Question: who plays the bear in the jungle book

title: The Jungle Book (2016 film)
text: On July 9 , 2013 , Walt Disney Pictures announced that a live - action adaptation of Rudyard Kipling 's short story collection The Jungle Book was in development , with Justin Marks set to write the script . The film would be Disney 's second live - action adaptation of Kipling 's works , following the 1994 film and the 1998 direct - to - video film Mowgli 's Story ; and the studio 's fourth overall after the 1967 animated film . Jon Favreau was confirmed as director on November 5 , 2013 . Favreau as a child used to watch Disney 's 1967 animated film . He felt the need to strike a balance between the two films by retaining the buoyant spirit of the 1967 film , including some of its memorable songs , while crafting a film with more realism and peril . He also stressed the importance of nature and realized how things have shifted during Kipling 's time and now , `` In Kipling 's time , nature was something to be overcome . Now nature is something to be protected . '' He was encouraged by Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn to take advantage of the film 's setting and story as an opportunity to use the latest advancements in photorealistic rendering , computer - generated imagery , and motion capture technologies . The story of the film is not independently taken from Kipling 's works , but also borrows cinematic inspirations from other films , including the child - mentor relationship in Shane ( 1953 ) , the establishment of rules in a dangerous world from Goodfellas ( 1990 ) and the use of a shadowy jungle figure in Apocalypse Now ( 1979 ) .