The Jungle Book

Voices of: Phil Harris, Sebastian Cabot, Bruce Reitherman, George Sanders, Sterling Holloway, Louis Prima, J. Pat O'Malley, Clint Howard
Directed by: Wolfgang Reitherman
Rating: G
Genre: Animation, Adventure
1967

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: Bagheera tries to bring the man cub, Mowgli out of the jungle and away from the dangerous Shere Khan, but the boy doesn't want to leave the only home he's ever known.

Review:

Tim: I know a lot of people who love Disney's The Jungle Book and rank it among Disney's best. I'm not one of those people. This is a good movie, no doubt. It's an entertaining adventure story that features some memorable songs. It's an effective movie, but it's not one of my favorites. The characters aren't relatable enough. Even as a kid, I never connected all that well with the story. I'm not suggesting this is anything other than a good movie, but I've never understood all the love.

One of the nice things about this movie is that the pace is quick fast- Mowgli and the others jump from adventure to adventure. Sure, a few of them take too long (like the elephants, the scenes with Kaa), but generally, the movie moves at a quick pace. It feels like there's always a new, perilous adventure that introduces us to new characters. That aspect of Wolfgang Reitherman's film is a big strength. It also helps that the characters are memorable, although you have to give author Rudyard Kipling the most credit for this. There's no doubt that this movie benefits from the source material.

The music is another strength of the film. The standout piece is "The Bare Necessities", an instantly classic, catchy song. It might indeed be the highlight of the film. It's great fun, introduces us to Baloo, and sets up his unique worldview. The song was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song. "I Wanna Be Like You" is another effective one.

One of the complaints I have about this film is that it feels like it's too focused on the surface-level. Kipling's book (which I liked, but didn't love) is all about this boy being abandoned and finding a surrogate family in these animals, which are different than him, but care for him deeply. It's a story about finding your place in the world. The movie obviously touches on these themes, but only on the surface. The movie seems more preoccupied with talking, dancing animals and less on the deeper themes behind the story and the characters. There was absolutely a way to do both, but the movie focuses too much on the style. The result of this is that I never really cared about Mowgli. As a child, I was worried he'd get eaten by Shere Khan, but I can't claim I really connected with his character. I watched the movie with my kids and I saw the same thing with my five year-old son. He loved Baloo and laughed a great deal at him, but I saw no deeper care or connection with Mowgli, other than asking me a dozen times if he was going to get eaten. I believe that's a flaw at the heart of this movie that prevents it from being as effective as it could be.

Still, there's no doubt The Jungle Book is a good movie that holds up many decades after it's initial release. This is an entertaining, memorable movie and it should be viewed as a success.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Sword in the Stone, Robin Hood