Famous American comedian Bill Murray was chosen to voice the famous Rudyard Kipling’s character, Baloo the bear, in Disney’s new adaptation of The Jungle Book, directed by Jon Favreau.

The list of stars already cast for the film includes Christopher Walken, who will voice King Louie, Ben Kingsley who will play the black panther Bagheera and Idris Elba who will play the villainous tiger Shere Khan.
The sensual voice of Scarlet Johansson will be heard in the role of the python Kaa and this year’s Oscar winner, Lupita Nyong’o will play mother wolf Raksha.

Baloo, the lazy carefree bear, is one of the main characters of the famous story by English author Rudyard Kipling. The fact that Murray was cast for the role is considered a “feat”, since the talented comedian has no agent and it is very difficult to persuade him to accept different roles.

Disney has cast 10-year-old New Yorker Neel Sethi as Mowgli, the main character of the book.

Sethi, who has no previous professional acting experience, will be the only actor to appear on-screen in this combination of live action and animation.

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