THE JUNGLE BOOK trailer teases a glimpse of Jon Favreau’s live-action adaptation

The Jungle Book teaser trailer slithers in on Kaa’s voice

The Jungle Book, Jon Favreau’s upcoming live-action adaptation of the Disney/Rudyard Kipling classic, finally has a trailer available for multiple viewings. The footage shown at this year’s D23 made waves and got a standing ovation, and the teaser trailer is our first good glimpse at what’s to come. I’m not quite sold on the Scarlett Johansson narration as Kaa, and it’ll be interesting to see how the voice acting is portrayed on the lifelike animals, but there’s enough here to keep people curious. The Jungle Book is another in a long line of planned animated classics turned live-action reboots on the way, so if Favreau knocks it out of the park the floodgates will probably swing wide open and we’ll get updates of everything. How would you like to see a live-action The Great Mouse Detective? Or maybe a new The Little Mermaid almost completely under water?

Watch the first full-length teaser trailer for The Jungle Book and check out a poster after the jump.

I’m still on the fence. This one looks kind of weird. Again, the animals looking so real but sporting very well-recognized voices could be pretty distracting, so here’s hoping it plays well on screen. It’s hard not to immediately picture Johansson instead of a menacing snake, and voices from the likes Bill Murray and Christopher Walken are going to be tough to sell coming from live-action, meant-to-be-real animals like a bear and a giant orangutan. Favreau’s hit or miss in most people’s book, but he’s known to have a lot of fun with established properties (Iron Man, Cowboys & Aliens, Zathura) as well as original creations (Chef, Elf). The cast, director, and studio are all solid, so only time will tell how audiences receive this one.

In case you’re unfamiliar with The Jungle Book (shame on you), here’s a pretty straightforward plot synopsis:

“The Jungle Book” is an all-new live-action epic adventure about Mowgli, a man-cub who’s been raised by a family of wolves. But Mowgli finds he is no longer welcome in the jungle when fearsome tiger Shere Khan, who bears the scars of Man, promises to eliminate what he sees as a threat. Urged to abandon the only home he’s ever known, Mowgli embarks on a captivating journey of self-discovery, guided by panther-turned-stern mentor Bagheera, and the free-spirited bear Baloo. Along the way, Mowgli encounters jungle creatures who don’t exactly have his best interests at heart, including Kaa, a python whose seductive voice and gaze hypnotizes the man-cub, and the smooth-talking King Louie, who tries to coerce Mowgli into giving up the secret to the elusive and deadly red flower: fire

The Jungle Book stars newcomer Neel Sethi as Mowgli and features the voices of Idris Elba, Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Christopher Walken, Giancarlo Esposito, Lupita Nyong’o, and Ben Kingsley. The Jungle Book makes its way to theaters on April 15, 2016.