The 10-year-old Neel Sethi will play little Mowgli, the famous hero of Kipling, who grew up with a family of wolves in the jungle of India. Sethi, who has never played again in the cinema or theater, he will be the only actor appearing in the film, since Disney chose to use a combination of live-action and animation featuring just one human. Little Neel was selected among thousands of children from U.S., Canada and Great Britain.

Jon Favreau is directing the film from a script written by Justin Marks for a release in 3D on October 9, 2015.

“Casting is the most important element of any film and finding the right kid to play Mowgli was imperative,” Favreau said in a statement. “Neel has tremendous talent and charisma. There is a lot riding on his little shoulders, and I’m confident he can handle it.”

Voice actors include Scarlett Johansson (Kaa, the python), Idris Elba (Shere Khan, the duplicitous tiger), Lupita Nyong’o (Rakcha, the mother wolf) and Ben Kingsley (Bagheera, the friendly leopard).