King Louie (2016)

"I am the King of the Bandar-Log. Call me Louie."

- King Louie introducing himself before Mowgli "Kid, I have ears..My ears got ears on my ears..."

- Louie to Mowgli

King Louie (or simply Louie) is the secondary antagonist in the 2016 Disney live action film, The Jungle Book, a remake of the 1967 animated classic. He is a humongous Gigantopithecus who wants Mowgli, being a "Man", to get for him the "Red Flower", which is fire, so he can grow as powerful as man.

He is voiced by Christopher Walken, who also played Max Zorin, Maximillian Shreck, Cornelius Hatcher, the Headless Horseman, Colonel Cutter and Frank White.

Role in the film
He first appears in his temple when several of his followers kidnapped Mowgli and brought him over. After a brief introduction, Louie offers Mowgli protection from the evil tiger Shere Khan, and in return, he expects Mowgli to be his minion and build the red flower from fire, as part of a plan to take over the jungle. However, Mowgli doesn't know how to make fire, and Louie, who realizes that due to his protests, quickly gets mad on Mowgli, who manages to escape with the help of Bagheera and Baloo. The mad Louie sends a spy to find them, and when the spy eventually finds them, Louie orders the trio to be captured. He later corners Mowgli, informing him that Shere Khan has killed Akela, and offers to spare him if he stays and serves him and his plans. However, Mowgli refuses and tries together with Baloo and Bagheera to escape once again. Louie pursues the trio, but ends up ruining into his temple by accident and getting heavily injured, allowing the trio to escape once again. He is shown in the credits to have survived.

Personality
This incarnation of King Louie is more sinister and villainous; though he can be suave, polite, charming and somewhat friendly, he can become impatient, spiteful, aggressive and menacing within moments, especially when things don't go his way.

Trivia

 * Similar to the Grand Duke from the 2015 live reimagining of Cinderella, King Louie is now a villain (unlike his 1967 animated counterpart).
 * Because orangutans in real-life are not native to India, the decision was made to make King Louie a Gigantopithecus—even though the species has been extinct for at least 100,000 years or more.
 * Unlike the original King Louie from the 1967 film, this iteration sings a slightly darker version of the classic song "I Wanna Be Like You".
 * King Louie is the third Disney character that was portrayed as a villain in a live action movie, the first was King Stefan and second was The Grand Duke. Unlike the Grand Duke and Stefan, however, the original King Louie was not a hero but rather a misguided individual whose antagonism is simply heightened in the remake rather than completely new.