo Esposito, Scarlett Johansson and Christopher Walken. Directed by Jon Favreau. [1:50]

SEX/NUDITY 1 - A boy wears only cloth briefs.

VIOLENCE/GORE 4 - A tiger throws a wolf off a high stone hill and off-screen as the wolf's mate gasps in horror and in a later scene two buzzards pick at the wolf's skeleton in close-up. A tiger jumps over a boy and attacks a panther; the two big cats roll on the ground and slash at each other (we see no blood) as the boy runs away with the tiger chasing, but a herd of buffalo stampede over the cat (no injury seen) and around the boy. A large snake looks into the camera in close-up with its eyes glowing and we see an image in one eye of a man in a cave with a torch; the man fights off a tiger and jams the torch into the tiger's face; in a shadow on a wall, we see the tiger jump on top of the man as we hear that the man is dead.
 A bear attacks a tiger and they roll and slash each other with long claws; the tiger sinks large teeth into the bear (we see no blood), a panther jumps onto the tiger and we see more rolling and slashing, a wolf pack jumps onto the tiger, biting it (we see no blood), the tiger slaps the panther away, stomps a foot on its head and chases a boy; the boy climbs a tree and the tiger climbs and snarls in a close-up as he scratches the boy, leaving gouges on his chest and back (there's no flowing blood); the boy lures the tiger out onto a dead limb over tall yellow flames consuming the grass and brush below and the tiger snarls, "Either I'll devour you or the red flower [fire] will," as the boy shouts, "I'm not afraid of you!" and the tiger breaks the branch, falling into the fire which erupts higher in flames and sparks and the cat disappears (presumably dead).
 Several monkeys grab a boy and carry him through many tall treetops to temple ruins where we see a statue of an armored figure pointing a spear into the posterior of a prone man and hundreds of monkeys from several species screech; a Gigantopithecus with large spike teeth, looking like a huge orangutan, tosses fruits and pottery, hitting one monkey in the head without injury and flies buzz around the ape's straggly hair; the huge ape demands that the boy give him access to fire and the boy repeatedly cries, "I can't!" until the ape slaps a large hand onto the floor with a loud boom; a monkey screams when the boy escapes and the giant ape chases him, swinging from high crumbling walls, breaking down pillars, breaking through stone floors, and collapsing stone ceilings with dust and rubble as he calls out that the boy's wolf-father is dead and the boy screams, "No! You're lying! Stay away from me!"; the boy escapes through a window, he jumps into a treetop and the ruins collapse completely on top of the giant ape and we see the monkeys digging in the rubble, screeching (the ape climbs out of a tall pile of rubble, unharmed, during the end credits).
 A boy approaches a circle of elephants around a pit and the two largest animals turn angrily, trumpet loudly and wave their trunks; the boy bows to them, face to the ground in respect, resembling an Indian religious gesture (he does this again in another scene), the boy rises and a close-up of his face shows horror at what he sees off-screen causing him to run to make ropes, run back to the pit, jump in, giving one end of a rope to an elephant on the edge, and together they pull a baby elephant up to safety.
 A boy climbs a thick tree in a foggy forest and meets a giant python that hypnotizes him with her voice and coils around him up to the neck; his eyes close and the snake opens her mouth wide to swallow him until something unseen attacks the snake from off-screen; the boy lays unconscious on a tree limb as the snake writhes and the camera cuts to a large bear telling the boy he is safe and in the bear's cave (the boy has some scratches on his chest and back).
 A boy rides on the back of a buffalo in a line on a narrow mountain ledge during a hard rain; loud rumbling occurs and we see trees and mud slide down the mountain into a river, then the boy slides and rolls into the water unharmed and buffalo fall into the water and swim. Wolves and a panther chase a young boy through a jungle and he falls, but is unharmed; the panther says that they are training the boy to run and the wolves and the boy howl.
 A boy enters a human village and sees a large bonfire; he steals a lit torch, running through the jungle, spreading small sparks that ignite the grass and trees and when he reaches a gathering of animals he calls out for an evil tiger to show itself; the cat walks into the scene and tells the boy that the animals are afraid of him now, because of the torch and they all turn and we see the forest in the background on fire. A small fire in a forest spreads in flames and smoke as it destroys the forest and animals run to escape and a snake says that men always use fire to destroy things.
 A boy makes ropes out of tree vines and repels down a high cliff to access hanging honeycombs where he is stung several times by a swarm of small bees and yells, "I'm getting stung!"; he kicks a honeycomb and hits it with a stick, finally dropping it to a bear below who argues with small animals on the ground and the honeycomb hits a small wild boar, which is unhurt. A bear and a panther climb a dangerous, high cliff to get to a temple and the bear enters and monkeys jump all over him; the bear distracts a huge ape, who tells monkeys to throw him over a cliff and the bear says the smell inside the ruins is rough, because of the monkeys.
 A porcupine quill sticks a boy in the leg without drawing blood and the boy yelps, "Ow!" A young boy is shown with a 6-inch scar on his chest and a small scar on his shoulder from previous injuries. A boy asks what to do about a dozen small bee-sting welts in his chest, arms and legs and a bear tells him to rub honey on them and he does so (the welts disappear quickly).
 A tiger with a milky eye drinks from a watering hole, scaring other animals and he stares into the camera in close-up and says a man burned his eye. Animals of all kinds gather at a shallow watering hole during a drought, where a large crocodile with an open mouth displays very large, sharp teeth that birds peck at to clean.
 A tiger threatens to kill a young boy who lives with wolves and a wolf tells the tiger to leave. Two wolves argue about forcing a young boy to go to a human village to live, and the boy approaches the wolves and says he will go. A boy and a panther walk through a rain storm and argue about why the boy must go to a human village; the panther berates the boy for using human "tricks" in the jungle, like making a drinking cup and says tricks are wrong. A bear spits river water onto a boy as they play and the bushes at the river's edge shake; a panther steps out and argues with the bear, then asks the boy, "Are you out of your mind?" and the boy and panther argue briefly. A wolf tells a small pup, "In some packs, the runt gets eaten" and the pup briefly looks scared. A bear tells a boy to go away and live with humans and the boy is angry and hurt as he climbs a tree to sulk. A monkey mocks a boy and the boy yells, "Get away from me!" A peacock and a porcupine argue over ownership of a small stick. A tiger sits on a stone hill and tells wolf pups that cuckoo birds put their eggs in other birds' nests so that the original chicks in those nests will starve and die. A bear says that only female bees sting.
 An elephant herd pushes over trees that crack loudly, and arranges logs to form a dam to redirect a river to flow over a forest fire, putting it out. We hear rumbling and loud trumpeting elephants at night.

LANGUAGE 1 - Name-calling (burned beast, kid, propaganda, strange, monkey business), exclamations (gosh, buzz off, would you mind your own business, shut-up), 1 religious exclamation (Oh My God).

SUBSTANCE USE - A man drinks an unknown beverage from a dark bottle in a night scene outdoors.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Orphans, humans' use of the environment, diversity, intelligence, determination, conflict, danger, fear, courage, cooperation, helping others, family, friendship, love, loyalty, respect, trust, justice.

MESSAGE - Humans can help animals and coexist safely in the environment.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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