Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle

Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle (also known and stylized on screen simply as Mowgli) is a 2018 adventure drama film directed by Andy Serkis with a screenplay by Callie Kloves, based on stories collected in All the Mowgli Stories by Rudyard Kipling. The film stars Rohan Chand, Matthew Rhys, and Freida Pinto, along with voice and motion capture performances from Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Benedict Cumberbatch, Naomie Harris, and Serkis.

Directed by Andy Serkis. Produced by Steve Kloves, Jonathan Cavendish and David Barron Screenplay by Callie Kloves Based on All the Mowgli Stories by Rudyard Kipling.

The greatest journey is finding where you belong.(taglines)

Mowgli

• [softly] Sleep now, Shere Khan. Be angry no more.

Bagheera

• [when Mowgli is in a cage] I lived in a king's palace, in a cage just like this. I bit, and I scratched, and I spent my entire life fighting. Until one day, I just stopped, and they gave me their trust. Gain their trust, and they'll let you out.

Baloo

• You've got hands with fingers on the ends, so let's use them.

Kaa

• [first lines of the film; narrating] I am the jungle's eyes. I can see the past, and the future. It is I, Kaa, who witnessed the coming of man. And the jungle trying to survive. I saw chaos and darkness come to our lands. I saw the tiger, Shere Khan, killing man, and breaking the jungle's ancient law. And then, one fateful night, I saw the jungle place its hopes into the hands of a small creature, the like of which it had never seen before.
• I think we can all agree, Mowgli, that you are something the jungle has never seen before.
• [to Mowgli] Say something, or I shall get bored. And when I get bored, I get hungry!
• One day you will speak, and the jungle will listen. What will you say then, man-cub?
• [protecting Mowgli from the monkeys] Leave the man-cub alone. He belongs with us!
• [last line of the film; narrating] With the tiger and the hunter now gone, the future shimmered from darkness into light. Mowgli, man and wolf, both and neither, had given the jungle a voice. And for as long as he stood watch, it would speak a lasting peace.

Akela

• The cub is spoken for, he is one of us! You will treat him as you would your own. As long as I am alive, the pack will stand by the man-cub.
• [to Shere Khan about Mowgli] This cub is under the protection of the pack. Should you decide to take me, you take on the pack, all of us.

Shere Khan

• I will taste your blood, man-cub!
• The cub is mine. I have already tasted its mother's blood. It is my right.
• You can not be leader forever. The day you miss your kill, the man-cub's blood will run down my chin!
• My, my, how you've grown. [slaps monkey aside] And how much chaos you've brought upon the pack. So much more... to come. Just a little taste...
• But you permitted man to live among you! You pretend that he is a wolf! But we both know that is the one thing he will never be! He will always be a man! You poisoned the jungle! But you are no longer leader now, are you? You missed your kill. And by your law, your pack must challenge you.
• Look at you, using a man's tool to do your killing. What would Baloo and Bagheera think?
• [last words before his death] You know, I can still hear... your mother's screams... the night I took... her life!

Tabaqui

• Sometimes, I dream I'm a tiger, but I always wake up a hyena.
• Akela's missed his kill! Akela's missed his kill!
• [last lines before he retreats in terror and leaves Shere Khan to his fate] What's he doing!?

Dialogue

Tabaqui: Evening Nisha, Vihaan. It's a lovely, isn't it?

Vihaan: What is it that you want, Tabaqui? What's that I smell, fresh kill?

Nisha: If it's bones you're after, look elsewhere. We have enough mouths to feed.

Tabaqui: I mean no trouble, Nisha. [sees man-cub] Oh.

[Shere Khan roars]

Nisha: Your master calls. You best go quickly. He sounds a little tempered tonight.

Tabaqui: That he does, that he does. And with good reason. [takes off] I found the man-cub! I found the man-cub!

---

Akela: When you were a cub, I looked you in the eye and saw no fear. I believed that one day you would bring peace to the jungle. But you have become a man now.

Mowgli: I'm not a man! But neither am I a wolf.

---

[from trailer, before a race with the other wolves]

Mowgli: What happens if you fail?

Baloo: You don't JOIN THE PACK!

---

Kaa: The whole jungle has been watching you, man-cub.

Mowgli: Why?

Kaa: Even you must know you are unusual. Not quite a wolf, not quite a man, or neither, or both...

---

Akela: You have no right to be here, Shere Khan.

Shere Khan: I think you'll find I stay where I please.

Akela: You kill man's cattle, you poison the jungle. You're the reason man is here!

Shere Khan: But you permitted man to live among you! You pretend that he is a wolf! But we both know that is the one thing he will never be! He will always be a man! You poisoned the jungle! But you are no longer leader now, are you? You missed your kill. And by your law, your pack must challenge you.

---

Tabaqui: Did you smell the blood, man-cub?

Mowgli: What is it? The creature that did that to your tail.

Tabaqui: It's called "fire". It's hotter than the sun, and it's quicker than a panther. Your kind use dark magic, man-cub.

Mowgli: They're not my kind.

Tabaqui: [laughs] Sometimes, I dream I'm a tiger, but I always wake up a hyena.

Taglines

• The greatest journey is finding where you belong.
• Witness the darkest telling of the beloved masterpiece.
• He was an outcast... a survivor... a legend.
• Outcast. Survivor. Legend.

Cast

• Rohan Chand as Mowgli.
• Matthew Rhys as John Lockwood.
• Freida Pinto as Messua.

Voices

• Christian Bale as Bagheera.
• Andy Serkis as Baloo.
• Benedict Cumberbatch as Shere Khan.
• Cate Blanchett as Kaa.
• Tom Hollander as Tabaqui.
• Peter Mullan as Akela.
• Naomie Harris as Nisha.
• Eddie Marsan as Vihaan.
• Jack Reynor as Gray Brother.
• Louis Ashbourne Serkis as Bhoot.