Film-The Jungle Book


Background

• The original Disney cartoon film came out on the 18th November 1968 in the UK and over a year earlier on October 18th 1967 in the US.
• The original movie still had the authentic Disney animation style with Walt Disney himself working on the film before his death.
• The live action CGI version came out on 15th April 2016.

Industry & Marketing (1967)

• The original Jungle Book film was marketed only with things like movie posters and cinema signs as print media still played a big role in the 1960s without things like internet advertising and social media to advertise the film digitally.
• Being the 19th Disney film to be released, the brand of Disney was already known for     producing quality family animation films. There was also very little competition in the animation industry so there was no need for excessive marketing to make The Jungle Book a success.

Industry & Marketing (2016)

• VR experiences were used to market and advertise the new film and make the audience feel as though they are part of the movie. This contrasts the lifeless posters of 1967.
• There was also social media advertising for the film with official jungle book accounts on Twitter/Instagram/etc along with a trailer that was played on TV and in cinemas.
• Disney theme parks put on sneak-peak footage of the movie in the busiest holiday periods to engage families and children with the film.
• There was also a wide range of Jungle Book merchandise available as well as sand sculptures of the characters to raise awareness of the films release.

Audience (1967)

• During production, the film started with a more sinister and dark tone, although, Walt Disney didn't want to ruin Disney's family image so it was altered to be a bit more child friendly.

Audience (2016)

• Disney used well known stars to do the voice overs for their characters and used them to market the film towards adults as well as having the friendly animal characters for children to fall in love with.
• The movie was also targeted at a male audience with the trailer aiming to prove that it's not just a girly movie about princesses and castles but a fierce and exciting movie from the makers of Pirates of the Caribbean and Iron Man. 
• The trailer was also put on the ESPN channel which has a predominantly male audience.
• The Jungle Book was marketed to girls too with a partnership with Tumblr to reach its largely female audience.
• Disney also teamed up with the Spanish television network Univision for a five week stunt to get The Jungle Book characters and clips into telenovelas, talk shows and sports coverage as well as making a tool to put Univision personalities into Jungle Book scenes. 

Representation (1967)

• Mowgli is from India which contrasts a lot of Disney's early characters which were white.

Posters (2016)

Teaser Trailer (2016)
Language

• Dark/ low key lighting makes it mysterious
• Tracking shot through the jungle suggests a journey and adventures.
• Non-diegetic soundtrack builds suspense
• 'What are you doing so deep in the jungle?' voice over suggests that someone has explored somewhere they shouldn't be.
• The roar suggests the film is fierce and empowering compared to a gentle disney princess movie.
• Action scenes with the tiger also suggest that the movie is exciting and engaging.
• The calm scene at the end suggests that the film still ends happily,

Representation

Exam Question

Explain how Disney used Media Language And Representation within their Advertising and Marketing of The Jungle Book (2016) to reach their target audience. Discuss how they used social and cultural contexts to do this. (10 marks)

Disney took The Jungle Book (2016) as an opportunity to reach a wider audience with advertising and marketing that used language techniques that proved that this version is different to other Disney movies and more exciting than the original Jungle Book animation. With Disney being one of the biggest media conglomerates in the world, it is important that they cater for a modern and varied audience to continue being successful.

In the movie posters for The Jungle Book (2016), close up shots of animals are used to present each of the characters. Some of these (the tiger and the panther especially) have fierce facial expressions which suggest that the film will have more action involved in contrast to disney's traditional princess movies. It also gives a more realistic representation of animals in the wild than the more friendly 1967 posters. However, some of the new posters are also relatively friendly with Baloo the bear appearing a lot calmer. This could suggest that the film brings something for everyone, from young children looking for a film about a friendly bear to an older audience looking for something more engaging and realistic. It keeps the nostalgia of the friendly animation for previous fans whilst also proving that Disney can be fierce and empowering to perhaps engage an older more masculine audience too.

Disney also uses language and representation in its teaser trailer to engage their target audience with clever use of camera shots, sound and visuals. The sound plays a particularly big role in the character of the trailer with a non-diegetic soundtrack that builds up suspense throughout the trailer. This is teamed up with tracking shots through the jungle to portray a journey and adventure along with low key lighting to connote mystery. Altogether, this presents a more engaging and exciting take on the original film which in reality, it has to be to have a selling point above re-watching the original. It also had to appeal to a modern audience that look for empowerment and meaningful journeys as opposed to a silly children's story as it may have originally been perceived.

In conclusion, I think the movie has successfully used media language and representation to engage a modern and varied audience. The film is shown to have a lot more to offer than the original as well as having lots of links to the original film to maintain the original fans and evoke nostalgia.