The Jungle Book (1967 film)

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The Jungle Book

Directed by	Wolfgang Reitherman
Produced by	Walt Disney
Starring	Phil Harris Sebastian Cabot Bruce Reitherman George Sanders Sterling Holloway Louis Prima
Music by	Robert B. Sherman Richard M. Sherman
Distributed by	Buena Vista Pictures
Release date(s)	October 18, 1967
Running time	78 minutes
Language	English
Budget	$20,000,000 (estimated)
Preceded by	The Sword in the Stone (1963)
Followed by	The Aristocats (1970)
IMDb profile

The Jungle Book is the nineteenth animated feature in the Disney animated features canon. It was first released on October 18, 1967, and was the last animated feature produced by Walt Disney, who died during its production. It was based, rather loosely, on the stories about the feral child Mowgli from the book The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. The movie remains one of Disney's most popular, and contained a number of classic songs, including "Bare Necessities" and "I Wanna Be Like You". Most of the songs are by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman. The film was directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, and Mowgli was voiced by his son, Bruce Reitherman.

1 Plot
2 The Jungle Book theatrical release history
3 Characters / Animals Featured
4 Voice cast
5 Crew members
6 Songs and music
7 Titles in different languages
8 External links

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The Jungle Book is the ninteenth animated feature and was the last animated movie to be produced by Walt Disney, who died during its production. The move is rather loosely based on Rudyard Kipling's book by the same name. The movie is one of Disney's most popular, containing the classic songs "Bare Necessities" and "I Wanna Be Like You", and spawned a sequel titled The Jungle Book 2.

Mowgli and Baloo.

Mowgli is found in a basket as a baby in the deep jungles of India. In the Disney movie there is no mention of what happened to his parents or how he came to be there. Bagheera, the panther who discovers the boy, promptly takes him to a mother wolf who has just had cubs. She raises him along with her own cubs and Mowgli soon become well acquainted to jungle life. When the wolf tribe learns that Shere Khan, 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 since Mowgli is determined to stay in the jungle things go a little astray. First Kaa, the hungry Rock-Python, tries to hypnotize Mowgli and eat him but fails. Then the next morning, Mowgli tries to join the elephant patrol led by Hathi. After that Mowgli and Bagheera get in an argument and then Mowgli runs away from Bagheera.

Mowgli soon meets up with the fun-loving bear Baloo, who shows Mowgli the fun of having a care-free life and promises not to take him to the man village. Now more than ever does Mowgli want to stay in the jungle. Before to long, Mowgli is caught by a gang of monkeys and taken to their leader, King Louie the orangutan, who makes a deal with Mowgli that if he tells him the secret of making red fire like a human, than he would make it so he could stay in the jungle. Mowgli is rescued from King Louie by Bagheera and Baloo, but soon runs away from them after Baloo realizes the man village is best for the boy and breaks his promise.

The girl who lured Mowgli out of the jungle.

He encounters a group of solemn vultures, and they say they'll be his friend. Shere Khan appears shortly after, but when Baloo rushes to the rescue, together they manage to get rid of the ruthless tiger. Bahgeera 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.

[edit] The Jungle Book theatrical release history

1990 re-release poster of The Jungle Book.

[edit] US release dates

October 18, 1967 (original release)
June 9, 1978
July 27, 1984
July 13, 1990

[edit] Worldwide release dates

[edit] The Jungle Book home video release history

May 3, 1991 (VHS)
February 13, 1992 (Laserdisc)
October 14, 1997 (VHS)
October 27, 1997 (Laserdisc)
December 7, 1999 (VHS and DVD)

NOTE: A Platinum Edition is expected to be released on DVD by Buena Vista Home Entertainment in October 2007.

[edit] Characters / Animals Featured

* Mowgli - the main character, a young jungle boy raised by wolves.
* The Girl - later known as Shanti in The Jungle Book 2, she lured Mowgli out of the jungle.
* Colonel Hathi - An Indian Elephant and leader of the elephant troop who is very pompous.
* Bagheera - A Black Panther who first finds Mowgli, they become good friends.
* King Louie - An Orangutan who lives in an ancient ruined temple, he gets Mowgli so he can teach him the secret of fire.
* Baloo- A Sloth Bear who befriends Mowgli. He lives life according to his own rhythm.
* Kaa - A Rock Python.
* Shere Khan - A Bengal Tiger and main antagonist in the movie. He is known hater of man and seeks to kill Mowgli.
* Winifred and Junior - Indian Elephants, wife and son of Colonel Hathi, respectively.
* Buzzie, Ziggy, Dizzy and Flaps - Four Vultures, loosely based on "The Beatles".
* Rama, Akela, Raksha and cubs - Are all Grey Wolves, the pack helped raise Mowgli since he was a baby.

[edit] Voice cast

Bruce Reitherman as Mowgli
Darleen Carr as Shanti
Phil Harris as Baloo
Sebastian Cabot as Bagheera
Louis Prima as King Louie
George Sanders as Shere Khan
Sterling Holloway as Kaa
J. Pat O'Malley as Colonel Hathi
Verna Felton as Winifred
Clint Howard as Junior
Chad Stuart as Flaps
Lord Tim Hudson as Dizzy
Digby Wolfe as Ziggy
John Abbott as Akela
Ben Wright as Rama
Leo Delyon as Monkey
Bill Skyles as Monkey
Hal Smith as Monkey
Peter Henderson as Monkey
Terry-Thomas as Vultures(singing) and Elephants

[edit] Crew members

Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman
Produced by Walt Disney
Story by Larry Clemmons, Ralph Wright, Ken Anderson and Vance Gerry (inspired by the Rudyard Kipling "Mowgli" stories)
Directing animators Milt Kahl, Ollie Johnston, Frank Thomas and John Lounsbery
Character animation Hal King, Eric Cleworth, Eric Larson, Fred Hellmich, Walt Stanchfield, John Ewing and Dick Lucas
Effects animation by Dan MacManus
Background styling by Al Dempster
Background by Bill Layne, Ralph Hulett, Art Riley, Thelma Witmer and Frank Armitage
Production manager Don Duckwall
Sound by Robert O'Cook
Film editors Tom Acosta and Norman Carlisle
Music editor Evelyn Kennedy
Music by George Bruns
Orchestration by Walter Sheets
Songs by Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman
"Bare Necessities" by Terry Gilkyson; sung by Phil Harris

[edit] Songs and music

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 and "too Kipling". 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".

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.

Part of "Bare Necessities" was remixed for the theme song of its short-lived 1990s TV spin-off, Jungle Cubs. The characters of Baloo, Shere Khan, and King Louie were also featured in the television series TaleSpin.

Songs: