If Malaysian cinema goers look hard enough, they may just recognise Sabah’s forests in the hit movie, The Jungle Book.

Visual effects artist Helen Brownell was so inspired by her visit to Sabah 10 years ago as a Raleigh International volunteer that she included its forest in some of the movie scenes.

She had spent about 10 weeks in pristine areas such as the Imbak Canyon, Mount Kinabalu and the Crocker Range.

Today, she works in The Moving Picture Company and since 2014, has been involved in Disney Pictures’ live-action retelling of the adventures of Mowgli and his animal friends.

“Nothing can compare to the real experience of being in the jungle. But having the challenge of recreating such an amazing environment in computer generated imagery was a real joy,” she said in a blog posting on raleighinternational.org.

“So many things during the project would spark up memories of my Borneo adventure.

“I was excited to re-create some of the beautiful environments from my trip and let my adventure influence a lot of the work I did towards the jungle in the film,” she added.

“I hope that when you see the film, you really get a sense of the jungle coming to life,” she said.

“There are hundreds of species of plants and trees and animals reflecting the rich variety of life,” said Brownell, adding that she hoped to return to Sabah and experience its jungles again.

State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said he was not surprised that Sabah’s jungle had been an inspiration for Brownell, adding that the state’s “conservation records speak for themselves.”

Sabah Forestry Department director Datuk Sam Mannan said the jungle and parks that Brownell had experienced during her visit were still there, adding that the state government was in fact enlarging the totally protected areas.

“To me, the forest in the movie really looks like the jungle of Sabah instead of those in India where it was supposed to be,” said Mannan, pointing out that the state’s lowland dipterocarp trees were among the tallest in the world.

He said the fact that Sabah’s jungle had been the inspiration for the movie makers was a pleasant surprise.

Source:
courtesy of THE STAR

by Ruben Sario

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