Bill Murray will voice Baloo in Jon Favreau's 'The Jungle Book'

Bill Murray is heading to the jungle: The actor is set to voice the character of Baloo in Disney’s live-action The Jungle Book.

Murray is just one of many big names to join the cast of the Jon Favreau-directed feature—Christopher Walken, Giancarlo Esposito, Ben Kingsley, Scarlett Jonhansson, Idris Elba, and Lupita Nyong’o are also voicing jungle-dwelling animals. But Baloo, the relaxed brown bear Murray will voice, is perhaps the most famous of the animals thanks to “The Bare Necessities,” a song the bear performed in Disney’s 1967 animated version of The Jungle Book.

The Jungle Book is set to arrive in theaters October 9, 2015.

• By Ariana Bacle