Animation Celebration Saturday - The Jungle Book (1967)

Disney, 1967
Voices of Phil Harris, Bruce Reitherman, Sebastian Cabot, and Louis Prima
Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman
Music and Lyrics by Richard M and Robert B. Sherman and Terry Gilkyson

Having had success with animal characters in 101 Dalmatians and to a lesser degree in The Sword and the Stone, Disney turned to the animal world for their next film. The Jungle Book started out as a much darker story, ala the original Kipling novel. Disney thought it was too dark, and after the original director left, they started over from scratch. How does the resulting film look now? Let's head to the jungles of India, as Bagheera the black panther (Cabot) finds a human baby jungle animals call a "man cub," and find out...

The Story: Bagheera turns the baby over to a family of wolves to raise. Ten years later, the baby, now known as Mowgli (Reitherman), is a favorite in the wolf pack and his family. Bagheera is happy for him, but he's also concerned. Shere Khan, the man-hating tiger (George Sanders), has returned to the jungle, and he doesn't think Mowgli will be safe with the wolves anymore. He tries to take him to the nearest human village, but Mowgli likes living in the jungle and refuses to go. Rough and tumble Baloo the Bear (Harris) agrees and tries to keep the boy with him.

There's more dangers in the jungle that Mowlgi suspects, though, including Louie the Orangutan (Louis Prima) who wants him to teach his apes about fire and Kaa the python (Sterling Holloway) who thinks Mowgli is dinner. When Shere Khan does finally find Mowgli, it's up to Baloo and Bagheera - and Mowgli's own quick-thinking - to save them from Khan's claws and teeth!

The Animation: By this point, Disney was exclusively using the Xerox process that resulted in the scratchy lines around its animation, giving it a rough look. In this case, it actually sort of suits the jungle antics. At the least, this one does feature some of Disney's best character animation of the era. It's amazing how expressive they manage to make these critters, especially Baloo, Khan, and pompous Colonel Hathai.

The Song and Dance: One of Disney's funniest and most charming films. Everyone's having a good time here, especially Harris as free-wheeling Baloo and Cabot as stuffy Bagheera. Sanders gives Shere Khan more of an air of sophistication than you'd expect to find in a tiger. Sterling Holloway also does surprisingly well in his only villainous voice role at Disney, and Louis Prima joins Harris to turn "I Wanna Be Like You" into a showstopper.

Favorite Number: By far the most famous song here is Baloo's big number, "The Bare Necessities," as he shows Mowgli the ins and outs of being a bear. It's a catchy, jazzy song that perfectly captures Baloo's laid-back attitude. The party heats up as Baloo disguises himself to rescue Mowgli - and gets a great dance with Louie - in "I Wanna Be Like You." "Colonel Hathai's March" through the jungle parodies military march routines as the elephants stamp through brush and explain why they're on patrol.

Trivia: This was the last animated movie Walt Disney had any personal involvement with. He died eight months before its release.

A direct sequel to The Jungle Book was released to theaters in 2003 and did surprisingly well at the box office. A third was planned, but was scrapped after John Lasseter ended production on all sequels.

What I Don't Like: While the vultures who turn up to sing "That's What Friends are For" shortly before the finale are funny, they're also blatant spoofs of the Beatles and other popular British rock bands of the mid-60's. A lot of people who weren't around then or aren't classic rock fans may not get the joke. Despite Walt insisting on changing the heavy plot of the original Kipling novel, some fairly dark moments do remain, including Baloo's near-death encounter with Shere Khan. And yes, this doesn't have much to do with the original novel.

The Big Finale: Great music and a game cast more than make up for the uneven tone, scratchy animation, and some dated references. Definitely recommended for kids who love animals or fans of animation or the Disney canon.

Home Media: At the moment, your best way to find this one is to get a subscription to Disney Plus, or look for the DVD used. The DVD has been out of print for years and is expensive online.

DVD
Disney Plus