This week, I watched the new live-action version of Disney's Jungle Book. The original is cute, a classic. Many people adore it. But for me, it was never very exciting because it was my least favorite kind of story, milieu. This means location. The place is the main character. Mowgli represents the audience as Baloo and Bagira act as tour guides to show off the quirky denizens of the jungle, who sing to display their personalities/philosphies. Some of them are dangerous to the defenseless Mowgli. But it is nonetheless not the story of a kid in a jungle so much as the story of the characters that people that jungle.
The new move has the same checklist of characters, for the most part. However, the story as shown in the new movie employs the power of the hero's journey as described by Joseph Campbell. Mowgli starts in the normal world, in the wolf pack. His call to adventure comes from Shere Khan, the tiger who threatens his family and home. At first, he resists it, then he accepts it. He then descends into the underworld of the unknown parts of the jungle and faces a number of dangers, including a father-figure's death. The stakes are higher. The choices are Mowgli's to make, not forced on him, and he grows as a character through them. The movie takes one step further in becoming a bildungsroman, a coming of age story. Because he fulfills the hero's journey, he emerges capable, master of both worlds.
A lot of writers like to write stories, but any story, whether it be a fantasy, a fairy tale retelling, science fiction, horror, or romance can benefit from the time-proven power of the hero's journey. As I mentioned several weeks ago, many of Pixar's movies follow the same pattern. People subconsciously expect it when they start reading an adventure yarn, especially. When major parts of the hero's journey are lacking, people notice and feel unsatisfied. I highly recommend that any writer researches and employs the hero's journey in their stories.
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