available on Disney+
Director: Wolfgang Reitherman
Writer: Larry Clemons, Ralph Wright, Ken Anderson, Vance Gerry based on The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
Stars: Phil Harris, Sebastian Cabot, George Sanders, Sterling Halloway, John Abbott, Louis Prima, Bruce Reitherman.
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Themes: Jungle, Wild Child, Bear.
Bagheera the Panther and Baloo the Bear have a difficult time trying to convince a boy to leave the jungle for human civilization.
It is the 19th Disney animated feature film. It was the last film to be produced by Walt Disney, who died during its production.
The Jungle Book was released to positive reception, with acclaim for its soundtrack, featuring five songs by the Sherman Brothers and one by Terry Gilkyson, "The Bare Necessities".
Disney released a live-action adaptation in 1994 and an animated sequel, The Jungle Book 2, in 2003; a live-action/CGI hybrid remake directed by Jon Favreau was released in 2016, with a sequel to that film in development.
MIX UP REVIEWS:
★★★★★
Daniel (Age 11) - ★★★★
"The Jungle Book was a good movie. The music was upbeat and catchy with a good balance between character development and song and dance. My favourite characters were Baloo and the King Louie. I liked the different animals they ran into throughout their journey through the jungle. Although it was quite a short film, some of the scenes were a little bit slow compared to modern Disney films.
To sum it up, the Jungle Book was a good film with good characters and songs but could get a bit boring at times."
Magnus (Age 11) - ★★★
"Recently I have watched the entirety of the classic The Jungle Book, I’d say that it was quite a good movie, although I think I should address the things that I didn’t like 1st, Kaa was quite disturbing, and I feel like his character was a bit to dark for a kids movie, and I feel like the way that they defeated the tiger was really harsh, they could have just waved the flaming stick in front of him, and come to think of it, it wasn’t a really bright idea to tie it to his tail, because when the stick was tied to his tail, he started running off, and what if the stick sets fire to a tree? Then it starts to spread!
Mowgli really dodged a bullet when he left the jungle to live in the village at the end, and then they’re’s King Louie, I know he just wanted to have fun and make friends, but his ways of making friends were questionable, like, you don’t meet your best friend by kidnapping them and getting your minions to assault and humiliate their parental figure, and the girl at the end of the movie is doing quite a bad job at fetching the water, she sings about how she is going to do it, but it takes her a whole two minutes to scoop up the water using the jar, and when she sees Mowgli, she immediately brings up marriage, and it’s like, maybe take it a bit slower? Although maybe Mowgli doesn’t mind because he apparently only moved to the village to be with the girl. Finally, the animation. The characters don’t feel like they fit in with the background, many times while watching the movie, I’ve noticed that the characters look like they were photoshopped in.
But now about the movie’s positives, I really liked the relationship between Bagheera and Baloo, how Baloo was like the cool uncle who let Mowgli do whatever he wants, and Bagheera is the strict helicopter parent who makes sure Mowgli kept all of his limbs intact, and the vultures were funny, even though they didn’t have much impact on the plot, and to finish off this review, I found that I really enjoy the music in the movie, and I think that wraps it up for this review, have a good day!"
Mix Up Rating - ★★★★★
Have you seen it?
ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATIONS: 1
Best Original Song - "The Bare Necessities" - Terry Gilkyson
Like this? Try these!....
Aladdin (1992) - #106 - ★★★★
One Hundred and One Dalmations (1961) - #151 - ★★★★
Maleficent (2014) - #152 - ★★★★
Cinderella (1950) - #184 - ★★★★
Beauty and the Beast (1991) - #185 - ★★★★
Robin Hood (1973) - #186 - ★★★★
Bambi (1942) - #187 - ★★★★
The Jungle Book (2016) - #188 - ★★★★
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) - #314 - ★★★★
Zootropolis (2016) - #496 - ★★★
There's a whole bunch of fantastic Disney animated films, with lots of great songs and loveable animals! Especially from around the same era as The Jungle Book.
Meanwhile Disney have started remaking their classics and The Jungle Book of 2016 stands up quite well, as does the new take on Maleficent.
For a more recent Disney take on the jungle, check out Zootropolis.
Have you seen these films?
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