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38 out of 38 people found the following review useful: The Simple Bear Necessities, 1 September 2004 Author: Kristine (kristinedrama14@msn.com) from Chicago, Illinois
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.10/10
29 out of 29 people found the following review useful: One of Disney's Most Memorable Movies, 11 November 2000 Author: White Dolphin
The Jungle Book is one of Disney's most memorable animated movies. It's based on the "Mowgli" stories by Rudyard Kipling (who also wrote the famous Just So Stories). Like in most Disney films, Mowgli is an orphan. Bagheera the panther find him and he is raised by a family of wolves. That is until Shere Khan the tiger comes back to the jungle...One thing I love about The Jungle Book is the villains. In most Disney movies you have one villain, sometimes with stupid and funny sidekicks who get bossed around all the time. But The Jungle Book offers three villains all who want Mowgli all for themselves. There is King Louie the king of the monkeys. He kidnaps Mowgli but doesn't really want to harm him, which perhaps makes him the least cruelest of the three. All he wants is to be like man as he puts it in the wonderful song that will want to make you get up and dance: "I Wanna Be Like You". More specifically he wants to know the secret on how to make fire. Then there's Shere Khan, the tiger who comes back to the jungle and is the reason that Bagheera and the wolves (and eventually Baloo) want to take him back to the "man village". Shere Khan is very swift and cruel but also very calm about his cruelty and not the least bit temperamental. However his characteristics do change at his last screen appearance, and frankly I'd be freaking out to if I had a burning branch stuck to my tail (heck I'd freak out if I just had a tail). Shere Khan hates mankind and of course Mowgli is man. Last but definitely not least (my favorite of the three)- Kaa, the snake, and a very big one I might add. See- King Louie wants to be like Mowgli, Shere Khan wants to kill Mowgli and Kaa wants to... eat Mowgli. He has a very big mouth which would enable him to eat Mowgli but it does him bad too- he talks to much and then never gets the chance to eat Mowgli. Other than these three memorable villains there's Mowgli himself, the man-cub (who by the way was voiced by Bruce Reitherman, son of the director of this film- and many other Disney greats: Wolfgang Reitherman). There's the elephants, the vultures (who are actually nice and quite humorous too), Baloo the bear and Bagheera the panther. Songs include King Louie's (who was voiced by Louie Parma) "I Wanna Be Like You". Kaa's "Trust in Me" (which no one should... trust in Kaa that is). And of course Baloo's "The Bare Necessities".As for the racist overtone- that's one of the silliest things I've heard. The Jungle Book can be enjoyed by anyone of any age (...and any race).
27 out of 32 people found the following review useful: All-time classic, 9 May 2002 Author: iftekhar25 from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
I grew up on this animation, and all I can say is that no classical animation-style Disney movie till date, not Lion King, Pocahontas, Hunchback of Notre Dame or any other that you can think of comes THIS close as to compare itself with this all-time classic.A brilliant combination of wonderful voices, magnificent characters, songs that will keep you humming for weeks this is certainly the peek of animation storytelling. It doesn't get any better than this.I give this one 10/10 without a second thought.
21 out of 23 people found the following review useful: Disney Simply At It's Best Ever! The Most Joyful Disney Film Created!, 17 June 2003 Author: movies2u from United States
The Jungle Book is a great classic animation movie. It is famously known for being the last film that Walt Disney himself ever got to work on. He died while the film was in production, and sadly never got to see the outcome of the movie. The animation in this film is excellent, and the songs and performances are even better! Each character has something about him or her that makes you like them. The movie seems to be very cheery and happy. I remember watching this movie as a little kid, and I absolutely loved it! I give The Jungle Book a 10/10.
18 out of 18 people found the following review useful: Brilliant Song, Brilliant Animals, Brilliant Film, 20 August 2002 Author: Big Movie Fan from England
What can I say about The Jungle Book? It probably has the best songs of any Disney movie, it's full of wonderful animals such as Baloo the Bear and King Louie the ape and it has a great little character in Mowgli who was raised in the jungle (so I guess he's related to Tarzan).This is a great story throughout and the songs were just wonderful. When I first watched this film I couldn't get the songs out of my head and just kept humming them to myself time after time.There's plenty of creatures for fans of animals from snakes to elephants to a big bad tiger called Shere Khan (one of the best Disney villains ever).For those who haven't seen The Jungle Book, may I suggest viewing it as soon as possible?
24 out of 32 people found the following review useful: The Best Disney Film Ever!, 21 September 2002 Author: tiyusufaly from Corona, CA
When I was a little boy growing up in St. Louis, I loved the Jungle Book. I used to watch it every day. You hear that? EVERY SINGLE DAY!!! I have seen nearly every Disney film, and not one of them has beaten out Uncle Walt's last supervised animated motion picture. The only one that I believe comes close is Aladdin (And no, I haven't forgotten about The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast or The Lion King). The musical score is probably the best ever. The Bare Necessities, I Wanna Be Like You, Trust In Me, I could go on and on. I wish Disney would make films like they did in 1967 rather than today (I mean Atlantis: The Lost Empire? Please!!!). In conclusion, this is by far the best Disney film ever made, period! 1000000000000000000/10
15 out of 17 people found the following review useful: Funniest masterpiece I've ever seen., 25 January 2003 Author: Hans Dullaart from Delft, Netherlands
When I was a child of eight I saw Bambi for the first time and I left the theatre with tears in my eyes. Many years later I saw The Jungle Book and again I had tears in my eyes, but this time of laughing. This is the funniest and most entertaining cartoon I ever saw. And so beautifully drawn. It's a masterpiece. The music is fine. Lots of fun for young and old! Hans Dullaart. Netherlands
16 out of 19 people found the following review useful: What racist overtones? Don't jump to conclusions...., 5 October 2002 Author: SupahDuck from Toronto, Ontario, Canada
It may interest readers of these reviews that the voice actor who played King Louie is not in fact black.If you follow this helpful link right here at imdb ( http://us.imdb.com/Name?Prima,%20Louis ), you'd find that Louis Prima is in fact white, and was quite well known at the time for his musical repertoire, of which the song "I Wanna Be Like You" is a prime example. I don't think he was chosen for that role because of how 'black' he sounded, but rather for his musical abilities, and how that fit into the character of King Louie.As with all the other voice actors chosen for this film, Walt Disney made perfect choices.... so much so that the film works perfectly: animation, voices and story all mesh together perfectly to make one of his best films, precisely because it *is* so simple, yet effective.No need for fancy computer graphics here.
12 out of 12 people found the following review useful: Funny, Clever, a Disney great!, 7 October 2002 Author: Stephanie Zelerwitz (lita11475) from AZ
This movie is wonderful- don't let anyone convince you otherwise. The characters are memorable and a delight to watch, especially Sher Khan and Baloo the Bear. The songs, especially "I Wanna Be Like You" and the classic "Bare Necesseties" are fun to listen to, even as an adult. It is clear Walt Disney was a part of this project. I recommend it for all ages, kids will find it funny, and will fall in love with characters like the friendly Balloo, the worriesome panther Ballugha's parental instincts, and the hopelessly incompetent Kaa. Adults will find plot sweet, and the characters a joy to watch. Much better than anything Disney has made recently. 10/10And Sher Khan is THE coolest Disney villain. Ever.
16 out of 22 people found the following review useful: The Jungle Book, 16 March 2005 Author: Jackson Booth-Millard from United Kingdom
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
This is one of the best Disney cartoon films ever made, based on the novel by Rudyard Kipling. A baby, or "man cub" is found by Bagheera the Panther (Sebastian Cabot). He decides to take it to a wolf family to look after him. As time goes by this man cub called Mowgli (Bruce Reitherman, son of the director) has grown with the wolves. Until the wolves discover that Sheer Khan the Tiger (George Sanders) had returned to the jungle. Now Bagheera is insistent on Mowgli returning to the Man Village where he will be safe from the Tiger. Mowgli is too happy in the jungle and wants to stay with his new found friend, the film's highlight, Baloo the Bear, voiced by singer Phil Harris. Unfortunately many parts of the jungle take Mowgli away, e.g. the monkeys. Another highlight of the film is King Louie, voiced by singer Louis Prima. Phil Harris has the good Oscar nominated song "The Bare Necessities" and Louis Prima has the song "I Want To Be Like You". It was number 27 on The 100 Greatest Musicals, it was number 19 on The 100 Greatest Family Films, it was number 57 on The 100 Greatest Cartoons, it was number 7 on The Ultimate Film, and it was number 53 on The 100 Greatest Films. Outstanding!
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