The Piano Guys recent video release of their music video The Jungle Book/ Sarabande (Mayan Style) is a must see. Chichen Itza, one of the Wonders of the World, is one of the locations used in making the video.
Chichen Itza dates back to 600 A.D. and is a historic site of Mayan ruins located on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. According to The Piano Guys website, under an article titled “Our Jungle Book Story,” they were “confronted with an entangling challenge” in making this part of the video. The challenge was “to blend the cacophony of Disney Jazz, classical music, Mayan heritage, all while making it epic enough to be filmed in front of a massively-historic, world-renowned stone temple!”
The movie re-make of The Jungle Book got a high rating of 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is the movie critics review. It is one of the best films released so far in 2016. The Jungle Book movie’s description ends with saying, “Mowgli learns valuable life lessons on his epic journey of self-discovery which leads to fun and adventure.” This description reminds me of the adventure and fun The Piano Guy’s had while learning about the Mayan culture and embarking on their journey to create their amazing video featuring this new film.
I had the opportunity to see The Jungle Book when it first came out in theaters, and I can definitely say, if you have not seen it, do!! I was caught up in a world of beauty, nature, fascination, and gorgeous animals during the entire film. At the end of the movie, I was filled with excitement and wanted to watch it again to feel the same sense of enchantment that it brought upon me. Maybe I am just obsessed with jungles and powerful animals, but this is one of my favorite movies I have seen, and I intend to see it again soon. This is part of the reason why I loved The Piano Guys video so much.
The Piano Guys were able to make me feel a similar sense of enchantment as I watched their The Jungle Book/Sarabande video, and 
I am sure others can feel it too. Jon Schmidt plays the Piano on a raft while floating atop a light blue crystal river, while animal sounds can be heard in the background. Steven Sharp Nelson, who is playing a Mayan engraved Cello, accompanies Jon above the river in a magic filled forest. This part of the video truly stuck out to me and made me realize how astonishingly beautiful and wonderful our planet Earth is.
A second part of the video that really struck me, as I am an animal and nature lover, is where Jon and Steven are seen playing the Piano and Cello in a stone solace in the middle of the jungle. Parrots, a bear, a black jaguar, and pythons can be seen on and around the instruments as The Piano Guys build up to the height of their masterpiece. One cannot help but be drawn in.
As the video comes to an end, the filming in Chichen Itza is shown, which is the perfect way to bring this incredible video to a close. I believe that music and culture are two of the most important things we have and create in this world. This video does nothing less than express and explore these two things.
To read more about what The Piano Guys say in “Our Jungle Book Story,” you can visit this link to their website.
