Considering Disney's huge back catalogue of films, it's a surprise they haven't plundered deeper into it and dusted off more titles to resurrect. Perhaps owning Marvel and all things Star Wars is just keeping them too busy, which is fine if this effort is anything to go by.

Their original 1967 animated title is of course a classic. This version is a curious beast. At first glance it could be mistaken for a live action film, but it is completely computer generated. It even boasts during the end credits that it was made entirely in downtown LA, which is both impressive and a tad sad. The one non CGI element of the film is the inclusion of the very young Neel Sethi, making his screen debut as Mowgli.

When his father is murdered by the tiger Shere Khan (Idris Elba), the young Mowgli (Sethi) is rescued by the black panther Bagheera (Ben Kingsley), who leaves him in the very capable paws of wolves who raise the 'man cub' as one of their own in the jungle.

Years later, Shere Khan returns to exact his revenge - Mowgli's father managed to blind him in one eye before he killed him - and kill Mowgli. To avoid this, it's agreed that Mowgli should leave, for everyone's safety, with Bagheera believing the time is right for the young 'man cub' to return to his own kind. And so begins Mowgli's jungle adventure back to his roots.

Disney, more than anyone, has built an entire brand from talking animals; their mascot Mickey has been squeaking his way through features and shorts since 1928. The Jungle Book then continues this trend, although in a far more unnerving fashion.

Director Jon Favreau, who is showing a real aptitude for helming these big budget blockbuster flicks, has created creatures from nothing more than pixels to look as life-like as possible. It isn't until they actually start talking that you realise that they aren't real animals. But it's this vocal addition that spoils the entire film.

Favreau has gone to great lengths to make his vision look as realistic as possible. The jungle setting is suitably lush and the animals that live within it wouldn't look out of place in a Nat Geo documentary. Until they open their mouths and start talking. For example, Baloo is voiced by Bill Murray; now when you pay for Bill, you get the unmistakably American vocal talents of Bill. The same goes for Christopher Walken, voicing orang-utan King Louie, as well as doing a slight nod to Brando's Colonel Kurtz from Apocalypse Now; despite being born and raised in the jungle, Louie sounds like he's a New Yorker through and through. And this goes for much of the vocal cast that includes Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba and Scarlett Johansson, who all talk in their native tongue.

So not only do you have photo realistic animals just casually chatting with American and English accents, there are also no regional accents as such to get a bearing of where they all live exactly; for all we know, it could be downtown LA...

It's disappointing that a film based in such a rich and vibrant setting is subject to such severe Hollywood homogenisation, but it shouldn't come as a surprise, after all, Nicole Kidman and Macaulay Culkin can be seen hanging out with those comparing meerkats on our TV's on a regular basis, but at least they have a hint of a Russian heritage about them.

Favreau also decided to include two of the classic songs from the original film - not that he had much of a choice mind - but their inclusion is both awkward and borderline apologetic.

There's no denying the film looks good, and although the 3D aspect isn't pushed anywhere near to its full potential it certainly adds to the overall effect, it's let down by a truly bland script. The only spark of fun comes by way of Murray who injects some well needed personality into his Baloo.

Hopefully Disney will be far too busy with their superheroes and jedis to delve further into their classic collection, as none of them deserve this kind of treatment. And as far as this re-vamp is concerned, it's about as far away from being a necessity as you can possibly get.