The Jungle Book

The Jungle Book is often best known for being the last animated film that Walt Disney worked on, with the last live-action film being The Happiest Millionaire (1967). And what a great classic to end such an impressive animation career with! The storyline is simple but endearing and the characters are very loveable with their jazzy and catchy songs.

Premiered on: October 18, 1967 at the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, Hollywood.

Directed by: Wolfgang Reitherman

Produced by: Walt Disney

Based on: The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book written by Rudyard Kipling.

Sequels: The Jungle Book 2 (2003)

Cast:

Bruce Reitherman – Mowgli
Phil Harris – Baloo
Sebastian Cabot – Bagheera
Louis Prima – King Louie
George Sanders – Shere Khan
Sterling Holloway – Kaa
Verna Felton – Winifred
Clint Howard – Hathi Jr.
J. Pat O’Malley – Colonel Hathi / Buzzie
Tim Hudson – Dizzie
Digby Wolfe – Ziggy
Chad Stuart – Flaps
John Abbott – Akela
Ben Wright – Rama
Darleen Carr – Village Girl

Directing Animators:

Milt Kahl
Ollie Johnston
Frank Thomas
John Lounsbery

Music by:

George Bruns
Richard Sherman
Robert Sherman
Terry Gilkyson

Songs:

“Colonel Hathi’s March”
“The Bare Necessities”
“Trust in Me”
“I Wan’na Be Like You”
“That’s What Friends Are For”
“My Own Home”

Academy Awards: Best Song – “The Bare Necessities” (nomination)

The Story:

The Jungle Book has a classic storybook opening, though this is the first time it is before the credits. The pages show black and white sketches of a village in a forest which turns into colour. The opening credits are over the sketches. The sketches pan away from the village and into the jungle.

The scene then opens with a beautiful waterfall and Bagheera the black panther begins to narrate. He says that many strange tales have took place in their jungle, but none as strange as this one. The quiet jungle is broken by an unfamiliar sound as Bagheera walks by. The sound is a baby’s cry and he stops to investigate. He sees a basket in a broken boat down by the river and inside is a man cub! Bagheera says that if he had known how deeply he would be involved, he would not have ignored his first impulse to walk away. But the baby is just too cute. The baby does need a mother’s care but the nearest man village is too far away. Bagheera then remembers of a nearby family of wolves. The scene shows the wolf cubs playing with their mother watching. When the wolves go into their den, Bagheera leaves the basket with the baby inside outside. The baby stays silent so Bagheera pokes the basket to make the baby cry. The cubs go outside to investigate and then their mother appears. Bagheera knows that there will not be a problem with the mother accepting the new addition but he was not sure about the father. But the father does accept the baby and the baby is brought into their den.

Ten years pass and overtime Bagheera often stops by the see how Mowgli is doing. The man cub is the favourite of all the young wolf cubs but Bagheera knows that even though Mowgli is happy, he wil one day need to return to his own kind.

One night, the wolf elders meet because Shere Khan the tiger has returned to their part of the jungle. This meeting will change Mowgli’s entire future because the wolves are worried that Shere Khan will kill the boy. The elders decide that Mowgli must leave the jungle. They tell Rama, Mowgli’s father wolf, and Rama is very upset and tries to argue against it. The wolves deny his arguments in the best interest of the boy and Bagheera jumps down from his tree and mentions that he can help because he knows a man village where Mowgli will be safe. There is no time to lose so Bagheera goes off to get Mowgli right away.

Later that night, Bagheera is running through the jungle with Mowgli on his back. Mowgli asks if they should be getting back home soon and Bagheera then explains that they are not going back. He is taking Mowgli to a man village because Shere Khan has returned and will kill the boy because he hates Man. Mowgli is not scared of Shere Khan and thinks they will be able to just explain to Shere Khan that Mowgli is not a hunter. Bagheera decides that they should spend the night where they are and then things will feel better in the morning. The panther tells Mowgli to go up a tree to sleep because they will be safe there. Bagheera makes fun of the boy for not being able to easily climb the tree but then helps him up. Once settled in the tree, Mowgli still argues that he wants to stay in the jungle and says that he can look out for himself. Just as he says this, Kaa the snake appears and Mowgli just tells him to go away. Bagheera thinks that Mowgli is talking to him and tells Mowgli to go to sleep. Kaa agrees with this and starts to hypnotize Mowgli into going to sleep. The snake constricts the boy at the same time and it takes Bagheera a moment to realize Kaa is there, but when he does, Bagheera smacks the snake away from Mowgli. Kaa is not happy and tells Bagheera that he has made a serious mistake and starts to hypnotize him. Mowgli saves Bagheera by pushing Kaa out of the tree and Kaa slithers away. He gets a knot in his tail which slows down his slithering. Mowgli laughs and laughs at Kaa but Bagheera is not impressed with the boy. He does not think that Mowgli can look after himself and tells the boy again to go to sleep.

The next morning, Mowgli and Bagheera wake up to the sounds of the patrolling elephants that are marching around and singing “Colonel Hathi’s March”. Mowgli thinks that they are a parade but Bagheera is just annoyed with the dawn patrol. Mowgli goes to join the march near the little elephant at the end of the line. He asks the elephant what they are doing, and Hathi Jr. responds that they are drilling. Mowgli keeps marching behind but then the line turns and suddenly he is in the front. The elephants turn around again but Mowgli keeps going in the direction they were going before and then needs to hurry to catch up. Colonel Hathi then stops the elephants for inspection. He finds dusty muzzles and tusks that need more spit and polish. Colonel Hathi talks about his time in the Maharajah’s 5th Pachyderm Brigade where he was award with a Victoria Cross. He then continues his inspection and tells other elephants to whip off their silly grins and another to get a haircut. He then gets to Hathi Jr. and just tells him to keep his heels together, as he is much gentler with his son. He then gets to Mowgli and asks him what happened to his trunk. But then he realizes that Mowgli is a man cub and is very angry that there is a man cub in his jungle. Bagheera jumps in and explains that he is bringing Mowgli back to the man village. Colonel Hathi makes sure that Mowgli is going to stay there and Bagheera gives Hathi is word. Colonel Hathi declares that an elephant never forgets. They march off and his wife, Winifred, asks Hathi if he has forgotten anything. Hathi again responds that an elephant never forgets but Winifred points out that he has forgotten their son! Hathi Jr. is still talking with Mowgli so all of the elephants turn around and march back towards the little elephant. The elephants all end up crashing into one another because Colonel Hathi had forgotten to say “Halt!” Mowgli laughs and laughs because Hathi had just said that an elephant never forgets. Bagheera tells Mowgli that it is not funny and that they should get out of there before something else happens. They take off through the jungle.

Bagheera is very persistent that Mowgli is going back to the man village right now but Mowgli is still determined that he is not going. He holds onto a bamboo tree and will not let go as Bagheera tries ot pull him off. Bagheera goes flying into a nearby river and is so fed up that he takes off without Mowgli. The boy goes off in the other direction by himself. He sits down in a clearing.

Baloo the bear appears and is singing to himself. He stops to sniff Mowgli who then smacks him on the nose and tells the bear to go away. Baloo tells him that is pretty big talk and calls him little britches. Mowgli tries to punch Baloo in the stomach and Baloo just shakes his head at the man cub and thinks that he is pitiful. Baloo decides to teach Mowgli to fight like a bear and then also teaches him how to growl like a bear. Bagheera hears Baloo’s growling and thinks that Mowgli is in trouble. He races off to find the man cub but is not impressed that he is with Baloo the jungle bum! Baloo and Mowgli are still practicing their bear fighting and Bagheera teases Baloo about his way of teaching. Mowgli gets a good punch in and Baloo pretends to be knocked out. Mowgli climbs up on him and starts to tickle the bear. Baloo laughs very hard and asks Bagheera for help. But Bagheera does not think that Mowgli needs any more confidence to stay in the jungle. The panther explains that Mowgli needs to go back to the man village but Baloo is on Mowgli’s side about staying in the jungle. Baloo says that he will teach the man cub everything he knows and Bagheera comments that it will not take very long.

Baloo starts singing “Bare Necessities” which teaches him how to survive in the jungle while not worrying about life. Baloo and Mowgli take off without Bagheera and go floating down the river. Baloo is still giving life advice and Bagheera tries to keep up among the trees along the shoreline. He then gives up and decides to leave Mowgli with Baloo. There are monkeys hiding in the trees who are watching the pair float down the river. Mowgli declares that he likes being a bear which makes Baloo very pleased. Baloo closes his eyes to relax and the monkeys use this to their advantage. They snatch up Mowgli and another monkey sits on Baloo in the boy’s place. Baloo asks Mowgli to flick a fly off of his nose and the monkey smacks him in the face with a stick. Baloo then finally realizes that it is a monkey and that Mowgli is gone.

Baloo tries desperately to get the man cub back but the monkeys just tease the bear by dangling Mowgli in front of a tree but then quickly pulling the boy away, causing Baloo to run into the tree. The monkeys then throw fruit at Baloo and Baloo ends up rolling down a cliff. The monkeys go swinging off with Mowgli in tow. Baloo shouts for Bagheera to come back to help. Bagheera hears Baloo and goes running back. He reaches Baloo and asks what happened to Mowgli and Baloo tells a much exaggerated story about how he fought off thousands of monkeys but the monkeys still carried Mowgli off. Bagheera is very nervous for what the monkey’s king will do with Mowgli.

The next scene zooms in on a ruined temple. King Louie is sitting on his throne and is singing to himself. He is eating bananas while being fanned by his loyal monkey subjects. The other monkeys arrive with Mowgli and King Louie is delighted to see man cub. He says that he has heard that Mowgli wants to stay in the jungle and that he can fix that for him if they make a deal. Mowgli says that he will do anything to stay in the jungle. King Louie starts singing “I Wan’na Be Like You” and tells Mowgli that his part of the deal is to teach King Louie how to make man’s red flower (fire).

Baloo and Bagheera sneak up to the temple to attempt to rescue Mowgli. Baloo is getting all geared up to fight the monkeys off but then he starts to get caught up with the music beat and begins to dance along. Bagheera tries to get his attention but it is rather difficult. He tells Baloo to create a disturbance while he grabs Mowgli but Baloo just dances off. Bagheera is on his own and he almost is able to get Mowgli but is interrupted by Baloo who suddenly appears in a makeshift monkey costume and starts dancing and singing with King Louie. But then Baloo’s costume falls off and King Louie realizes who he actually is. The monkeys start to chase after him and Bagheera grabs Mowgli in the chaos. But Mowgli ends up getting passed back and forth between Bagheera, Baloo, King Louie, and the monkeys. All of the commotion ends up destroying the ancient temple which allows for Bagheera, Baloo, and Mowgli to escape into the jungle.

That night, Baloo and Bagheera argue about what to do with Mowgli. Baloo tucks the sleeping boy into some leaves as Bagheera says that he would like to have a word with Baloo. The panther explains the reasoning behind Mowgli needing to leave the jungle. He tells Baloo about Shere Khan and is able to finally convince Baloo that it is in Mowgli’s best interest to go back to the man village. Baloo reluctantly agrees to take Mowgli and wakes him up. He tells the man cub that they need to get going but he does not tell him where they are going. Mowgli is excited because he thinks that he is going to stay in the jungle with Baloo. The boy sings a reprise of “The Bare Necessities,” but then Baloo tries to explain that he needs to go to the man village. Baloo does not do a very good job at explaining this to Mowgli and an upset Mowgli runs off into the jungle. Baloo can’t keep up and Bagheera hears the bear calling out and goes to help look for Mowgli.

The next scene is of Shere Khan the tiger stalking a deer the next morning. The deer is scared off by an elephant trumpet and Colonel Hathi’s patrol appears. The elephants are singing a reprise of “Colonel Hathi’s March.” Bagheera also hears the elephant patrol and runs off to find them. He catches up and yells “halt!” Colonel Hathi is not impressed that Bagheera has taken over the controls of his patrol but Bagheera explains that it is an emergency and that the man cub must be found! Shere Khan overhears that the boy is lost and is delighted at his chance to find the man cub first. Bagheera, who does not know that Shere Khan is listening, says that the tiger is sure to pick up on Mowgli’s trail and Shere Khan nods his head in agreement. Colonel Hathi will not help out so Winifred steps in. She points out that Hathi would not want their own son lost in the jungle! Winifred threatens that they must help find the man cub or she is taking over the patrol! Hathi Jr. tells his father that he is friends with the man cub and is worried about him getting hurt. This convinces Colonel Hathi, who says that he actually did have a plan in his mind all along. He goes over his plan with the rest of the elephants and Shere Khan overhears everything! The elephants march off.

Mowgli is wandering around the jungle by himself. Suddenly Kaa’s tail comes down out of a tree and swoops the boy up. Kaa is acting very cordial towards Mowgli and tries to get the boy to look him in the eye. Kaa pretends to be hurt when Mowgli says that he does not trust him and Kaa tells the boy that he can help his situation. But first, Mowgli must trust in him. Mowgli tells the snake that he does not trust anyone anymore and Kaa starts to sing “Trust in Me.” Kaa manages to hypnotize Mowgli. Shere Khan overhears the snake singing and pulls down on his tail like a doorbell. Kaa pokes his head down out of the tree and greets Shere Khan, and the tiger would like a word with the snake. Shere Khan asks if Kaa was entertaining anyone in the tree because he heard the snake singing. Shere Khan starts to choke Kaa to get an answer out of him but Kaa just says that he was singing to himself because it helps with his sinuses. He tries to show Shere Khan what he means by sneakily trying to hypnotize the tiger, but Shere Khan does not fall for it. He asks Kaa if the snake does not mind showing him his coils. Kaa just shows Shere Khan his tail and inside his mouth. Mowgli starts to snore and Kaa pretends that it was actually him snoring. Shere Khan then asks to see Kaa’s middle and the snake only shows him a small part of his middle while leaving Mowgli still coiled up in the tree. Shere Khan then backs off and asks Kaa to let him know if he does find the man cub because he wants to help the boy. Shere Khan leaves and Kaa sees right through the tiger’s feigned sympathy towards the boy. Kaa says that the tiger gives him the shivers and, as he actually shivers, his coils loosen and Mowgli escapes. The man cub kicks the snake out of the tree and escapes into the jungle again.

The scene focuses on four vultures that are perched on top of a dry tree in a desolate part of the jungle. The vultures cannot decide what to do and just ask each other back and forth “What’cha want to do?” They then spot Mowgli heading their way and think that he is one crazy looking animal. They decide to have some fun with Mowgli and fly down to him. They comment that he has legs like a stork and they laugh at the boy. A very sad Mowgli just walks away. The vultures feel bad for the boy and they think he must be down on his luck else he would not be in their neighbourhood. They catch up with Mowgli and ask the boy if he has anyone to care for him. Mowgli tells them that no one wants him around and the vultures can relate; no one wants them around either. They suggest that they become friends with the boy and start to sing “That’s What Friends Are For.” Mowgli starts to perk up and does become friends with the vultures but their song is interrupted by Shere Khan who joins in with a deep bass.

Shere Khan thanks the vultures for detaining his victim and then just says “boo” and the vultures fly away scared. They tell Mowgli to run away as well but Mowgli refuses. He tells the tiger that he is not scared of him and Shere Khan says that since Mowgli has such a spirit, he is going to give the boy a sporting chance. Shere Khan is going to close his eyes and count to ten to make the chase more interesting. Mowgli grabs a stick to fight the tiger off, but Shere Khan pounces towards him, which scares the boy! But Baloo arrives just in time as Shere Khan lunges and pulls the tiger’s tail. Mowgli gets into the action and hits Shere Khan’s face with the stick. Shere Khan starts to chase Mowgli with Baloo still holding onto his tail. A lightning storm starts. The vultures then join in and fly Mowgli off to safety. Shere Khan then starts to attack Baloo. Lightning strikes a dead tree and causes a fire. The vultures tell Mowgli to grab a burning stick because Shere Khan is scared of fire. They fly off to help Baloo while Mowgli grabs the fire. He ties the stick onto the end of Shere Khan’s tail and their plan works. Shere Khan freaks out and goes running off into the jungle.

It starts to rain and the vultures are very excited about their success. They become somber when they see Mowgli approaching a fallen Baloo. Baloo is not waking up which makes Mowgli very sad and worried. Bagheera appears and tries to comfort Mowgli. He talks about how wonderful Baloo was for laying down his life for a friend and how Baloo’s name will stand above all! Baloo’s eyes open up as he wakes up. He hears all of the nice things that Bagheera is saying about him and starts to tear up. As Bagheera and Mowgli leave, Baloo yells out to Bagheera not to stop talking about how great he is. Bagheera yells at him for being a fraud and Mowgli is so excited that his Papa Bear is alright. They leave and the vultures comment that it is going to be dull without the boy around and they start their “what’cha want to do?” again.

As Baloo, Bagheera, and Mowgli leave into the jungle, Baloo and Mowgli tell their story about defeating Shere Khan. Baloo comments that no one is going to come in between him and Mowgli again, but then they hear a beautiful voice singing “My Own Home.” They see that the voice belongs to a girl who is fetching water just outside her village. Mowgli is instantly smitten with her but Baloo tells him to forget about the girl because girls are nothing but trouble. Mowgli leaves to get a better look. Bagheera is excited that Mowgli is showing interest but Baloo is worried about losing his pal.

The girl is still singing when she sees Mowgli’s reflection in the water. The boy falls down in the water and she laughs at him. Mowgli quickly hides. The girl heads back towards her village but then purposefully drops her pot of water. Mowgli picks it up, refills it, and tries to hand it back to her. The girl just smiles and keeps walking so that he will follow her with the water. And he does.

At the entrance to the village, Mowgli stops to decide what he should do. Bagheera encourages him to go in but Baloo tells him to get back. Mowgli looks again at the girl and gets a goofy grin on his face. Mowgli just shrugs back at Bagheera and Baloo and walks into the man village.

Baloo and Bagheera head back into the jungle and Baloo realizes that it is best for Mowgli to stay in the man village. The two friends start to sing “The Bare Necessities.”

Trivia:

• The Jungle Book’s opening credits are unique for its time as they show both the voice talents and the characters they play.
• The music to “Trust in Me” was originally composed for Mary Poppins but with different lyrics. The Sherman Brothers originally titled the song “The Land of Sand.”
• The premiere of The Jungle Book served as a fundraiser for the Los Angeles Zoo.
• Characters from the film inspired two different television shows in the 1990s: TaleSpin (1990-1991) and Jungle Cubs (1996-1998).
• The village girl at the end of the film appears in The Jungle Book 2 and her name is revealed to be Shanti.
• Baloo is a sloth bear.
• Many of the names of the characters come from the similar sounding names of the species in Hindi: ie Elephant is pronounced Haathee and Bear is pronounced Bhaaloo.
• The four vultures were heavily designed after the Beatles. Disney even wanted the Beatles to voice them but John Lennon refused.
• This was Verna Felton’s last role as she passed away on December 14, 1966, one day before Walt Disney died. She started her Disney career voicing an elephant in Dumbo and ended her career voicing an elephant in The Jungle Book.
• King Louie, Winifred, Hathi Jr., and Shanti were all created for the film and are not found in the original story.
• The first draft of Disney’s film was written by Bill Peet and had a much darker tone. It also featured a number of songs written by Terry Gilkyson. When the film went in the direction of a more upbeat movie, the Sherman Brothers were brought on board to write new songs. However, one of Terry Gilkyson’s songs did make the final cut and was the only one nominated for an Academy Award, “The Bare Necessities.”

Representation in the Disney Parks:

Despite being the main characters, Mowgli, Baloo, and Bagheera are very hard to find in the Disney Parks. Baloo and King Louie are meet and greet characters at different Parks with Mowgli making an occasional, but very rare appearance.

In Disneyland Paris there is a quick-service restaurant called Colonel Hathi’s Pizza Outpost located in Adventureland. There is also a statue of Kaa in Adventureland beside a statue of Zazu.

In Shanghai Disneyland, Kaa represents the Year of the Snake in the Garden of the Twelve Friends.

In Tokyo Disneyland, there is a shop themed to The Jungle Book called Jungle Carnival.

King Louie and his jungle monkeys have a segment in both Mickey and the Wondrous Book in Hong Kong Disneyland and Mickey and the Magical Map in Disneyland.

Characters from The Jungle Book have made appearances in Fantasmic!

Disney’s Animal Kingdom did have a temporary nighttime show called The Jungle Book: Alive with Magic that played during the summer of 2016.

Check out the other films of Disney’s Silver Age:

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)