Earlier this week, industry estimates predicted that “The Jungle Book” was going to have a very respectable opening of around $65 million. As the reviews trickled in though, this number kept growing as the film was said to be something really special. When all was said and done, “The Jungle Book” brought in over $100 million dollars this weekend, an astounding result that speaks to the quality of Disney’s effort.

It should go without saying, but after the success of “Zootopia” and now “The Jungle Book,” this year Disney is on a hot streak. While “Zootopia” represents Disney creating new material, “The Jungle Book” is a nod to Disney’s past. This film is in the middle of a new trend, which is Disney remaking all of its classic animated films.

This trend started as an experiment in 2010 when “Alice in Wonderland” was released. Though critics were not overly impressed with the film, it brought in gangbusters to the box office and showed there was serious profit to be made with these remakes. Next came “Maleficient,” which was less successful but still a major hit. Then, just last year, “Cinderella” was released, which again was not quite as successful as the other two films, but was still a large enough victory to prove that Disney should continue remaking these films. “The Jungle Book,” however, is a step forward from all of these films.

While the three prior Disney remakes and spin-offs were fine films that made plenty of money, they did not do much to really separate themselves from their source material and distinguish themselves in the vastly competitive film industry. “Alice in Wonderland” had some amazing art direction, no doubt, but the film as a whole was rather soulless. “Maleficient” was simply a live-action spin off of “Sleeping Beauty,” with very little originality to its name. “Cinderella” was an absolutely gorgeous film, but again, was just a live action of the very pure, very sweet film it was based upon.

“The Jungle Book” differentiates itself from these prior efforts because it is a leap forward from its animated predecessor and stands on its own as a movie. While nostalgia was, of course, a major factor in the film’s success, the computer generated imagery the film uses is nothing short of spectacular. With the exception of the young boy playing Mowglii, the whole film is created completely digitally. Director Jon Favreau used this power to his advantage and made a film that was visually awe-inspiring.

More importantly though, he put story first, and the film was a more mature, nuanced retelling of Kipling’s old tales. He made a film that children would enjoy, but adults would appreciate just as much, while critics could appreciate superb cinematography and editing.

Disney is bullish on these live action remakes, to say the least. In fact, a sequel to “Alice in Wonderland,” entitled “Alice Through the Looking Glass,” will be released this summer. While that film could very well be a step in the wrong direction, Disney will attempt to breathe new life into the movie-musical next year with “Beauty and the Beast,” a personal favorite of mine. As long as it treats the film with as much respect and effort as Jon Favreau applied to “The Jungle Book,” another critical and commercial success will be in its back pocket.

Erik Benjamin is a sophomore television, radio and film major. His column appears weekly in Pulp. He could probably draw you a map of Disney World. You can email him at ebenjami@syr.edu or follow him @embenjamin14 on Twitter.

Published on April 17, 2016 at 8:27 pm