The Jungle Book (1967 film)

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The Jungle Book
Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman
Produced by Walt Disney
Written by Rudyard Kipling (novel)
Larry Clemmons
Ralph Wright
Ken Anderson
Vance Gerry
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)
Followed by The Jungle Book 2 (2003)
IMDb profile

The Jungle Book is a 1967 animated feature film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released on October 18, 1967. The nineteenth animated feature in the Disney animated features canon, it 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.

Contents

Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Mowgli and Baloo.
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 becomes 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 into a deep and peaceful sleep, and eat him, but comically 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, then 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. Kaa tries a second time to hypnotize Mowgli into a deep and peaceful sleep, and eat him, and fails, thanks to the intervention of Shere Khan. Mowgli escapes.

The girl who lured Mowgli out of the jungle.
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.

The Jungle Book theatrical release history

1990 re-release poster of The Jungle Book.
1990 re-release poster of The Jungle Book.

US release dates

Worldwide release dates

The Jungle Book home video release history

NOTE: A Platinum Edition is expected to be released on DVD by Buena Vista Home Entertainment on October 2 2007.

Characters / Animals Featured

* Mowgli - the main character, a young jungle boy raised by wolves.
* Shanti - 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 a 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.

Voice cast

Crew members

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:

Titles in different languages

Trivia

  • The first Disney film with a human protagonist (Mowgli) who is not of caucasian ethnicity.
  • Unless it would be formed in the fourth Kingdom Hearts installment, The Jungle Book is the only Disney film currently in the Platinum edition series of films that does not appear in any form in the Kingdom Hearts video game series.
  • Kaa's design was later used for Sir Hiss in Disney's adaptation of Robin Hood.
  • King Louie and Kaa both appeared in the Disneyland version of Fantasmic!. Kaa is slithering upon the island while King Louie and his monkeys dance upon floats circling the island. In the MGM Studios version, however, the sequence is replaced for a homage to The Lion King, but it was still in Fantasmic! during the bubble sequence.
  • The Jungle Book has been adapted into two Disney TV shows: Talespin, which features Baloo as a pilot (though it isn't canon) and Jungle Cubs, which portrays Baloo, Bagheera, Kaa, King Louie, Shere Khan, and Colonel Hathi as children.

See also

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
Disney theatrical animated features
Official canon (Walt Disney Animated Classics)

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) • Pinocchio (1940) • Fantasia (1940) • Dumbo (1941) • Bambi (1942) • Saludos Amigos (1942) • The Three Caballeros (1944) • Make Mine Music (1946) • Fun and Fancy Free (1947) • Melody Time (1948) • The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949) • Cinderella (1950) • Alice in Wonderland (1951) • Peter Pan (1953) • Lady and the Tramp (1955) • Sleeping Beauty (1959) • One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) • The Sword in the Stone (1963) • The Jungle Book (1967) • The Aristocats (1970) • Robin Hood (1973) • The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977) • The Rescuers (1977) • The Fox and the Hound (1981) • The Black Cauldron (1985) • The Great Mouse Detective (1986) • Oliver & Company (1988) • The Little Mermaid (1989) • The Rescuers Down Under (1990) • Beauty and the Beast (1991) • Aladdin (1992) • The Lion King (1994) • Pocahontas (1995) • The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) • Hercules (1997) • Mulan (1998) • Tarzan (1999) • Fantasia 2000 (1999) • The Emperor's New Groove (2000) • Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) • Lilo & Stitch (2002) • Treasure Planet (2002) • Brother Bear (2003) • Home on the Range (2004) • Chicken Little (2005) • Meet the Robinsons (2007) 
Upcoming:  American Dog (2008) • Rapunzel (2009) • The Frog Princess (2009)
Live-action films with animation

The Reluctant Dragon (1941) • Victory Through Air Power (1943) • Song of the South (1946) • So Dear to My Heart (1949) • Mary Poppins (1964) • Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) • Pete's Dragon (1977) • Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) • The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003) 
Upcoming:  Enchanted (2007)
DisneyToons Studio animated features

DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp (1990) • A Goofy Movie (1995) • Doug's 1st Movie (1999) • The Tigger Movie (2000) • Recess: School's Out (2001) • Return to Never Land (2002) • The Jungle Book 2 (2003) • Piglet's Big Movie (2003) • Teacher's Pet (2004) • Pooh's Heffalump Movie (2005)
Other theatrical animated features

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) • James and the Giant Peach (1996) • Dinosaur (2000) 
See also: Pixar
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