The story of Mowgli, the young, orphaned boy raised in the Indian jungle by a pack of wolves, has captivated moviegoers for generations. First adapted from Rudyard Kipling's 1894 book of the same name as an animated movie in 1967, The Jungle Book got the live-action movie treatment in 2016, with Neel Sethi as Mowgli and an all-star cast (Bill Murray, Sir Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong'o, Scarlett Johansson, Giancarlo Esposito and Christopher Walken among them) to support him.
And now you and your family can follow the adventures of Mowgli and Bagheera the panther, Baloo the bear and the rest of his jungle pals as The Wonderful World of Disney airs a special screening of The Jungle Book tonight on ABC. It's a continuation of the network's tradition of airing both Disney-owned favorites and time-honored classics throughout the summer season. Previous The Wonderful World of Disney film screenings have included recent Disney faves like Encanto, Marvel movies like Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, as well as Pixar classics like Top Story 2 and Up.
Directed by Jon Favreau, the 2016 remake of The Jungle Book combined elements of both Kipling's original works and the 1967 animated classic, but updated for the modern day with extensive CGI to portray the story's colorful animal characters and lush jungle setting. The movie was a critical and commercial success, being the fifth-highest grossing film of 2016 and winning accolades for achievements in visual effects at the 89th Academy Awards, the Critics' Choice Awards and the British Academy Film Awards.
Anyone with a traditional pay-TV setup, TV antenna or live TV streaming service that carries ABC (Fubo, Hulu with Live TV, YouTube TV) can watch The Wonderful World of Disney's broadcast of The Jungle Book from 9pm to 11pm Eastern Time on Sunday, June 16 on the alphabet network. If you're not able to tune into ABC's broadcast of The Jungle Book, but you do want to revisit the family-friendly movie, it is also available to stream right now on Disney Plus.
Check out the official trailer for The Jungle Book above before tuning in to The Wonderful World of Disney airing on ABC tonight.