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The Jungle Book is a 1967 American animated feature produced by Disney Animation Studios. Released on October 18, 1967, it is the 19th animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. It was inspired by the stories about the feral child Mowgli from the book of the same name by Rudyard Kipling. The movie contains a number of classic songs, including "The Bare Necessities" and "I Wan'na Be Like You". Most of the songs were written by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman. Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, it was the last to be produced by Walt Disney, who died during its production. The film grossed over $73 million in the United States excluding its three theatrical re-issues.[1]
PlotMowgli (Bruce Reitherman) is found in a basket as a baby in the deep jungles of Madhya Pradesh, India. In the Disney movie, there is no mention of what happened to his parents or how he came to be there, but the basket was in half a boat in the middle of a river; so it is most likely that his parents were washed downstream and drowned. Bagheera (Sebastian Cabot), the panther who discovers the boy, promptly takes him to a wolf who has just had cubs. She raises him along with her own cubs and Mowgli soon becomes well acquainted with jungle life. Mowgli is shown ten years later, visiting the wolves and getting his face licked eagerly when he arrives. That night, when the wolf tribe learns that Shere Khan (George Sanders), a man-eating tiger, has returned to the jungle, they realize that Mowgli must be taken to the "man village", to protect him and those around him. Bagheera volunteers to escort him back. They leave that very night, but Mowgli is determined to stay in the jungle and loses Bagheera. Kaa (Sterling Holloway), the hungry Indian Python, hypnotizes Mowgli into a deep and peaceful sleep, traps him tightly in his coils, and tries to devour him, but comically fails thanks to Bagheera. The next morning, Mowgli tries to join the elephant patrol led by Hathi (J. Pat O'Malley). Bagheera finds Mowgli and they argue; Mowgli runs away from Bagheera. The boy soon meets up with the fun-loving bear Baloo (Phil Harris), who shows Mowgli the fun of having a care-free life and promises not to take him to the man village. Mowgli now wants to stay in the jungle more than ever. Before long, Mowgli is caught by a gang of monkeys and taken to their leader, King Louie (Louis Prima) the orangutan, who makes a deal with Mowgli that if he tells him the secret of making fire like a human, then he will make it so he can stay in the jungle. However, since he was not raised by humans, Mowgli doesn't know how to make fire. Mowgli is rescued from King Louie by Bagheera and Baloo, but soon Mowgli runs away from them after Baloo realizes the man village is best for the boy. Kaa, for a second time, hypnotizes Mowgli into a deep and peaceful sleep, and tries to eat him, but thanks to the intervention of Shere Khan, Mowgli escapes. He encounters a group of solemn vultures (J. Pat O'Malley, Digby Wolfe, Lord Tim Hudson and Chad Stuart), who closely resemble the Beatles, and they say they'll be his friend. The vultures comically argue and continually sidetrack Mowgli with their pointless arguments. Shere Khan appears shortly after and challenges Mowgli to a fight, but when Baloo and Bagheera rush to the rescue, they manage to get rid of the ruthless tiger. Bagheera and Baloo take him to the edge of a man-village, but Mowgli is still hesitant to go in. His mind soon changes when a young girl from the village comes down by the riverside to fetch water. After noticing the boy, she "accidentally" drops her water pot, and Mowgli retrieves it for her and follows her into the man village. After Mowgli chooses to stay in the man village, Baloo and Bagheera decide to head home while singing a reprise of "The Bare Necessities". CastMain article: The Jungle Book characters
All of the voice actors are credited in the film's credits, with the exceptions of Leo De Lyon, Bill Lee, Hal Smith, Terry-Thomas and Digby Wolfe.[citation needed] DevelopmentDisappointed by the reception of The Sword in the Stone, Walt Disney was determined to give the opportunity for his animators to do their best work.[2] He assigned Larry Clemons as one of the four story men for the film; giving the animator a copy of Kipling's book, Disney told him: "The first thing I want you to do is not to read it."[2] Walt counted on the characters to drive the story. Many familiar voices inspired the animators in their creation of the characters[2] and helped them shape their personalities.[3] This use of familiar voices for key characters was a rarity in Disney's past films.[3] Walt took an active role in the story meetings, acting out each role and helping to create gags.[2] It was the last animated film from the company to have Walt's personal touches.[3] The vultures bearing a physical and vocal resemblance to The Beatles was a result of the band nearly singing songs for the movie and voicing the vultures themselves. Manager Brian Epstein (who died from an accidental drug overdose less than two months before the film's release) had approached Disney about having the band appearing in the movie without asking the band first. Once Epstein informed John Lennon about it, he immediately vetoed it and told Epstein to go tell Disney to look for Elvis Presley instead.[4] Nonetheless, the vultures still appeared like the band, including with the signature mop-top haircut. Ironically, the Beatles had started to phase out the mop-top haircuts around this time, with Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band having been released that June and signifying the band's departure from that hairstyle. ReleasesThe Jungle Book was released in October 1967,[2] just 10 months after Walt's death.[3] It was a success, earning $13 million in just its domestic release[3], mostly due to the popularity of its musical numbers.[2] The film made its VHS home video debut in Mexico on October 31, 1987, twenty years after its original release. This 1987 release was dubbed in Spanish. The Jungle Book was released in the United States on VHS in 1991 as part of the Walt Disney Classics product line. The American version was subsequently re-released in 1997 as part of the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection for the film's 30th anniversary. A Limited Issue DVD was released by Buena Vista Home Entertainment in 1999. The film was released once again as a 2-disc Platinum Edition DVD on October 2, 2007 to commemorate its 40th anniversary. The Platinum Edition presents the film for the first time in 1.75:1 widescreen aspect ratio. This is the first Disney release titled "Platinum Edition" in the UK instead of "Special Edition". Critical reactionThe Jungle Book received an outpouring of positive reviews, undoubtedly influenced by a nostalgic reaction to the passing of Walt.[3] Time Magazine noted that the film strayed far from the Kipling stories, but "the result is thoroughly delightful...it is the happiest possible way to remember Walt Disney."[3] The New York Times called in "a perfectly dandy cartoon feature," and Life magazine referred to it as "the best thing of its kind since Dumbo."[3] Some negative reviews came from Judith Crist, who said the film was "devoid of mood or atmosphere." Variety's review was generally positive, but they stated that "the story development is restrained" and that younger audiences "may squirm at times."[3] AwardsThe film received an Academy Award nomination in 1967 [1]:
MusicThe score features eight original songs:
Longtime Disney collaborator Terry Gilkyson was brought in to write the songs for the film. Gilkyson delivered several complete songs, but Walt Disney felt that his efforts were too dark. The Sherman Brothers were brought in to do a complete rewrite, on the condition that they not read Rudyard Kipling's book. The only piece of Gilkyson's work which survived to the final film was his upbeat tune "The Bare Necessities", which was liked by the rest of the film crew.[5] The song "Trust in Me" is based upon a song entitled "Land of Sand" which had been written by the Sherman Brothers for, but not used in, Mary Poppins.[5] Part of "Bare Necessities" was remixed for the theme song of its short-lived 1990s TV spin-off, Jungle Cubs. In the scene where Bagheera, the vultures, and Mowgli believe that Baloo is dead as well as Bagheera funerals Baloo, Paul J. Smith's organ score from Walt Disney's first film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is heard from the scene where the seven Dwarfs mourn Snow White on her bed before she is put into the glass coffin. "We're Your Friends" was originally conceived as a rock and roll song, sung by the quartet of vultures and an original character, Rocky the Rhino. The vultures were even designed based on The Beatles, with moptop haircuts and Liverpudlian accents, and would be voiced by the band, which did not come into fruition due to problems with their schedule. During production, first Rocky was cut, then Disney decided the 60's style rock would cause the song to be considered dated later, leading "We're Your Friends" to be changed to the barbershop quartet that appears in the final film.[6] Bill Lee of The Mellomen sung Shere Kahn's part, due to George Sanders not being available.[7] On Classic Disney: 60 Years of Musical Magic, this includes "Colonel Hathi's March" on the red disc, "The Bare Necessities" on the blue disc, "I Wanna Be Like You" and "Trust in Me" on the green disc, "That's What Friends Are For" on the purple disc, and "My Own Home" on the orange disc. The Disney's Greatest Hits collection includes the song "I Wanna Be Like You" on the blue disc and "The Bare Necessities" on the green disc. Deleted songsAll of the below songs were the original songs by Terry Gilkyson.
Differences between the Mowgli Stories and the film
When the Walt Disney Company read The Jungle Book, they decided to make it a more viewer friendly film[citation needed] and altered the story. Here are some main differences:
LegacyElements of The Jungle Book were recycled in the later Disney feature film Robin Hood due to that film's limited budget, such as Baloo being inspiration for Little John (who not only was a bear, but also voiced by Phil Harris). Many characters appear in the 1990-91 animated series TaleSpin. Between 1996 and 1998, the TV series Jungle Cubs told the stories of Baloo, Bagheera, Louie, Kaa and Shere Kahn when they were children. Disney later made a live-action remake of the movie, which was more of a realistic action-adventure film with somewhat-more adult themes. The film, released in 1994, differs even more from the book than its animated counterpart, but was still a box-office success. There are two videogames based on the film. The Jungle Book was a platformer released in 1993-4 for Master System, Mega Drive, Game Gear, Super NES, Game Boy and PC. A version for the Game Boy Advance was later released in 2003. The Jungle Book Groove Party was a dance mat game released in 2000 for Playstation and Playstation 2. Kaa has also made a cameo appearance in another Disney video game, Quackshot. On February 14, 2003, DisneyToon Studios in Australia released a sequel to the 1967 classic, entitled, The Jungle Book 2, in which Mowgli runs away from the man village he moved into at the end of the first film, to see his animal friends, unaware of the danger he's facing with the not-yet-dead Shere Khan who is more determined to kill him than ever, due to embarrassing him earlier. Since the movie's release, many of the film's characters appeared in House of Mouse, The Lion King 1½, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and Aladdin and the King of Thieves. References
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