We could be here all day listing movies like The Jungle Book, so we’ve made the conscious decision to avoid animation completely and focus on Jon Favreau’s 2016 live-action remake.
Stunningly realized, the smash hit is familiar enough to appeal to fans of the original but adds enough new elements into the story to appeal to audiences of every age group and demographic.
Each of the following ten movies have plenty in common with The Jungle Book, from a supporting cast of anthropomorphic animal characters to an abundance of awe-inspiring adventure.
10 Animal Adventure Movies Like The Jungle Book
1. Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle (2018)
If you’re running down movies like The Jungle Book, then the obvious place to start would be the origin story of Mowgli from the Jungle Book in this Netflix original.
Andy Serkis directs as well as playing Baloo, and assembles a star-studded cast of his own to rival Jon Favreau’s in a much darker and more serious approach to the source material.
Christian Bale, Benedict Cumberbatch, Cate Blanchett, and more lend their vocals and facial capture to Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle, which should appeal to those put off by Disney’s kid-friendly take.
2. Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book (1994)
You can’t compile a list of movies like The Jungle Book without including Disney’s first take at adapting the story for live-action, which has largely become lost to the sands of time.
Stephen Sommers directs Jason Scott Lee as Mowgli with Cary Elwes, Sam Neill, and John Cleese rounding out the supporting cast of human characters in a movie where the animals don’t talk.
Hardly the most faithful adaptation of the source material despite bearing the author’s name, the movie nonetheless provides a solid action-adventure spin on a story known all over the world.
3. Life of Pi (2012)
A single human at the center of the story surrounded by a cast of animals, Ang Lee’s Life of Pi tells the story of what it takes for a young man to survive and the symbolism that slowly reveals itself.
The award-winning prestige drama might not be an all-ages adventure like many of the other titles on our list, but it’s nonetheless one of the most visually stunning movies of the 21st Century.
Turning a bare-bones setup into an enthralling and gripping tale of survival is no easy feat, and Lee once again reinforced his credentials as one of the industry’s premier talents in the process.
4. The Lion King (2019)
Unsurprisingly, our list of movies like The Jungle Book will feature a few of Disney’s live-action remakes of their animated classics, and there’s no better place to start than the biggest of the lot.
Jon Favreau’s The Lion King is almost a shot-for-shot retread of the beloved original, but that didn’t stop audiences from falling in love with the story of Simba’s exile and return all over again.
James Earl Jones is the only original star to return as Mufasa, but with Donald Glover, Beyonce, and Seth Rogen just three of the cast members, the replacements were more than adequate.
5. Two Brothers (2004)
When twin tiger cubs are separated after their father is killed by a hunter, Kumal and Sangha are reunited under very different circumstances before making a daring bid for escape.
Guy Pearce and Freddie Highmore play the only prominent human characters in Jean-Jacques Annaud’s unique spin on the animal adventure that’s a visual treat.
Two Brothers is defiantly old school in its approach to the story just due to the 1920s setting. But it does stand apart as a unique entry on our countdown of movies like The Jungle Book.
6. Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Movies like The Jungle Book don’t always need their talking sidekicks to be animals, and Beauty and the Beast opts to have the furniture come to life instead of in Bill Condon’s remake.
Every new take on a classic Disney animation boasts an A-list ensemble, and Beauty and the Beast is no different as a veritable who’s who of Hollywood shows up to play their part.
The lavish re-telling of the story hits all of the familiar narrative beats, and is another live-action remake that doesn’t offer anything new but still manages to recapture the sense of wonder.
7. The Bear (1988)
Two Brothers director Jean-Jacques Annaud makes another appearance on our list of movies like The Jungle Book, except this time it tracks an orphaned bear cub that tries to bond with a closed-off grizzly.
With hardly any dialogue and sparse music, The Bear is much more experimental than the rest of the titles on our list, meaning it might not be for everyone.
That being said, it carries the weight of themes you’d expect to find in a hard-hitting drama, wrapped in the guise of a family-friendly animal adventure.
8. Aladdin (2019)
Guy Ritchie’s Aladdin may not feature as many talking animals as some of the other movies like The Jungle Book, but it takes virtually the same approach in adapting the animated original.
All of the major plot, character, and musical beats are accounted for as Mena Massoud’s Aladdin stumbles upon both Naomi Scott’s Jasmine and Will Smith’s Genie.
Smith does a solid job trying to bring something different to a role that many believe to be untouchable after Robin Williams’ iconic turn, and the end result is a sturdy family blockbuster.
9. The Golden Compass (2007)
There might not be a lot of common ground between the two, but there are plenty of talking animals in The Golden Compass, which is reason enough to include it among movies like The Jungle Book.
It helps greatly that two of those animals are armored polar bears voiced by Ians McKellen and McShane, and the Phillip Pullman adaptation is a lot more complex than most Disney fare.
There’s a whole lot of moving pieces to keep track up, but as a diverting effects-driven blockbuster there’s still plenty to recommend about Chris Weitz’s ambitiously flawed movie.
10. Cinderella (2015)
There are no talking animals to be found in Kenneth Branagh’s Cinderella, but it can comfortably stand among movies like The Jungle Book in terms of thematic content and a sense of familiarity with the plot.
Another story that audiences have seen countless times before, Branagh’s Shakespearean background makes him the ideal fit for an opulent romance set in the world of high society.
Cinderella hardly breaks new ground, but as a flashy update of the animated original that arrived over half a century later, it introduced a whole new generation to the titular fairy-tale.