The Jungle Book (1967) Phil Harris, Sebastian Cabot, Bruce Reitherman, George Sanders, Sterling Holloway Movie Review

The Jungle Book (1967)   4/54/54/54/54/5


The Jungle Book (1967)

Disney's Happy Ending

When Baheera hears the sound of a man cub crying in the jungle he realises that there is no way to get the baby they name Mowgli to a man village and so has a group of wolves raise him as one of their own. But as Mowgli grows his life ends up in danger because Shere Khan the tiger has returned to the jungle and hates humans no matter who they are. But whilst Baheera attempts to get Mowgli to a village others want him to stay including Baloo the bear who loves teaching Mowgli about how living in the jungle is great. But alongside Shere Khan there is Kaa the snake who is also a threat to Mowgli.

Sadly in 1966 the world lost Uncle Walt and "The Jungle Book" was the final animated movie he was involved in, dying sadly before the movie was completed. But "The Jungle Book" for me ended up not only a fitting tribute to Walt Disney but also secured the jobs of the animators as it is said that if this movie had bombed the animation division of Walt Disney would have most likely been closed down.

Now I am going to keep this short and sweet because I could go on about the characters; the comedy of Baloo to the slipperiness of Kaa, I could go on about the voice work which is stunning thanks to the big name stars who voiced these great characters as well as younger stars such as Clint Howard. I could go on about the music and comedy, heck I could go on about a lot of things but I would be repeating what others have mentioned including the absolutely beautiful backdrops which are for me some of the best from the Walt Disney era of animations.

But the thing which "The Jungle Book" is is innocent fun for all the family. I don't know anyone who when they start to watch "The Jungle Book" doesn't end up stopping what ever they were doing and become immersed in this innocent fun. And it is a combination of everything from the comedy of Baloo scratching his back on a tree to the danger which presents itself from both Shere Khan as well as the hypnotic Kaa to the singing of King Luis which makes the movie.

What this all boils down to is that "The Jungle Book" is still over 40 years later a great animation which really is for me the definition of family entertainment whilst also a fitting tribute to Walt Disney.


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