If it was paid to just an animated Disney classic, respect from the new live-action adaptation of “The Jungle Book” would be impressive enough. But under the tender, loving care of director Jon Favreau (“Elf,” “Iron Man”), the latest remake procreated by Walt Disney’s golden vault generously hands out nods of admiration and deference to other source materials.

Foremost is Rudyard Kipling’s cherished collection of stories. Dating back to 1893, these tales introduced readers to the adventures of Mowgli, an abandoned “man-cub” who is raised by wolves in the Indian jungle. Secondarily are the countless species of animals that adhere to what the Bombay-born English writer called the “law of the jungle,” a general moral code to maintain order in the wild.

Innumerable as adaptations of the Indian jungle-set adventure are, film-wise as early as 1942, the world should make room for at least one more. The blend of CGI animals and landscapes with a real-life Mowgli (newcomer Neel Sethi, the film’s only non-animated character) is not only seamless, but the fact that the entire movie was “filmed in downtown Los Angeles,” as a title card at the close of the end credits reads, makes this wildly entertaining, fast-paced picture even more astounding.

Fans of Disney’s beloved 1967 animated treasure should rejoice; the new iteration isn’t one of those cash cow-exploiting modernizations, but a high-tech homage to the family movie that gave us such classic tunes as “The Bare Necessities,” “Trust in Me,” and “I Wan’na Be Like You.” In fact, each of those songs is dusted off in one fashion or another — maybe not as magically and comically as when fun-loving Phil Harris, slithering Sterling Holloway and swinging Louis Prima lent their pipes, but Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, and Christopher Walken fit in nicely for a darker, more realistic version right for these times.

Perhaps “The Jungle Book” (opened April 15th) can thank “The Lion King” for preparing audiences for a less-silly version of what we grew up with. A flashback of when Mowgli becomes orphaned at the claws of merciless Bengal tiger Shere Khan (Idris Elba) is similar in nature to when Simba loses his dad Mufasa in that other jungle-set Disney movie. But scarier run-ins lay ahead as the sage black panther Bagheera (Ben Kingsley) guides a reluctant Mowgli to the “man village” to lead a more normal life now that he’s 10-years-old and, more importantly, is on top of Shere Khan’s hit list. This rendering of King Louie, the self-proclaimed “jungle VIP,” is also more foreboding this go-around as a Bornean orangutan-resembling Gigantopithecus (picture a Tang-colored King Kong) deliciously voiced by Walken playing up his off-kilter, New York tough guy speech pattern. 4 ½ of 5 Stars.

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