Not to long ago I was invited to attend a super secret sneak peek at the new Disney film The Jungle Book. The early look was hosted by the film’s director Jon Favreau and visual effects supervisor Rob Legato. Yes, I just said Jon Favreau. It was one of those moments that “college me” would have not believed while sitting in the $2 theater watching the movie  in 1996.

Director Jon Favreau talks about The Jungle Book at The El Capitan Theater in January 2016.

Back to the screening viewing event. I didn’t know what to expect from The Jungle Book. How would they pull off a live action movie with talking animals? I quite frankly had my doubts. I’m happy to say, I was very, very surprised with what we were presented. Scratch that: I was floored.

Filmmakers used the most up-to-the-minute technology to tell The Jungle Book story in a contemporary and immersive way. They used the live-action performance of the little boy who plated the Mowgli character along side stunning CG environments and extraordinary photo-real animal characters to create a movie that is nothing short of A-MAZ-ING. Instead of matching CG environments to an actual jungle, filmmakers decided to build an almost entirely digital jungle. This allowed Favreau and his team to exaggerate and enhance certain elements like scale or heighten certain colors in the environment, while still basing the jungle on reality. Designers built a practical set—creating only what was needed for a particular shot—that was later blended with the CG environment.

I was totally and completely blown away with how incredibly real everything looked. This is film-making technology like you’ve never seen before. In addition, the film was shot for 3D (as opposed to being shot in 2D and then converted to 3D). I can honestly say I have never seen a movie in which I have said you HAVE to see it in 3D. The photo-real technology mixed with the way the 3D effect makes you feel like you are actually “there” in the movie.

The Jungle Book swings into theaters in 3D on April 15, 2016. You are definitely going to want to see it with the kids!