The Jungle Book (Two-Disc 40th Anniversary Platinum Edition)

The Jungle Book tells the story of a boy named Mowgli who is raised by wolves in an Indian jungle. He leads an idyllic life befriended by many animals until the day that Shere Khan, the tiger, returns to the area intent on killing the boy. The animals decide to send Mowgli to the man-village where his people can protect him. Bagheera the panther gets the job of escorting him, but Mowgli has no desire to leave the jungle. In his desperation. Mowgli links up with Baloo the Bear and attempts learn the "Bear Necessities." A good deal more happens, but I don't want to give away the whole plot. Disney has made few movies that have maintained their popularity as well as The Jungle Book. It is a true classic. First, the voice talent is quite possibly the finest ever assembled for an animated film. Younger audiences will not be familiar with names like George Sanders and Sebastian Cabot even though they were very well known in their day. But the important thing is that every single voice is pitch perfect for the part. The epitome of this is obviously Phil Harris who provided the booming voice of Baloo. I must confess that Baloo is probably my favorite Disney character of all time and I can't conceive of anyone else bringing the easy charm and warmth that Harris just radiated with that incredible voice of his. The characters are all interesting and likable. The malicious Shere Khan comes across as incredibly suave with a wry wit that is quite funny at times. Even relatively minor characters like Colonel Hathi and King Louie are memorable and enjoyable. This is partly because of the excellent voice acting and partly because of the unusually sharp script. The story moves along at a brisk pace and more than holds the interest of adults and children alike. Mowgli seems to get in one mess after another and the jungle provides a great source of these situations. The music is yet another high point. The soundtrack features several tunes that are very catchy and fun. Some are well remembered such as "The Bare Necessities" and "I Wanna Be Like You." But even less featured songs such as "Colonel Hathi's March" and "That's What Friends Are For" burn themselves quite pleasantly into your brain. If The Jungle Book has a fault, it is in the animation. The movie was made just as Disney started cutting major corners in their animation and it shows. The character animations are definitely more sketchy and rough than you would see in a movie like Lady and the Tramp when they were more meticulous. Fortunately, the character design was still flawless and the quality of art had not yet diminished to the extent that it would in the 1970s when the company's animation hit rock bottom. My final verdict on The Jungle Book is that it is as entertaining an animated film as you're ever likely to see. In many aspects of its production, it remains one of the true greats and I would recommend it to anyone of any age. The story is interesting, the characters and voices are incredible, and the music is as catchy as any soundtrack you'll hear. The art is a little rough but is not nearly bad enough to detract from the overall experience.

The Jungle Book, one of Disney's ultimate classics, it has great characters, an awesome story and terrific animation. I'll admit it, I adore Disney movies, I could never choose just one Disney movie as my favorite, I love them all for so many different reasons. The Jungle Book is one of my fav's though, after buying the new release on DVD, I realized that I love this movie now more than ever. The reason that I think this movie is so wonderful is because of the characters, they just brought so much life to the story and really made this into a wonderful Disney classic. Mowgli is found in a basket as a baby in the deep jungles. Bagheera, the panther who discovers the boy, promptly takes him to a wolf who has just had cubs. She raises him along with her own cubs and Mowgli soon becomes well acquainted to jungle life. Mowgli is shown ten years later, visiting the wolves and getting his face licked eagerly when he arrives. That night, when the wolf tribe learns that Shere Khan, a man-eating tiger, has returned to the jungle, they realize that Mowgli must be taken to the man village, to protect him and those around him. Bagheera volunteers to escort him back. They leave that very night, but Mowgli is determined to stay in the jungle and loses Bagheera. Kaa, the hungry python, hypnotizes Mowgli into a deep and peaceful sleep, traps him tightly in his coils, and tries to devour him, but comically fails. The next morning, Mowgli tries to join the elephant patrol. Bagheera finds Mowgli and they argue; Mowgli runs away from Bagheera. The boy soon meets up with the fun-loving bear Baloo, who shows Mowgli the fun of having a care-free life and promises not to take him to the man village. Mowgli now wants to stay in the jungle more than ever. Shere Khan is after Mawgli though and won't rest 'till he kills him. Seriously, these are some of the most memorable characters in Disney history, we have Baloo, the care free party bear that just wants to have fun and only needs the "bear" necessities of life. Begheera, a panther, that we've all known this kind of person, the one that just wants to get down to business and get as much done as quickly as possible, the party pooper, but deep down still has that heart. And one of Disney's most memorable villains of all time, Shere Khan, voiced by George Sanders, classy, sassy, menacing and vicious, I wouldn't be surprised if he was Scar's inspiration(the lion villain in The Lion King). If you haven't seen The Jungle Book, just buy it, believe me, it's worth the money. It's a classic fun animated film that I will love forever, still to this day I will always sing along to Bear Necessities, it's a good time. Author: Kristine ([email protected]) from Chicago, Illinois

Wonderful absolutely wonderful

Good movie for kids

loved this for granddaughter in addition with ornament for Christmas

Cute, cute old show on dvd

I purchased this for my daughter through Amazon Instant Video. I had no trouble with my purchase, no picture problems or play issues. I was expecting the picture to be dull, considering the age of the movie, but it is not. In fact I'd say the picture is more vibrant than I remember it. My daughter was happy with the movie and she is used to Pixar, high detail, fancy schmancy type quality in the movies she watches now. I guess some things really are timeless and Disney does have kids' entertainment down to a science. The only reason why I take off a star is because I think this movie is too violent for a young child. I honestly would not show this to a kid under age 6. My daughter is 3 and I wish I had waited a while. She is a total scaredy cat though and HIGHLY impressionable so use your own judgement, but for us this was VERY inappropriate for my daughter's age. I was sitting with my daughter and during the fighting scenes I was covering her eyes. I hadn't seen this movie since I was about 10 years old (I'm almost 30) and I had completely forgotten how graphic and sad it had gotten in some scenes. In the end I couldn't remember if Baloo died or not (I haven't read the book in years either and couldn't remember how they differed) and I was literally sobbing (darn hormones) through the last parts of the movie. My daughter was in my lap with her head buried in my shoulder saying, "Is he gonna be okay? Is he? Is he?" I can't believe my parents let me and my brother watch this when we were my daughter's age! If I had remembered it I would never have allowed my daughter to see it until she was MUCH older! Not only that, but there's a lot of hitting, punching, and swatting in the movie which is partly playful boyishness and partly because Mowgli's a kid raised by wolves... hello. But my daughter is too little to get that. She is in a hitting phase right now which we have been trying to nip in the bud. Now her favorite excuse for hitting and swatting if she gets mad is that she's being a "man cub." I so, so, so wish I had remembered that from my own childhood (this was one of my favorite movies as a kid and I foolishly and impulsively bought it and played it immediately without pre-screening it...) but I kind of expected more from Disney! I guess I was forgetting about the PTSD I suffered from watching Pinocchio and Bambi as a kid. I'll remember to prescreen next time!

With so many Disney DVDs to choose from, is "The Jungle Book," even a new "Platinum" version, really a must buy? Absolutely. Just 78 minutes long, this unpretentious adventure is full of imaginative characters, charming song and dance routines, interesting themes and innocent good humor. Unlike many Disney films, "The Jungle Book" doesn't strive to be high art and has no groundbreaking special effects, but it's still one of the company's best animated films. And now the film has now been "digitally enhanced," with a brighter contrast and cleaner colors. Telling the tale of Mowgli, a human boy brought up in the jungles of India, the movie is a freewheeling adaptation of some Victorian-era short stories by British writer Rudyard Kipling. Rescued as an infant by a protective panther named Bagheera, the boy is raised by wolves and adopted by a carefree bachelor bear, Baloo. Disney punches up the stories with Western jokes and music (the pop soundtrack includes Baloo's and orangutan King Louie's infectious scat duet "I Wanna Be Like You" and Baloo's perky prickly pear primer, "The Bear Necessities"), but wisely eliminates Kipling's patronizing overtones. "The Jungle Book" teaches children a number of good life lessons. It demonstrates that the world includes enemies as well as friends, and that enemies sometimes disguise themselves as friends. It argues that though its fun to pretend you're someone you're not, it's best to accept the person you are. It has two lessons about love. First, that true love is unselfish, as Baloo learns when he realizes he must finally return Mowgli to the "man village." And second, as Mowgli realizes in the final scene, that the ultimate male fulfillment is the love of a good woman. Or, as my husband views the segment, the pursuit of a wide-eyed flirt. Parents can take note of a classic Disney touch: the acceptance of both religion and science. The film begins with the infant Mowgli lying in a basket along a riverbank, a reference to Moses that's not in the Kipling stories. Later, however, there's a nod to Darwin, as the orangutan King Louie greets the human boy with an outstretched hand, saying "Shake hands, cousin." If nothing else, adults can enjoy identifying the distinctive character voices (Kaa is voiced by Sterling Holloway, the Cheshire Cat in "Alice in Wonderland" and best known as Winnie the Pooh) or laughing at the chorus of Beatle-like vultures. One looks just like Ringo. Sounds like him, too. If you're a fan of the story you may also want to check out Disney's live-action (and non-musical) version, 1994's Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book . Though it's a little violent for younger kids (one soldier is sucked under a pond of quicksand and dies a slow death), this PG film is not really scary and quite the exotic adventure. Its stars include Sam Neill and, in a bit part, John Cleese.