In a truly joyous piece of casting, Disney has confirmed that Bill Murray will supply the voice of all-singing, all-dancing bear, Baloo in its forthcoming remake of The Jungle Book.

Murray joins an all-star cast of vocal talent that includes Idris Elba as Shere Khan, Christopher Walken as King Louis, Ben Kingsley as Bagheera and Scralett Johansson as Kaa.

We’d say that’s pretty perfect casting across the board, with the addition of Murray leaving Warner Bros.’s rival production rather a lot to live up to.

However, there’s news to report on that film also, with Warner’s Andy Serkis-helmed version having now confirmed a US release date of 21 October 2016, and renamed itself Jungle Book: Origins.

Directed by Jon Favreau and co-starring Giancarlo Esposito, Lupita Nyong’o and Neel Sethi, Disney’s version of The Jungle Book will open in the UK on 16 October 2015.