The Jungle Book (1967)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Wolfgang Reitherman

Writers:

Larry Clemmons (story) &
Ralph Wright (story) ...

Release Date:

18 October 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Family | Musical

Tagline:

The Jungle is JUMPIN'!

Plot:

Inspired by Rudyard Kipling’s "Mowgli" story, The Jungle Book follows the ups and downs of the man-cub Mowgli as he makes his way back to the human village with wise panther Bagheera to escape ruthless tiger Shere Khan. Along the way, he meets unforgettable friends and foes including mad King Louie of the Apes, the hypnotic snake Kaa and the loveable, happy-go-lucky bear Baloo, who teaches Mowgli “The Bare Necessities” of life and the true meaning of friendship.

Plot Keywords:

Jungle | Boy | Tiger | Bear | Panther

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Phil Harris	...	Baloo (voice)
Sebastian Cabot	...	Bagheera (voice)
Bruce Reitherman	...	Mowgli (voice)
George Sanders	...	Shere Khan (voice)
Sterling Holloway	...	Kaa (voice)
Louis Prima	...	King Louie (voice)
J. Pat O'Malley	...	Col. Hathi / Buzzie (voice)
Verna Felton	...	Winifred (voice)
Clint Howard	...	Junior (voice)
Chad Stuart	...	Flaps (voice)
Lord Tim Hudson	...	Dizzy (voice)
John Abbott	...	Akela (voice)
Darleen Carr	...	The Girl (voice)
Ben Wright	...	Rama (voice)

Runtime:

78 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

West Germany:o.Al. | Portugal:M/4 | South Korea:All | Finland:K-8 (1968) | Finland:S (1977) | Norway:5 | New Zealand:G | Netherlands:AL | Argentina:Atp | Canada:G | Chile:TE | France:U | Peru:PT | Sweden:Btl | Switzerland:0 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | UK:U | USA:G (1978) | Brazil:Livre

Company:

Walt Disney Productions

Trivia:

Winifred (Colonel Hathi's mate) is the only female animal to have any dialogue throughout the entire film, as though Raksha (the Mother Wolf) briefly appears at the beginning, she never actually speaks.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Bagheera drops baby Mowgli off with the wolf pack, he leaves the basket at the mouth of the cave den. When he leaves the baby, the basket is closed and when he looks back from his hiding place, the basket is open.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Bagheera: Many strange legends are told of these jungles of India, but none so strange as the story of a small boy named Mowgli. It all began when the silence of the jungle was broken by an unfamiliar sound.
[Sound of baby crying]
Bagheera: It was a sound like one never heard before in this part of the jungle. It was a man cub! Had I known how deeply I was to be involved, I would've obeyed my first impulse and walked away.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in The Jungle Book (1994)

Soundtrack:

My Own Home (The Jungle Book Theme)

What racist overtones? Don't jump to conclusions....

It may interest readers of these reviews that the voice actor who played King Louie is not in fact black.

If you follow this helpful link right here at imdb ( http://us.imdb.com/Name?Prima,%20Louis ), you'd find that Louis Prima is in fact white, and was quite well known at the time for his musical repertoire, of which the song "I Wanna Be Like You" is a prime example. I don't think he was chosen for that role because of how 'black' he sounded, but rather for his musical abilities, and how that fit into the character of King Louie.

As with all the other voice actors chosen for this film, Walt Disney made perfect choices.... so much so that the film works perfectly: animation, voices and story all mesh together perfectly to make one of his best films, precisely because it *is* so simple, yet effective.

No need for fancy computer graphics here.