World Famous Comics: The Jungle Book (40th Anniversary Platinum Edition)
The Jungle Book (40th Anniversary Platinum Edition)
Starring: Phil Harris, Sebastian Cabot, Louis Prima, Bruce Reitherman, George Sanders Directed By: Wolfgang Reitherman Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1 Audience Rating: G (General Audience) Binding: DVD Format: AC-3, Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Restored, Special Edition, Widescreen, NTSC Label: Walt Disney Video Number of Items: 2 Region Code: 1 Release Date: October 02, 2007 Running Time: 78 minutes Theatrical Release Date: October 18, 1967
Description: One of the most popular Disney films ever, THE JUNGLE BOOK is a song-filled celebration of friendship, fun, and adventure set in a lush and colorful world. Inspired by Rudyard Kipling's "Mowgli" stories, Disney's 19th animated masterpiece was the last animated feature that had Walt Disney's personal touch. The jubilant adventure begins when Mowgli, a little boy raised by wolves, is urged by his friend Bagheera, a wise old panther, to seek safety in the man village. Feeling very much at home in the jungle, Mowgli resists and runs off. Much to Bagheera's dismay, Mowgli meets a new friend with a happy-go-lucky philosophy of life -- Baloo the Bear, a lovable "jungle bum." Together, the three buddies find the journey back to civilization anything but civilized! They encounter a crazy orangutan, the hypnotic and sly snake Kaa, and the menacing Shere Khan! Fully restored for this 30th anniversary edition, this enduring classic swings with jazzy toe-tapping music, including the Academy Award(R)-nominated "The Bare Necessities," and the freewheeling "I Wan'na Be Like You"! A thrilling story for all ages, THE JUNGLE BOOK is an absolute necessity for your video collection.
Amazon.com essential video: Disney's 1967 animated feature seems even more entertaining now than it did upon first release, with a hall-of-fame vocal performance by Phil Harris as Baloo, the genial bear friend of feral child Mowgli. Based on fiction by Rudyard Kipling, the film goes its own way as Disney animation will, but the strong characters and smart casting (George Sanders as the villainous tiger, Shere Khan) make it one of the studio's stronger feature-length cartoons. Songs include "The Bare Necessities" and "Trust in Me." --Tom Keogh
Amazon.com: A classic 1967 Disney animated film that's loosely based on Rudyard Kipling's book of the same name, Jungle Book tells the story of a young boy Mowgli who was raised by animals in the jungle. When tiger Shere Khan threatens to return to their part of the jungle, the other animals decide that Mowgli must return to the man village in order to ensure his safety. Panther Bagheera has difficulty convincing Mowgli to follow him to the man village and recruits the help of a big lovable bear Baloo. Mowgli's journey is one of wit, song, and many surprises. A timeless film populated by strong characters bursting with personality, great music like "Bare Necessities" and "I Wanna Be Like You," and inspiring animation by Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, and other master animators, Jungle Book captivates audiences of all ages.
This Platinum Edition includes everything from the standard bonus features like interactive games, music videos, and deleted songs to exciting and sometimes rare commentaries by everyone from modern day animators to Walt Disney himself, multiple featurettes about specific aspects of the film and its production, and a lengthy deleted scene featuring lost character Rocky the Rhino. Especially interesting for adults and Disney fans are "The Bare Necessities: The making of The Jungle Book" featurette, which explores Walt Disney's commitment to developing strong characters and his insistence that writers, animators, and song writers create a light version of Jungle Book that followed his own personal interpretation of the story, and the "The Lure of The Jungle Book" featurette, which discusses Frank Thomas' and Ollie Johnston's amazing contribution to the film as prolific animators and the inspiration and influence that their work provided for future animators including Brad Bird (The Incredibles), Andreas Deja (Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King), Sergio Pablos (Tarzan), Will Finn (Home on the Range), and Eric Goldberg (Fantasia 2000). The full length commentary by Bruce Reitherman (voice of Mowgli), animator Andreas Deja, and composer Richard Sherman with its interspersed archival commentary of Disney greats from the original creative team (Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, Woolie Reitherman, and others) is also very interesting and insightful. --Tami Horiuchi
Bear Necessities CD Disney In perfect condition and got here with really fast shipping. Can't beat the price for movies on Amazon and the ease with which you can find what you want. No bidding--just find it and buy it.
Stupid man cub. I'm no fan of Mowgli when he's being disrespectful to his elders (Bagheera). But the animal kingom that comes together is astounding. My husband who will not watch Disney movies will sit down to enjoy King Loui.
Only a Light and Coincidental Resemblance If there is some kind of contest on for the Walt Disney movie which least resembles the supposed source material, "The Jungle Book" must be the clear winner. It bears only the lightest and most coincidental resemblance to Rudyard Kiplings's cycle of stories about a little boy raised by wolves in the Indian jungle. Only the setting and the names of characters are preserved. That said, "The Jungle Book" deserves to be considered on its' own terms as a classically animated Disney feature, the very last to have been blessed by the hand of Walt himself. The plot is as thin as a wisp; the journey of the boy Mowgli to the village of his own kind, interspersed with some good-natured musical numbers, and helped or hindered by a variety of genial animals, and not terribly threatening villains.
It is a curious jumble, to watch with eyes accustomed to more recent animated features like "Shrek" and "Toy Story". Without exception the backgrounds are beautifully rendered, densely detailed, almost painterly. The animal characters were fully-fleshed, and with the exception of Kaaa, the python, seemed to move and flex like their real counterparts; especially King Louie the baboon, Bagheera the panther and Sher Khan the tiger. The last two seemed especially slinky; it would be nice to know if the artists responsible for their rendering had cats. King Louie is hilarious, and so are the four vultures - very obviously patterned after the Beatles. In contrast, the rendering of Mowgli the boy and ostensible hero, looks like a bland and sketchily rendered cut-out. It almost seems as if the artists were far more interested in the animals.
The extra features included are generous; this is veritably the platinum standard for a DVD classic. It is on two discs; necessary to contain the complete movie and commentary. There is also a nearly hour-long feature about how the movie was developed, along with several shorter features. One of the bonus features is a look at a character "Rocky the Rhino" who was eventually omitted - rather a pity actually, since Rocky would have been voiced by the man who did "Crazy Guggenheim". There are also complete recordings of songs which were dropped from the final version, and probably a good call. There are also generous picture galleries of the characters and of the background art, which was purely my favorite, and a series of games. The actual movie itself takes barely more than an hour itself, but the extras will keep an audience amused for days.
Horrendous adaptation of a Kipling classic As a long-time fan of Kipling's original The Jungle Book, I can't stomach this Disney drivel. Kipling's Mowgli is brave, competent, and completely adapted to life in the jungle. His Kaa is Mowgli's friend and protector. His Shere Khan is a fool.
Disney twisted the story to make Mowgli naive and helpless. The only moment in the movie that (almost) rings true is Mowgli's attraction to the human girl at the end -- but in the novel, this only happens when Mowgli becomes a man. In the book Mowgli is driven back to man by traitorous members of the wolf pack, but returns to the jungle after killing Shere Khan and being rejected by his fellow humans. I recommend that anyone who enjoys the movie read the book and find out what they've been missing.
The Jungle Book My daughter loves this movie! The picture looks great, for being 40 years olds. Disney did a great job re-creating the picture.
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