It has been almost 30 years since Brendan Fraser starred in an unexpectedly great reboot of a ’60s children’s cartoon, and the movie remains a favourite of ’90s kids everywhere. Disney’s disastrous live-action remake of Moana proves that many cartoons don’t translate well to live-action for an array of reasons. For one thing, the outlandish slapstick humour of cartoons can often fall flat when enacted by real-life stars. For another, animation allows for ambitious absurdity that is impossible to achieve in reality, and can often look cheap and unconvincing when attempted.
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Despite these issues, some live-action adaptations of cartoons not only work but soar. 1997’s Brendan Fraser vehicle George of the Jungle, based on the 1967 TV show of the same name from The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends creator Jay Ward, is one such movie. Co-written by The Burbs screenwriter Dana Olsen and Under the Tuscan Sun’s Audrey Wells, the $174 million box office hit was directed by D2: The Mighty Ducks director Sam Weisman.
Brendan Fraser’s Live-Action George of the Jungle Is A Classic Family Comedy
Set in Burundi, George of the Jungle sees Fraser’s titular harmless wild child, who was raised by a hyper-intelligent ape after being abandoned in the jungle, fall in love with Leslie Mann’s metropolitan heiress Ursula. The only problem is that Ursula’s fiancée, Thomas Haden Church’s scene-stealing villain Lyle, and her snooty mother don’t approve of the match. With a stellar supporting cast including Richard Roundtree and the voice of John Cleese as George’s talking gorilla guardian, George of the Jungle is as inspired and bizarre as the classic kids’ cartoons that inspired the movie.
While flops like Disney’s Moana remake can make live-action cartoon reboots feel redundant, Fraser’s commitment to physical comedy ensures that George of the Jungle never feels like an unnecessary retread of the original cartoon. Unlike subsequent attempts to bring Ward’s other hit shows to life as live-action movies, such as 2000’s The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, this cult classic benefits from a string of strong supporting turns, a sharp script, and one star’s legendary charisma.
George of the Jungle’s Success Helped Shape Fraser’s Blockbuster Career
While Mann, Cleese, Roundtree, and Church all get a chance to shine, George of the Jungle is undeniably Fraser’s star vehicle. The star had already appeared in 1992’s Encino Man and 1994’s Airheads, but it was the critical and commercial acclaim of George of the Jungle that singled him out as a comedy superstar. In the years that followed, Blast from the Past, Dudley Do-Right, Bedazzled, Monkeybone, and Looney Tunes: Back in Action all relied on Fraser’s stellar comedic timing.
Even his biggest blockbuster series, The Mummy movies, featured a lot of comedy alongside their action, adventure, fantasy, and horror plot elements. Thus, this 1997 hit’s influence is bigger than even fans of the movie might assume. While George of the Jungle was a favourite of ’90s kids the world over since its release, the movie was also instrumental in establishing its star Brendan Fraser as a blockbuster comedy star in the years after its original release.
