The Jungle Book (film)

• Release Date: 1967
• Director(s): Wolfgang Reitherman
• Writer(s): Ken Anderson; Larry Clemmons; Vance Gerry; Ralph Wright

The Jungle Book was an American animated film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released in 1967. The Jungle Book tells the story of a young child, Mowgli, who is found and raised in the wild by animal friends, and his journey to escape an evil tiger who wishes to kill him. The film was based on a book of the same name, written by Rudyard Kipling.

In earlier stages of the film’s development, the screenplay followed Kipling’s story more closely. Kipling’s story explored more sophisticated themes, such as the relationship and clashes between humans and animals. However, Walt Disney felt that this darker approach would alienate family audiences. Disney insisted that Bill Peet, a long-time Disney writer, make serious revisions the script. Peet did not wish to make any changes, and eventually decided to leave his position at Disney Studios.

The Jungle Book was one of the few classic Disney films to cast the voices of the characters using recognizable actors. This is due in part to the voices of these familiar actors inspiring the film’s animators during the creative process. Many animators said that the voices helped shape the direction of the characters’ personalities. One particularly surprising casting choice to those working at Disney was that of Phil Harris, the voice Baloo the bear. Walt Disney became set upon including Harris in the film after meeting him at a party. In fact, Harris ended up improvising most of Baloo’s lines because he felt the script’s existing dialogue was unnatural. Bruce Reitherman, the son of the film’s director, Wolfgang Reitherman, lent his voice to the character Mowgli after the initial actor cast in the role went through a voice change during production.

Plot

The Jungle Book is set in the jungles of India. At the start of the film, a black panther named Bagheera finds the infant Mowgli in the wreckage of a boat. With Mowgli’s parents nowhere to be found, Bagheera takes Mowgli to a wolf mother who has just given birth to cubs, and she raises Mowgli as her own. Fast forward ten years, the audience sees Mowgli playing with his wolf siblings, and has clearly grown accustomed to life in the jungle.

However, one night, the wolves learn that an evil man-eating Bengal tiger named Shere Khan has come back to the jungle. Shere Khan poses a threat to Mowgli, and it is decided that Mowgli must be taken to the "man-village" so he can be safe. Despite Mowgli’s protests, Bagheera volunteers to escort him to the village and they set out that evening. Along the way, Mowgli narrowly escapes being eaten by Kaa, a python, and then runs away from Bagheera to be with a herd of elephants. On his own, Mowgli eventually meets up with a kind-hearted bear named Baloo, who promises Mowgli he will not make him go to the man-village.

Mowgli goes on to be kidnapped by a group of monkeys, and comforted by a group of friendly vultures. It is then, during a storm, that Shere Khan finally finds Mowgli and is determined to kill him. Baloo comes to Mowgli’s defense, but is injured in the process. With the storm in full force, lightning strikes a tree, setting it on fire. Shere Khan is distracted long enough for Mowgli to tie burning tree branches to his tail, which causes the tiger to run away in horror.

Bagheera and Baloo finally take Mowgli to the man-village, where his reluctance is overpowered when he sees a pretty young village girl who is retrieving water. Mowgli helps her, and they go into the village together. Bagheera and Baloo, happy to know that Mowgli is now safe with his own people, head back into the jungle.

Significance

The Jungle Book was the last film in which Walt Disney played a significant role during development and production stages, before his death less than one-year prior the film’s release. Inspired by the lackluster performance of the last Disney release, The Sword and the Stone, Disney was convinced that his involved presence was necessary. Disney was quite engaged in the story development meetings and helped shape the personalities of the characters and envisioned emotional plot points.

In particular, Walt Disney heavily influenced the character development of the film’s vultures. In order to work against the reputation of vultures being mean or scary, Disney wanted the vultures in The Jungle Book to be more light-hearted. One way this was achieved was by making the animated vultures resemble The Beatles, both physically and vocally. This is evident in the haircuts worn by the vultures, meant to mimic the characteristic Beatle mop-top. Originally, The Beatles were meant to voice the characters, but due to scheduling conflicts, had to back out.

The Jungle Book was received extremely well by both audiences and critics alike. Undoubtedly, the recent passing of Walt Disney helped to contribute to the positive response, as this was the last of the studio’s films audiences would see that would include Disney’s personal touches. The film was produced with a budget of $4 million and grossed $74 million in its first run, a huge financial success for the studio. This also made The Jungle Book the fourth highest-grossing film of every film released in 1967. Including theatrical re-releases of the film, The Jungle Book remains the twenty-ninth highest-grossing film of all time in the United States.

One of the film’s songs, "The Bare Necessities," written by Terry Gilkyson, was nominated for best song at the fortieth annual Academy Awards. It did not win the award, however, losing to "Talk to the Animals" from Doctor Dolittle. Gregory Peck, of To Kill A Mockingbird fame, was president of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences that year and fought hard to have The Jungle Book recognized as a best picture nominee. Despite all of his efforts, however, the Academy refused to nominate the film.

Awards and nominations

Nominated

• Academy Award (1967) Best Original Song

Bibliography

Barrier, Michael. The Animated Man: A Life of Walt Disney. Los Angeles: U of California, 2007. Print.

Beck, Jerry. The Animated Movie Guide. Chicago: A Cappella, 2005. Print.

"Disney’s ‘Jungle Book’ Arrives Just in Time." New York Times. New York Times, 23 Dec. 1967. Web. 15 June 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9907E1D9103FE73ABC4B51DFB467838C679EDE>.

"The Jungle Book." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2015. Web. 25 Jun. 2015 <http://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Jungle-Book-film-1967>.

"Your Guide To Disney’s 50 Animated Features." Empire Online. Bauer, 2015. Web. 15 June 2015. <http://www.empireonline.com/features/50-disney-films/default.asp?film=19>.