The Jungle Book (1967)

Nominated for an Academy Award for its signature song “The Bare Necessities” this Disney classic features the voice talents of Phil Harris Sebastian Cabot George Sanders Sterling Holloway and Louis Prima. Inspired by Rudyard Kipling’s Mowgli stories it was directed by Wolfgang Reitherman and written by Larry Clemmons Ralph Wright Ken Anderson and Vance Gerry. This animated feature was released after Walt Disney’s death in 1966.

A young boy named Mowgli who was discovered as a baby in a boat by a panther named Bagheera (Cabot) and was subsequently raised by a family of wolves in the jungle reaches the age of 10 when it is learned that the jungle’s most feared creature – a tiger named Shere Khan (Sanders) – is near. Bagheera attempts to get Mowgli to the safety of the “man village” but the adolescent refuses to be corralled. Mowgli “flees” and meets a big bear named Baloo (Harris) the “bum” of the jungle much to Bagheera’s chagrin. This “man cub” character is voiced by Bruce Reitherman son of the animator-director and the original voice of Winnie the Pooh’s Christopher Robin.

These two reluctantly bound acquaintances barely manage to keep Mowgli out of the hands of many of the jungle’s dangers including a hypnotizing-eyed python named Kaa (Holloway) a funky king-of-the-apes orangutan named Louie (Prima) and most importantly Shere Khan who has vowed to kill the boy before he can become a man capable of upsetting his kingdom as its premiere hunter. There are also elephants that help with Mowgli’s protection and 1960’s era “rock-n-roll” vultures. Inevitably the boy will be captivated by a native girl (Darleen Carr).

The animated comedy’s other songs include Prima’s “I Wanna Be Like You” Holloway’s “Trust in Me” and Colonel Hathi’s March (The Elephant Song).

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