The Jungle Book (Disney) (1967) [1968]

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Look for the bear necessities
Comment: In one of Walt Disney's classics, Bagheera the panther offers to take Mowgli, a young boy, to the man village before the evil tiger Shere Khan gets to him.

This family adventure is a classic, made so by a beautiful sentimental plot about human emotions, including loyalty, sensitivity and most importantly love. And these human emotions are decoded through the animals of the jungle.

With the enchanting and fun loving actions of Baloo the bear and the honest and hard actions of Bagheera, do audiences get that true feel of the human spirit, and the facts of life, to have fun, but to face the truth as well, which is also reflected in some of the most catchy and enjoyable songs ever created for a Disney picture.

"The Bear Necessities", "Trust in me" and "That's what friends are for" are the brightest gems to have ever been written and are beautifully directed and told through humorous and delightful techniques by the team.

Though the plot can be a little slow at times, the characters are all joys to watch, particularly the bad guys Khan and Kaa, who light up the film in their own dark way. Khan's dialogue is perhaps the best ever written for an animated villain and even in my adult years I find him chilling to watch.

The film explores the depths of the jungle with a keen interest in different animals, which are explored in a comic fashion from the forgettable elephant to the bored vultures, the Jungle Book simply has everything.

From an excellent plot, to the wonderful sing-along songs, it is a true landmark in the animation genre.

9/10

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Get in Quick!
Comment: This is definitely the edition of the Jungle Book DVD to buy! The DVDs themselves are the same as in the standard 40th anniversary edition and there are many reviews covering that aspect of this set under that items Amazon listing. So I won't cover that part in detail I'll just say that it is a five star DVD production in its own right!

This limited edition collector's item won't be around forever so get in quick! At the time of writing there is only a couple of pounds difference in price between this and the standard edition - a small price for collectors to pay.

This set comes in a book-shaped box containing the DVDs themselves and the bonus book. The book is about the same size as a DVD box and tells the Jungle Book story in illustrations from the film. Some reviewers may have preferred a copy of the Jungle Book itself but it is this charming little book is what actually makes this set collectable! It is only available as a part of this package.

For those who want a copy of the book of the Jungle Book Amazon have them starting from about £1.50 - so it won't break the bank to have both! If you know what to expect you won't be disappointed, and you won't be disappointed with this edition.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A GREAT Disney Film...
Comment: This film is very enjoyable!
I would say this is the best Disney film made so far because it has a really good storyline, which is: Mowgli a little baby in a basket was found by a panther called Bagheera, who gave this man cub (as the animals call it) to the wolf pack to raise.
Years go by and the man cub, Mowgli had gotten so used to the jungle. Bagheera the panther realised that one day he had to take him to the man village.
When Bagheera tries to take Mowgli to the man village, Mowgli runs away and meets a friendly, whacky bear called Baloo.
After meeting Baloo, Mowlgi and the bear start to become friends and now Mowgli wants to live with him in the jungle.
Baloo and Mowgli sing a nice happy song about the 'Bear Necessities' which you might have heard of and then Mowlgi lies on Baloo's stomach in the water and suddenly a monkey grabs Mowgli and starts to tease Baloo.
It gets worse.
He takes him to the crazy, loony monkey king called King Louie who wants to know the key to make fire and this funny character is played by none other than Louie Prima.
There is also another song but this time is sung by Louie Prima.
This scene with the monkey king is my favourite part of the film.
After this scene Bagheera explains to Baloo why mowgli should go to the man village, after this Baloo realises that he should have took him to the man village with Bagheera.
When he tries to Mowgli runs away again and this time he runs into some vultures who sing him an entertaining song about friends.
Now it's the exciting bit.
Shere Khan the tiger finishes off the last part of the song which is quite humorous and then he gives 10 seconds to Mowgli to run and instead of running Mowgli picks up a stick with some fire on it and scares Shere Khan with it.
After this is Kipling's ending to a great story which is: A girl with a container for some water goes to get some water and Mowgli gets curious and interested.
She then drops her container on purpose so Mowgli goes to fill it up for her... he does.
Baloo says: 'She did that on purpose!'
'Obviously' said the wise panther.

The Bottom Line: Shere Khan the tiger has returned to the jungle and hates man with a vengeance, he is also afriad of fire + Mowgli does not want to go to the man village.

I would recommend buying this spectacular, animated film.
This would make a fantastic Christmas gift and is fun for all ages.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Magical and Timeless, a joy from start to finish !
Comment: Enchanting and wonderful story about a boy who lives in the jungle and comes across some brilliant characters along the way from a posh panther to a fun loving bear, clumsy elephants, swinging monkeys, seductive snakes and a ferocious tiger. The songs are timeless and will live forever and this special DVD has some great extras from deleted songs to lost characters !

A classic to be enjoyed by everyone !

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Customer Rating:
Summary: King of the Swingers
Comment: I was never a massive Jungle Book fan. When I was a kid it just wasn't one of the films I'd really seen much of. Disney's Robin Hood was the main Disney film I experienced. But recently I watched this DVD and realised how fantastic the film really is....

...The style of this film seems more akin to a detailed Japanese anime film than an American animated feature. The backgrounds are so detailed and the colours vivid (helped in this release by the digital remastering). But let's face it, this film isn't necessarily about the visuals - it's the music that has ensured this film has secured iconic status.

The tracks are catchy, and genuinely so - they aren't childish songs, they are proper musical tracks performed by esteemed artists at the time. The music seems to match up perfectly with the characters. Instead of trendy pop songs, you get classic numbers which have never dated.

This release has plenty of additional features; I enjoyed these, but long term Jungle Book fans will love them. From a decent `making of' to a deleted additional character - the DVD has the kind of features DVDs *should* have.

Perfect for the whole family to enjoy, the issues are adult ones, the themes are quite serious - so parents don't feel they are `lowering themselves' when watching. If you watch this and then don't find yourself singing "The Bare Necessities" as a result, then you must have a medical condition preventing you to do so - or you're in a library and would get chucked out.

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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 (Louis Prima as "King Louie" of the Apes; 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