This scene terrified me as a child, because I would have nightmares of being trapped in that kind of a situation. By the end, he is futilely pressing against the ceiling in an attempt to stop the inevitable…with a final scream the ceiling clamps down on the floor, entombing Buldeo forever in that small pit, where he will quickly suffocate (unless that salt fills up the space first).
All this time the ceiling is slowly but surely descending, to Buldeo’s mounting panic as it becomes clear he will NOT be able to get out in time. Also, this was supposed to be a fantastically wealthy city, so it makes sense to me that the people who built these traps could afford the luxury of using salt as part of the mechanism.
I’m convinced it is salt and not sand because the material causes Buldeo intense pain in his wounded leg (and salt is very bad for open wounds). This trips a chain reaction, where more and more decorations burst out, spilling more and more salt, and the reason why becomes clear as the salt spills out, the roof of the pavilion is slowly lowering, meaning Mowgli and Buldeo are caught in a trap! Mowgli is able to leap out of the pit to safety, but Buldeo is hampered by his wounded leg and must hobble for the stairs, but he is caught in the growing streams of salt. Limping all the way, Buldeo seemingly has Mowgli cornered in a sunken pavilion, when a stray shot unexpectedly causes a decoration to burst out of the wall, pouring salt out on the floor. But this is complicated because Wilkins (another associate), accidentally shot him in the leg shortly before he was mauled to death by Shere Khan. By the time they get inside the city, most of Boone’s henchmen are dead, but a hunter named Buldeo (who incidentally left Mowgli’s father to die at the beginning of the film) is still alive and he is relentlessly pursuing Mowgli, intent on killing him. Mowgli is forced by Boone and his compatriots to lead them to Monkey City so they can help themselves to the treasure (despite Mowgli’s warnings that the city is dangerous).
Unlike the animated film, where the Monkey City is just a pile of crumbling ruins, this version is not only loaded with treasure, but is also filled with booby traps of all kinds. I for one, can never wholly forget this film because it has a number of disturbing moments in the second half, one of the most disturbing coming in the Monkey City. The first was released in 1994 and stars Jason Scott Lee as Mowgli, Lena Headey (aka Cersei in Game of Thrones) as Katherine and Cary Elwes as Boone. Sherman, Robert B.When Disney released a live-action adaptation of The Jungle Book last year, many seemed to have forgotten that this was the second live-action version of the story that Disney had ever made. Sherman, Music By, Lyrics By – Richard M. I Wan'na Be Like You (2016) Arranged By – Mark Mullins, Engineer – Mike Dorsey Lyrics By – Richard M. Mowgli Wins The Race Arranged By – Scott Lee Miller, William August Hunt Trust In Me Mixed By – Tom Elmhirst, Mixed By – Joe Visciano, Producer – Mark Ronson, Recorded By – Jens Jungkurth, Mark Ronson, Riccardo Damian, Recorded By – Josh Sellers, Written-By – Richard M. The Bare Necessities Producer – Sarah Morrow Recorded By – Misha Kachkachishvili Written-By – Terry Gilkyson
The rest of the soundtrack consists of Debney's graceful, often exhilarating symphonic score, as during the dissonant brass and racing drums of "Shere Khan Attacks - Stampede" and the horn-, harp-, and choir-fortified "Cold Lair Chase." Trivia of note: the composer's father, Louis Debney, began working with Walt Disney in 1934 and went on to produce television series such as Zorro and Mickey Mouse Club, and Favreau plays the ukulele on "I Wan'na Be Like You." The songs "I Wan'na Be Like You" and "Trust in Me" also appear on the soundtrack, sung by Christopher Walken and Scarlett Johansson, respectively. John & the Night Trippers' celebratory New Orleans take on "The Bare Necessities." The same song is performed by Bill Murray (as Baloo) and Kermit Ruffins to close the recording. His fifth feature collaboration with film director Jon Favreau, John Debney's score for the 2016 retelling of Rudyard Kipling's classic tale The Jungle Book incorporates songs from the 1967 Disney animated version.