The Jungle Book Cast Poses With Their Animal Characters

The Walt Disney Studios has unveiled six new promotional images featuring some of main voice-cast of Jon Favreau's upcoming retelling Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, which includes Idris Elba as Shere Khan, Scarlett Johansson as Kaa, Giancarlo Esposito as Akela, Lupita Nyong'o as Raksha, Christopher Walken as King Louie, and Ben Kingsley as Bagheera.

Of Akela Esposito says he "is a fierce patriarch of the wolf pack/ He believes the strength of the pack lies in what each and every wolf offers. He's a great leader, a wise teacher."

"Bagheera is Mowgli’s adoptive parent," Kingsley says. "His role in Mowgli’s life is to educate, to protect and to guide. My Bagheera was military–he’s probably a colonel. He is instantly recognizable by the way he talks, how he acts and what his ethical code is."

"Kaa seduces and entraps Mowgli with her storytelling," Johansson reveals about her character. "She's the mirror into Mowgli's past. The way she moves is very alluring, almost coquettish."

"King Louie is huge–12 feet tall," Walken says. "But he's as charming as he is intimidating when he wants to be."

"She is the protector, the eternal mother. The word Raksha actually means protection in Hindi," Nyong’o says of her character. "I felt really connected to that, wanting to protect a son that isn’t originally hers but one she’s taken for her own."

"Shere Khan reigns with fear," Elba says of his terrifying character. "He terrorizes everyone he encounters because he comes from a place of fear."

Opening in theaters on April 15, The Jungle Book centers on Mowgli (Neel Sethi), 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 (Elba), 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 (Kingsley), and the free-spirited bear Baloo (Bill Murray). Along the way, Mowgli encounters jungle creatures who don’t exactly have his best interests at heart, including Kaa (Johansson), a python whose seductive voice and gaze hypnotizes the man-cub, and the smooth-talking King Louie (Walken), who tries to coerce Mowgli into giving up the secret to the elusive and deadly red flower, fire.

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