The Jungle Book (1991, VHS)

On my second date with the man who would eventually become my husband, we went to India. Not the actual country! Instead we paid an imaginary visit to storybook India via the beautiful Disney film The Jungle Book. The family theater in our college town had brought it back to the big screen, and my one-day husband was thrilled since The Jungle Book had been just about his favorite movie as a little boy.

I loved his enthusiasm then, and I still love it now, many years later, when we re able to share the fun of this still-classic movie with our own little girl.

The Jungle Book originally hit theaters in 1967. Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, it was the last Disney animated film to be completely (or almost completely) overseen by Walt Disney himself, with finishing touches still being added at the time of his death. That makes the movie an important and especially nostalgic one in the Disney canon.

The film is based loosely (very loosely!) on the stories of Rudyard Kipling. My husband can still remember being disappointed by the Kipling stories when he tried to read them after falling in love with the movie first. Disney has never been too concerned with strict adaptations of source materials, preferring to borrow what they want and then create a story of charm and whimsy that often owes more to the Disney ethos than to whatever literary influences from which they happen to be borrowing. Sometimes their efforts work better than others. In The Jungle Book, I think they created one of their most simple yet charming tales ever.

The story centers around Mowgli, an orphan boy who has grown up in the jungle. Skinny and awkward as a long-legged bird who hasn t quite mastered the use of his limbs, Mowgli, now about ten years old, finds himself under the mentorship of Bagheera the panther. Bagheera and some of the other animals of the jungle are worried that, since Mowgli is a man-cub (and hence will one day grow into a man) they can no longer protect Mowgli from predators with a deep grudge against men. The real threat close at hand is Shere Khan, a large tiger reportedly on the prowl somewhere close. His menace looms over much of the action, making Bagheera and Mowgli s trek across the jungle landscape to the nearest man village fraught with potential danger.

The other problem they face is the fact that Mowgli doesn t want to leave the jungle. He can t remember the man village, and the jungle is his home. He grudgingly gives into Bagheera s promptings, but his mischievous antics and penchant for trouble keep the sleek gray cat in a constant sweat. It doesn t help much when the two of them run into an old friend of Bagheera s, Baloo the Bear. Baloo is loving and kindhearted but not too swift on the uptake. He becomes Mowgli s ally on his quest to stay in the jungle, informing Bagheera that he can take care of Mowgli and raise him to know and understand the way of bears. Baloo and Mowgli s playful, relaxing moments together make for some of the movie s best fun, but in the end Baloo realizes he doesn t make a very good guardian, especially when Mowgli is stolen away by some manic monkeys.

One of the best elements of The Jungle Book is the voice talent behind the animated cast. Phil Harris has a big, wonderful bear-like voice that just suits the giant, huggable Baloo. Sterling Holloway (known to most of us as the voice of Winnie the Pooh) turns in a marvelous, slithering, sibilant voice for Kaa the snake who nearly traps Bagheera and then Mowgli in his coils. Sebastian Cabot provides an elegant, prim and proper voice for the sleek and worried Bagheera. George Sanders gives us a pompous and aristocratic Shere Khan, almost as funny as he is frightening. Other standouts include Louis Prima as the scat-singing ape King Louie, and Verna Felton as the eye-rolling elephant wife of Colonel Hardy, leader of the pachyderm battalion. Mowgli is voiced by Bruce Reitherman, the director s son.

But the film s music may be the best part of all. The Sherman Brothers, who also gave us the marvelous music for Disney s live action/animated Mary Poppins, truly provided some rollicking hits. What I love about the songs is how catchy and upbeat they are on their own (making you want to sing along) and yet how well they advance the story. Although I will always love the Baloo/Mowgli duet Bare Necessities the best, I find other numbers almost as memorable, including Kaa s Trust in Me, King Louie s jazzy I Want to Be Like You, and Friends (Till the Bitter End) sung to Mowgli by a quartet of lonely vultures out in the jungle wasteland. The vultures, spotting Beatle-esque moptops and English accents, are some of the film s best comic relief. It needs it right there too, as the vultures are witness to the movie s one very scary scene: the fight between Mowgli/Baloo and Shere Khan, the man-eating tiger who has finally found the boy. The fight is over quickly, and leads up to the requisite happy ending, but it s frightening while it lasts, complete with snarling tiger growls and big bear roars. It s the one moment that very young viewers (under five) might have trouble with.

I also really love the animation in this movie. Although in some senses it suffers by comparison to the crisper, cleaner, more realistic and three-dimensional computer animation on offer today, in other ways it feels more interesting and artistic. The jungle backgrounds are beautifully drawn, offering contrasts of shadow and light under the canopy of leaves, and all sorts of warm colors. The water in the opening waterfall scene looks remarkably life-like for traditional animation. Best of all are the expressions and movements of the main characters, especially wide-eyed, gawky Mowgli and his closest animal friends. I remember a scene in the DVD extras of The Incredibles when one of the Pixar animators talked about how he and some of the other contemporary artists still looked to the movement of Bagheera (in a scene where he climbs a tree) with admiration and for inspiration. Disney s artists often broke new ground in animation, and these old-school animators seemed to be at their confident best in the 1960s, working for the best animated studio around.

I loved seeing this movie with my husband on the big screen many years ago, and I love seeing it still on a small screen with my five year old daughter. It still teaches gentle lessons about growing up and finding one s rightful place in the world, and about courageously defending one s friends. It still makes me want to laugh and sing. Pretty good for a movie that s just celebrated its 40th birthday!

~befus, 2008