Jungle Book - End of year question

Explain how changes in production and/or distribution methods have affected the film industry. Refer to Disney’s 1967 and 2016 versions of The Jungle Book to support your answer.
In your answer you must consider how historical and economic contexts influence the production and/or distribution of mainstream films.


Changes in production and distribution methods have affected the film industry in many ways which have allowed it to develop over the years. Historical and economic contexts have had a big influence on production and distribution as advancements in technology have effected the methods of production and distribution. For example, the film industry has advanced from physical distribution of DVDs and film strips to digital distribution of being able to stream content. Disney is part of the 'Big 5' film companies which means that it has a big budget to use for the production and distribution of films and this allows the company to have access to the newest technologies so that it can develop in its production and distribution easily and maintain being a powerful oligopoly. 

In 1967, Walt Disney created The Jungle Book which was an economic success as it generated $305 million worldwide. The production of The Jungle Book included Walt Disney being heavily involved as Disney's previous film The Sword In The Stone hadn't been successful partly due to Walt being focused on diversifying the company into theme parks. Walt Disney was worried about this drop in success and therefore was more involved in production. The production was affected by the historical and economic context of the time as it was being produced post-war which meant that people didn't have much disposable income therefore Disney had to produce something that would heavily persuade audiences to want to see this film. Disney synergised with Technicolour which added colour to the film which was still very new for that time period and caused pull marketing.The backgrounds were hand-painted except for the waterfall which was created using a multiplane camera which created depth and enabled the water to appear as if its moving. Another method of production used were transparent cells which were fixed onto register pegs to allow for various layers of images to be shot at once. All of these methods of production were very new for the time period but have since developed in comparison to the methods used to produce the 2016 version of The Jungle Book. In 2016, Jon Favreau and his company Fairview produced The Jungle Book along with Disney, as part of Disney's on-going live action versions of earlier animated classics. Just like the original, this version of The Jungle Book was very successful and generated $966 million worldwide. The production was affected by historical and economic context as Disney had now become an oligopoly with a big reputation and mass audience to satisfy therefore production had to be of the highest quality which was possible due to Disney's large budget of $175 million for The Jungle Book. As part of creation, Favreau wanted to pay homage to the original Jungle Book film therefore the first scene in production was shot using a multiplane camera but soon changed to the newest technology available- CGI.  The film is a live-action and CGI hybrid with the only actor seen on screen being Neel Sethi as Mowgli. The animals were then created digitally post-production by MPC London. A significant change in the production methods of the 1967 version of The Jungle Book in comparison to the 2016 version is that 1967's version was produced to be put on film and shown in cinemas whilst 2016's version was produced to be shown in 3D due to the development in technology impacting production methods. These changes in production methods have affected the film industry as companies are now able to create higher quality films due to new available technology which has allowed the industry to generate large amounts of revenue. 

There have been many changes in distribution which have affected the film industry. Disney's 1967 version of The Jungle Book was distributed by Buena Vista in the US and Buena Vista International for the rest of the world. The company is owned by Disney due to Disney being vertically integrated. The Jungle Book was originally released in 1967 in cinemas but then re-released in the US 1978, 1984 and 1990 which allowed for it to continue to be successful. It was only available in cinemas at the time but has later been released on DVD, Blu-ray and is now available on Disney's streaming site Disney+. The Jungle Book was originally only available to view in cinemas due to the historical and economic context as DVDs and streaming services weren't available in the 1960s therefore the cinema was the only option for people to view this film. This distribution method is different in comparison to The Jungle Book 2016 as although the film was still shown in the cinema, there were many more options for how audiences could view it. The film was distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion pictures as the company is still vertically integrated. 10% of US showings were in IMAX which allowed audiences to have a more immersive experience whilst also generating more money for Disney due to prices being higher for this. The film was also one of the first films to be released in Dolby Vision 3D and was available in normal 3D and 2D versions. These different options allowed for The Jungle Book to be an experience as well as a film so would therefore appeal to audiences. Like the 1967 version, the film is available on DVD and streaming services but didn't require as much of a wait to enable this to happen. When distributing the films, Disney had to consider their target audience and how they would be able to reach this audience; for 1967 the target audience were families as Walt wanted it to be a family friendly film therefore the cinema was suitable for this as families attended. The target audience for 2016's Jungle Book were a mixture of ages as it had a much darker tone to it which therefore required more effort to ensure all of its target market were reached. Disney distributed adverts across a range of its platforms such as ESPN to advertise to men and Disney Channel to advertise to children. The changes in distributing are due to changes in resources and technology over the years and has affected the film industry as it allows people to enjoy films in new ways and provides more flexibility and therefore success in the film industry. 

Overall, historical and economic contexts have affected the change in production and distribution of films in the film industry as new technologies have been released which have improved production and allowed for more types of distribution to be available to consumers. The film industry has also grown over the years with it being dominated by conglomerates that generate large sums of revenue that are used to constantly improve the production and distribution of films to allow for the continuing success of the industry and enjoyment of audiences. 

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