The Jungle Book Review- By Michael Carlisle

Title: The Jungle Book
Director: Wolfgang Reitherman
Year: 1967
Country: US
Language: English

I have seen many film adaptations of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, my favorite is Zoltan Korda's 1942 version which features Indian actor Sanbu.  A close second would be Disney's 1967 animated classic, which most North Americans are familiar with. It was the final Disney animated film that Uncle Walt produced himself, having died before its theatrical release in 1966. It is among Disney's best post-war films, but is more sentimental than the original source material.

Mowgli is a boy who has been raised by wolves in the Indian jungle. When the wolves hear that the fierce tiger, Shere Kahn, is nearby, they decide to send Mowgli to a local "man tribe". On his way to the village, Mowgli meets many animal characters in this musical tale

As with many of the Grimm Brothers' fairy tales, Walt thought the original source material's tone was too dark and too serious for children of the late 60's. He did his best to make sure his writers, animators & composers didn't read Kipling's work as it might influence them to go another artistic direction. The Jungle Book became a Peter-Pan like coming-of-age parable about carefree childhood and adult responsibility. The main song of the film "Bare Necessities" stresses the importance of the theme. 

The Jungle Book is one of Disney's most entertaining, and enduring, classics. A vivid, energetic, funny and touching fable that undoubtedly will undoubtedly be remade in the near future for a new generation. The songs are among the most memorable of that period, it's difficult to forget the jazzy "I wanna Be Like You" sung by a wacky Orangutang voiced by Jazz legend Louis Prima. From what we know of Disney during this time, creating Jungle Book was not an easy task. He was a perfectionist that demanded the best of everyone involved in the creative process. He wrote and re-wrote the script numerous times before the picture evolved into something that he was satisfied with. 

In conclusion, The Jungle Book's bold colours, excellent character designs and nuanced animation makes it a film of real visual beauty. It is not the most fleshed out animation by today's standards, but it is unique and reminiscent of late 60s animation. Though it does have some dated racial stereotyping in the form of King Louie, it doesn't fall into the same  gender stereotyping that Disney pictures often do. Infact it provides us with same-sex parenting in form of Bagheera the Panther and Baloo the Bear. Praise it! 4/5