The Jungle Book

Many filmmakers in the field of animation today remember when they were kids and first saw “The Jungle Book”. They will be quick to say how it changed their lives. It is a similar story for me. “The Jungle Book” was the second Disney VHS that my parents bought. Because of my dad, I am a Rocky fan, have a liking for John Wayne and enjoy music from 60's and 70's. He has loved "The Jungle Book" since he saw it as a kid and that affection was passed on to me. Because this was one of my first Disney movies, it helped me understand subconsciously what made an animated film great. "The Jungle Book" is another contributor of what my high school English teacher described as the world being a “Disnified Society”. Whenever people think of this title for example, they most likely will think of the Disney adaptations. After studying film at university, I see “The Jungle Book” as a fun but also well crafted tale that departed from the original story more so than other Disney adaptations. The focus of the film was on the characters that would play out the story. Because of how good the characters and songs are in “The Jungle Book”, the story becomes good as well. Walt Disney was greatly involved with this film and it shows when you compare it to “One Hundred and One Dalmatians” and “The Sword in the Stone”.

This film introduced me to many actors whom I would come to enjoy in other Disney films. “The Jungle Book” had well known actors from movies & television and usually, Disney went after radio voices to help bring the characters he had in mind to life. This time, he took a different approach in that the well-known performers played a larger part in creating the characters. The most obvious example of this is Phil Harris as Baloo. Nothing was working until Harris read the lines as himself. He improvised a lot of Baloo’s lines and that, combined with the scripted version of Baloo and the animation, resulted in a very popular Disney character. This success led to Phil Harris doing voice work in “The Aristocats” and Disney’s “Robin Hood”. Baloo is both an appealing, fun friend and a father figure who undergoes a dramatic character change in the film that will be illustrated later. Sebastian Cabot does a great job as the sensible Bagheera. His skills as a narrator are notable at the start of the film and you can further see this in the “Winnie the Pooh” short films. Baloo and Bagheera each represent the spirit of the movie. Baloo is hip and playful while Bagheera emulates the Kipling origins. If the character of Baloo wasn’t enough of a departure from the books, Disney went to Vegas and got Louis Prima to play King Louis. His persona also influenced his animated counterpart as well as the song “I Wan’na Be Like You”. Oscar-winner George Sanders does the same in that Shere Khan is supercilious. It takes half of the movie before we finally meet Shere Khan. When he is introduced, the film mirrors the classic tiger image as he moves through the grass. He then goes from being feared to also being entertaining. Shere Khan is a classic Disney villain in that he is not just plain evil. He has pleasurable quirks and while the Disney villains before him were entertaining in their own ways, Shere Khan himself in my view paved the way for successors like Prince John, Gaston, Jafar, Hades and Ezma. Shere Khan’s eccentricities are best shown in the scene with Kaa. Shere Khan calmly but firmly tries to prove that Kaa is hiding Mowgli and it is such a funny scene. Shere Khan for example pins Kaa’s head down on the ground and then picks Kaa’s nose. He also chokes Kaa but in this whole scene, Shere Khan never raises his voice in any way. I laugh the whole time and Sterling Holloway’s performance is an important contribution to that as well as the animation on Kaa. I would like to think that all cartoon snakes since the 1960’s owe their persona in some way to Kaa. If I were given the chance to change the movie in any way, there would only be one thing I would do: persuade the Beatles to provide the voices for the vultures. Their manager wanted to put the band in the film and approached Disney with the idea. The characters began to be developed and the manager next talked to John Lennon. Lennon was against it and that is where the Beatles’ involvement ceased but the persona of the Beatles was still used for the vultures. The style of song “That’s What Friends Are For” was changed to Barbershop so as to avoid dating the film but the vulture that has a resemblance to Ringo makes it absolutely clear that these four characters are the result of Beatlemania, which was occouring in the world at that time. Can you image “The Fab Four” in this movie? It is a wonderful thought, isn’t it? I guess if the Beatles were not interested in playing themselves in "Yellow Submarine", why would they voice four birds? I like movie trivia and I find it interesting to note that Clint Howard, who is brothers with Ron Howard, played the baby elephant. Clint would grow up to act in his brother’s films.

The story is well written in that it originated from episodic books just like “Pinocchio” and “Alice in Wonderland”. When Disney adapts such stories, the final product is still episodic in nature as illustrated by the fade in/fade out transitions that we see from time to time. Every “episode” we experience in the movie however is part of a larger story. In the case of “The Jungle Book”, the overall story is Mowgli’s journey back to the man village. Because the movie is such a departure from the original source, the audience needs time to get used to this new version. The opening theme during the credits establishes a mood that is reminiscent of Kipling and the same goes for Cabot’s narration. The Disney version becomes more fun and emotional as time goes on as a story crescendo is created. Mowgli is introduced as an infant and we sympathize with him as a result. The inciting incident is Shere Khan's return and subsequently, Mowgli must be taken to the man village. His encounter with Kaa shows his vulnerability but his time with the elephants reinforces his desire to stay in the jungle. Baloo’s entrance is very deceiving. I very faintly remember seeing this movie as a little boy in a theater as a re-release and when Baloo emerges from the brush, all us kids laughed in relief as we recognized the character. The bond between Baloo and Mowgli is forged as Baloo teaches Mowgli how to fight and as Mowgli tickles Baloo. After an Oscar-nominated song, their friendship is as real and sincere as any strong friendship in real life. As a happy-go-lucky guy, Baloo takes the kidnapping incident too lightly due to King Louis' “beat”. However, he changes his mind about Mowgli once he hears Shere Khan’s name. As carefree as Baloo is, even he is frightened of Shere Khan. Suddenly, his love for Mowgli makes him responsible. Baloo almost has a panic attack while he asks Bagheera what they are going to do. He has to rise to the occasion in that he wants to do anything to protect Mowgli, even if it means never seeing him again. We have some wonderful drama in this scene and also in the scene when he is trying to talk to Mowgli. In the climax, as Shere Khan is counting, we only see Baloo very briefly and this makes his act a surprise and it is justified at the same time. Baloo’s sacrifice is so noble when you consider his personality that his “death” is very sad, even though towards the end we know that he is all right. I like the ending with the girl because Bagheera and Baloo’s reactions are very different. Baloo is suspicious while Bagheera knows exactly what is going to happen. It is amusing because this time Bagheera is keen to let Mowgli do what he wants. “The Jungle Book” is a rare example of the characters taking precedence over the story but because the story is well crafted anyways, the final product is special. Walt Disney had his staff rewrite “Sleeping Beauty” so as to avoid becoming complacent and with this film, Walt also had a specific goal.

“The Jungle Book” was greatly influenced by Walt Disney and that is fitting, as it was his last animated film. The film also has other influences that make it special. Walt did not like the response to “The Sword in the Stone” and after seeing Bill Peet’s storyboards for “The Jungle Book”, Walt stepped in personally so that his animators could achieve the quality of work that they were capable of. Walt made the characters the focus of the film and simplified the story, which in turn made the characters more entertaining and helped increase the appeal of the story. I find it funny how he told everyone not to read the book and have fun making the movie. Baloo and Mowgli’s relationship works so well because it references indirectly the real-life friendship of their respective animators: Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. Their friendship lasted from the 30’s until their deaths at the start of this century. Audiences can feel the heart that filmmakers put into their work and such is the case with many moments in Disney animation. Just because Walt Disney was a genius doesn’t mean he was right all the time. In the process of discarding the original adaptation, Walt wanted to do away with all the songs in that treatment, including “Bear Necessities”. The rest of the studio lobbied against that and the result was an Oscar nominated song that should have won. The song is so good that it is reprised twice in the film. The other songs written by the Sherman Brothers are extremely memorable also. George Bruns’ music is well done in that sometimes it follows the action, almost replacing the sound effects. When everyone working on the film was stuck on how to get Mowgli to go to the man village, Disney came up with the ending we see but died a few weeks later. Some of the people in that last story meeting would never see Walt alive again. He never saw the completed film nor the success that it enjoyed. I also love the last moments of the movie as Baloo accepts Mowgli’s decision and then sings his theme song. Bagheera joining in is so heartwarming as they both dance into the sunset. This final scene became symbolic of the path of the Disney Studio. Just as Mowgli leaves his friends, Walt left this world. Baloo and Bagheera dancing into the sunset represents the lighthearted movies that would be released in the next few years like "The Aristocats" and "Robin Hood".

The three most important animated films in the career of Walt Disney are "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", "Cinderella" and "The Jungle Book". After Walt died but before the release of this movie, the studio executives were thinking about getting rid of the animation department. The success of “The Jungle Book” created another staple that the animation department had to live up to until "The Little Mermaid". "The Jungle Book" is my favorite film from 1967. It is a bold adaptation and it works because of the characters and songs. I am so grateful that Disney stepped in and changed the film. Today, Pixar is following Disney’s example of rewriting the whole movie if the situation calls for it, as was the case with “Toy Story 2” and “Ratatouille”. Also, because its great characters, the fans of “The Jungle Book” who were animating at the studio in the 90’s understood the importance of the characters they were creating. This film has inspired and entertained people for 50 years and I hope it never ends.

4.5 Stars