The Jungle Book (1967)

Bagheera the Panther and Baloo the Bear have a difficult time trying to convince a boy to leave the jungle for human civilization.

Director:

Wolfgang Reitherman

Writers:

Larry Clemmons (story), Ralph Wright (story)

Stars:

Phil Harris, Sebastian Cabot, Louis Prima

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Phil Harris	...	'Baloo' the Bear (voice)
Sebastian Cabot	...	'Bagheera' the Panther (voice)
Bruce Reitherman	...	'Mowgli' the Man Cub (voice)
George Sanders	...	Shere Khan the Tiger (voice)
Sterling Holloway	...	'Kaa' the Snake (voice)
Louis Prima	...	King Louie of the Apes (voice)
J. Pat O'Malley	...	Col. Hathi the Elephant / Buzzie (voice)
Verna Felton	...	Elephant (voice)
Clint Howard	...	Elephant (voice)
Chad Stuart	...	Vulture (voice)
Lord Tim Hudson	...	Vulture (voice)
John Abbott	...	Wolf (voice)
Ben Wright	...	Wolf (voice)
Darleen Carr	...	The Girl (voice)

Storyline

Abandoned after an accident, baby Mowgli is taken and raised by a family of wolves. As the boy grows older, the wise panther Bagheera realizes he must be returned to his own kind in the nearby man-village. Baloo the bear however thinks differently taking the young Mowgli under his wing and teaching that living in the jungle is the best life there is. Bagheera realizes that Mowgli is in danger, particularly from Shere Khan the tiger who hates all people. When Baloo finally comes around, Mowgli runs off into the jungle where he survives a second encounter with Kaa the snake and finally, with Shere Khan. It's the sight of a pretty girl however that gets Mowgli to go the nearby man-village.

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Plot Keywords:

jungle | bear | wild child | musical number | hypnotism | 

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Taglines:

Live it up in WALT DISNEY'S Jumpin-est...Swingin-est Cartoon Comedy!

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Musical

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Official Sites:

Disney DVD site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 December 1968 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

El libro de la selva

Filming Locations:

Walt Disney Studios, 500 South Buena Vista Street, Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$141,843,612 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

78 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Two items which have surfaced just after Robert B. Sherman's death, March 5, 2012: 1. This was the second-to-last movie Walt Disney personally supervised. The last one was actually The Happiest Millionaire (1967). And Terry Gilkyson had apparently written a full score initially, but Walt Disney found it too dark, so at the last minute, he threw it away and asked the Sherman brothers to replace it with a more 'fun' score. However, "Bare Necessities" stayed on at the insistence of others involved in this film, went on to be nominated for the Academy Award, and provided some inspiration for Elton John to wrote his "Hakuna Matata" (the same philosophy) for The Lion King (1994).

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Goofs

When Baloo and Bagheera are trying to rescue Mowgli from the monkeys, Baloo opens a door smashing it against Bagheera. The door has no handle. The next shot is a close-up of Bagheera's head with the door behind it; the door has now a handle.

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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.

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Crazy Credits

There are no end credits for this feature film. However, the credits are at the beginning.

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Connections

Featured in Hollywood's Top Ten: Grin and Bear It (2010)

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Soundtracks

The Bare Necessities (Reprise)
(1967)
Written by Terry Gilkyson
Performed by Phil Harris and Sebastian Cabot (uncredited)

User Reviews

A true classic for all ages

I saw TJB in the theater as a child, and as my own children reached the ages where they could enjoy Disney films, I started stocking up on videos. I'd forgotten all but 3 or 4 scenes, but as it rolled on the video player, I was literally awestruck at the vivid characterizations. This is a landmark film, in that it was the first to use established actors (with recognizable voices) for the vocal characterizations. There's also an excellent "making of" short after the film on the Disney video, with trivia, e.g., Sterling Holloway, the classic voice of Winnie-the-Pooh, was Kaa, the python in TJB.