The Jungle Book review

*Spoiler Alert*

In 1967, Walt Disney Pictures released, The Jungle Book. Based on the book by Rudyard Kipling. Oddly enough, for years it felt like this movie was trying avoid me. I don't know, when I was a kid, I couldn't find a copy of this movie. Well I eventually did and I liked it. I think this movie is pretty solid, but does it still hold up today? Well lets just see if this movie is still a cult classic, or does it need to stay in the jungle? Lets find out.

Story
I think a good amount of us know about this story but I'll go over it for those who haven't and don't mind spoilers. It's the story of Mowgli, voiced by Bruce Reitherman, a boy who was abandoned in the jungle as a baby, and has been raised by a pack of wolves ever since. Mowgli lived a happy life, being a loved member of the wolf pack and has a panther friend named Bagheera, voiced by Sebastian Cabot. One day, word gets out that the evil tiger, Shere Khan, voiced by George Sanders, has returned to the jungle, and is a danger to Mowgli because he hates man. So with the help of Bagheera, and a bear named Baloo, voiced by Phil Harris, Mowgli must return to the man village so he doesn't get killed. Along the way, he meets other characters like the eccentric King Louie, voiced by Louis Prima, and the sneaky Kaa the Snake, voiced by Sterling Holloway. A simple story I'd say. I'd say the strongest thing the story has to offer is the characters. Throughout the story, Mowgli has interactions with these characters that flesh each one out and shows who they are. While a number of them are just silly characters looking to lend a hand, like Baloo. Others are after Mowgli and want to kidnap him, like King Louie, eat him, like Shere Khan, or both, like Kaa. The songs are, in my opinion, awesome. I especially love The Bare Necessities, and I Wanna be Like You. Both are up beat catchy, but that's probably because the songs were done by The Sherman Brothers,(Well actually, The Bare Necessities was done by Terry Gilkyson)So you can thank them for getting I wanna be like you stuck in your head. So yeah, a nice simple story with great songs and very likeable characters.

Animation
Once again, the animation has a rough yet nice to look at feel to it, courtesy of one the animators, Don Bluth. Who I already mentioned in my last review. It's the same as the last movie so I don't have to say much about it.

Background Info
Boy do I have a lot to talk about here. When the film was being made, the first thing Walt told them to do was to not read the book. The reason was because Walt thought the original story by Kipling was too dark and depressing. There are some vultures in the film who have many similarities to the popular band, The Beetles. The accents, the hair, hec even The Beetles themselves were supposed to voiced them, but they turned them down. The Jungle Book would get a sequel made by Disney Toon in 2003, simply called the jungle Book 2......it was pointless. The movie has 6 deleted songs that were all made by Terry Gilkyson. In 1994, a live-action remake was made, and in the early 90's, a spin-oof show was made that was about airplanes.....don't ask. On its release, the movie was a huge success. It made a lot of money at the box office, and the critics loved it too. Ok, I think it's time I mentioned the elephant in the room. You see this would be the very last film that Walt Disney worked on. Not because he left the studio, or he quit animation. No, he was still dedicated to that. It's because....

on December 15....

1966...

Walt Disney...

passed away.

The death of Walt shook the world, as many wondered what would become of the company without their fearless leader. Walt had died of lung cancer in his left lung, due to his chain smoking. But even when he was about to die, he was still a positive man, with an engaged imagination, and an enthusiastic voice. When his brother Roy came to visit him at the St. Joseph's Hospital, Walt pointed up at the ceiling, and used the tiles as a grid map. He signaled Roy about the roads, and major places in EPCOT and Disney World. Because of his death, Walt never got to work on any projects he wanted to do. There was his live-action comedy, The Happiest Millionaire. And several attractions he wanted to make, including a ski resort, and the Country Bears jamboree. And of course, The Florida Project. His brother Roy O. Disney, would take over the company, and rename the Florida Project, in honor of his brother, Walt Disney World.

Final Thoughts
This is easily one of Disney's best films. Walt put in a lot of hard work on this before his death, and it shows. The songs in this movie are great and are some of the most memorable songs by Disney. The Jungle Book is an awesome film, and has some great voice actors. If I do have one complaint, it's that some moments are a bit too slow paced. I'm giving The Jungle Book a 8/10. So next time I'll be looking at a movie that has music that everybody can get down with. See you next time, and have a good night.