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    The Jungle Book

    Reviewed by
    adamwatchesmovies@

    I don’t think “The Jungle Book” is Walt Disney Studios’ strongest work, but it’s being compared to standards that are immeasurably high. The animation is quite good, the characters memorable, the songs catchy and it has lasting power. I lament the fact that it doesn’t follow Rudyard Kipling’s work more closely, but it has its own identity.

    Abandoned as a child, Mowgli (voiced by Bruce Reitherman) was raised by wolves in the jungles of India. When the animals hear that the dreaded tiger Shere Khan (George Sanders), well known for despising humans, is returning a decision is made to send the boy back to the human world. The task is given to the panther Bagheera (voiced by Sebastian Cabot) and the bear Baloo (Phil Harris) who follow Mowgli on a series of adventures.

    As a protagonist, Mowgli is the least interesting character in this story. He’s too young to have much say in what happens to him (even though he wants to) and compared to the likes of a carefree, singing bear, a wise panther, the king of the orangutans, or a pompous elephant, he doesn’t stand out much. “The Jungle Book” isn’t really a 3-act story as much as it’s a series of adventures. Mowgli encounters different creatures one after another while his loyal friends try to convince him that going to the “Man-Village” is the right thing to do. Because of this, the story comes to an abrupt end that’s satisfying, but unusual (though typical of films of that time) Those are the only real flaws I could discern. All in all, it’s a great film.

    You can’t talk about “The Jungle Book” without mentioning the songs. For me, there are two that easily stand out as likely to be your favourite. Either it’ll be Baloo with “The Bare Necessities” or King Louie (voiced by Louie Prima) as he sings “I Wan’na be like you”. They’re catchy, with clever rhymes, likable melodies and inspired visuals to go along with them. My favourites are neither though. My preferences lie with Sterling Holloway as the python Kaa in “Trust in Me”, or a song at the very end called “My Own Home”. Kaa deserves his own paragraph so we’ll get to that later. The reason I like “My Own Home” so much is that it creates a mood that’s absolutely perfect for the ending of the film. It’s not jazzy; it’s a little melancholic and hypnotic too. I can’t say much more without giving things away, but the way it trickles in, the visuals that accompany it and the way it affects the audience and the characters, I love it.

    The style of animation in “The Jungle Book” isn’t as clean as in some of the other films in the Disney Cannon. The lines have a sketchier quality to them. You can tell that xerography was used (the same process was used to create “One Hundred and One Dalmatians”) I lean towards cleaner lines but that’s not necessarily a knock against the film, certainly not when you see the best sequence in “The Jungle Book”. I’m talking about Kaa’s big scene. The way he manipulates his coils, the gags that come from his numerous attempts to get Mowgli, his mannerisms and the way they inject so much dynamic movement in a character without any limbs is masterful. There are many great scenes. The numerous and energetic dance sequences, Bagheera’s slender movements through the trees of India, any in which you see Shere Khan are terrific, but the moments with this serpent are the real treasures.

    I would have loved a longer running time to get more character development for Mowgli and a better sense of his relationship with the other jungle animals. Those are small blemishes on an otherwise very good film. This picture was made in 1967 and it still feels fresh. There are iconic moments throughout, several sequences that show off animation at it’s best. I said earlier that I was disappointed that it doesn’t stick closer to the tone of Kipling’s original work, but that also means that no matter how many other adaptations you see, this one will still stand out. The more I think about it, the more I find myself appreciating Disney’s 1967 “Jungle Book”. This is the kind of movie you can watch repeatedly and find new favourite things about it with each subsequent view. (On Blu-ray, April 19, 2016)

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    adamwatchesmovies@  25.4.2016 age: 26-35 2,867 reviews

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