When Disney dropped the first good look at what's to come in Jon Favreau's live-action “Jungle Book” at the D23 Expo, a few people were left with jaws dropped. They have now just shared the first footage into the stunning jungle setting of the upcoming feature. 

In a short 'Vine' video, Disney showed how they have balanced the realistic look and dreamy, surreal aura of the setting, including a glimpse of little Mowgli. 

Rudyard Kipling's 1894 collection of stories has seen a number of adaptations over the years. From the classic Walt Disney animated film version in 1967 all the way to Chuck Jones's made-for-TV cartoons and even a number of stage adaptations. But the coming years prove to be some of the most exciting prospects for the classic stories. Both Walt Disney and Warner Bros. are developing live-action versions of the story, both different, but to include the iconic characters that many people over the years fell in love with. 

Disney's live-action/CGI adaptation has a screenplay written by Justin Marks, and Jon Favreau has signed on to direct. The actor/director has been making his name in the director's chair with films such as “Elf”, “Iron Man” and “Iron Man 2”, and most recently the critically-acclaimed “Chef”. Disney's project has also lined up a stellar cast which includes Bill Murray as Baloo, Ben Kingsley as Bagheera, Scarlett Johansson as Kaa, Idris Elba as Shere Khan, Christopher Walken as King Louie, Lupita Nyong'o as Raksha and Neel Sethi as Mowgli.  

The film was announced a couple years ago, but had taken some time to pull together a cast, and only recently begun to move forward at full speed. 

The Jungle Book plans to hit the big screen on April 15, 2016. 

Source: Cinemablend