Jungle Book

The new rendition of The Jungle Book, provided a more realistic and dramatic approach to the story we all know and love. The religious symbolism in the film portrayed the contrasting characters of the jungle. Mowgli, the protagonist, is portrayed as an innocent boy in the beginning of the film. He has no fear as he faces near death experiences in the jungle amongst wild predators as he believes he belongs with the wolves. As the film progresses, characters representing evil are introduced. Shere Khan is a man-eating tiger who threatens the entire jungle until they hand over Mowgli to him. The tiger can be representative of the devil as he deceives the other animals into getting his way. Another interesting symbol in the movie is the scene with the snake, Kaa. Kaa is also deceiving and says "trust in me" to Mowgli as he attempts to trap him in his coils. Before Mowgli is introduced to Kaa, he is eating fruit that he finds which represents the forbidden fruit from the Garden of Eden. Kaa is representative of the devil from the garden as well. Bagheera is a black panther who is portrayed as Mowgli's mentor. In the film, however, their relationship is a form of love. Bagheera is Mowgli's guardian as he repeatedly risks his life in order to help Mowgli to safety. Bagheera is representative of an angel watching over Mowgli. Mowgli not only represents the mortality of human beings, but also the innocence of children.

At the end of the film, Mowgli transforms into a man as he stands up to Shere Khan in order to save the jungle. The jungle animals believe that the "red flower", or fire, is an evil of mankind. Mowgli has the chance to use his power of fire against the animals, mostly Shere Khan, but decides against it. The fire is representative of sin as he has free will to choose to use it or not but chooses against it. Finally the elephants are portrayed an unearthly beings in the film. While in the cartoon version of The Jungle Book the elephants are almost mocked by Bagheera, in this film the elephants are respected and bowed down to. The elephants represent higher religious figures or important leaders in life as they have paved the way (literally in the film) for everyone around them.