A HOST of wannabe Mowgli 'man cubs' descended on the Brunel Centre at the weekend for its Jungle VIP event.

The shopping centre was alive with Jungle-inspired activities and entertainment to mark the new Jungle Book film which will be in opening in cinemas this month.

Music was provided by the stunning African acrobats, The Black Eagles from Tanzania.

Indian magician Jaardu, a cheeky and irreverent character enthralled the audience as he carried out a caricature of an Indian village magician.

The Gorillas captivated shoppers by looking and behaving exactly like the real thing and audiences heard about the threats to the animals and their habitat.

Other activities included a mask making workshop where youngsters were able to create their own jungle masks and there was free face-painting to help make the transformation from human to jungle animal.

Jane Stewart, Marketing Manager at The Brunel said: “The live entertainment acts were first rate and have received excellent reviews and the craft workshops, face painting and storytelling were very popular with both parents and children alike.”

“I’m delighted that we were again able to offer top quality and free activity and entertainment for families during the school holidays."

Jungle Book was originally based on the stories of Rudyard Kipling which were first published in 1893 and were believed to have been written for Kipling's young daughter Josephine who died aged six.

Walt Disney released the first film in 1967 to an acclaimed sountrack and the latest film by Jon Favreau features the voices of Scarlett Johansson as Kaa, Bill Murray as Baloo, Idris Elba as Shere Khan and Ben Kingsley as Bagheera.