The Jungle Book (1967) (www.the-usher.com)

"Bare Necessities"

Raised by wolves in the Indian jungle Mowgli (Reitherman) is sent back to the man village when the pack hears that Shere Khan (Sanders), a man eating tiger has returned to the area. Panther Bagheera (Cabot) is entrusted with taking him to the village but Mowgli doesn't want to go and when he meets Baloo the bear (Harris), he wants to stay in the jungle even more. As the three have fun in the jungle however, Shere Khan hears about Mowgli and decides he is going to be his next meal.

When it comes to naming your favourite ever Disney animated movie one film instantly springs to mind but is 'The Jungle Book' just as good forty years after its release?

Rudyard Kipling's beloved novel 'The Jungle Book' was a story crying out for the Disney animation treatment and in 1967 they produced an adaptation that would become one of the most beloved movies ever made. Setting the standard for traditional animation, character design and musical numbers for years to come, 'The Jungle Book' became the definition of a classic and one that all Disney films would be compared with forever more.

With classics coming both before and after, 'The Jungle Book' has continued to be a firm family for one simple reason, the characters. The movie was the last supervised by Walt Disney himself and bares little resemblance to the Rudyard Kipling series of stories but he took the essence of the tales of Mowgli, Baloo and Bagheera and transformed them into three of the beloved characters of all time. We have the care free Baloo, hippy-like in his embrace of a carefree lifestyle, spending all of his time chilling out and enjoying everything life has to throw at him. Bagheera is the sensible, father-like figure that knows the dangers of the jungle and is the voice of reason for the trio. Mowgli, the man-cub and raised by wolves, wants nothing more than to stay in the jungle and live with his newfound friend Baloo, living on the bare necessities of life. But with Monkey King Louie, Kaa the boa constrictor and the terrifying tiger Shere Khan all wanting the man-cub for themselves, Bagheera has no choice except to take the young boy back to the man village. Each character stays will stay with you for a very long time and become firm animated favourite.

Another reason for 'The Jungle Book' been so beloved is the songs. While Disney has now moved away from making musical oriented traditional animation and moved on to computer generated, character driven pieces with songs as just part of the soundtrack, just like any other movie, the songs and dance sequences in 'The Jungle Book' are some of the best they have ever produced. 'The Bare Necessities', 'I wanna be like you', 'Colonel Hathi's March', 'Trust in Me' and 'That's What Friends Are For' have all become the songs that every other animated movie had to be compared with and one that everyone loved watching and singing along to every time they watch the movie.

'The Jungle Book' is the definition of a family movie and the best traditional animated movie that Disney every produced. With characters that you instantly love and songs that will stay with you for the rest of your life, this is a movie that defies aging and is eternally brilliant. Now lets look for those bare necessities.

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in Widescreen 1.85:1 Anamorphic with Dolby Digital 5.1 and dts soundtracks, the transfer is very good.

BONUS FEATURES

Disc 1

Deleted Scene (6.36 mins)
Discover a deleted character 'Rocky the Rhino' and see where he should have been in the final movie.

Music and More

'I wanna be like you' Music Video (2.51 mins)
Watch the Jonah Brothers perform a modern version of the famous song.

Disney Song Selection
Watch and sing-a-long to 'Colonel Hathi's March', 'The Bare Necessities', 'I wanna be like you' and 'That's what friends are for', ever on their own on during the movie.

Deleted Songs (20.44 mins)
Listen to the songs that didn't make it into the film, entitled 'Brothers all', 'The song of Seeonee', 'The Bare Necessities (Demo Version)', 'Monkey see, Monkey do', 'I knew I belonged to her', 'In a day's work' and 'The man hunters'.

Audio Commentary
Composer Richard M. Sherman, Disney animator Andreas Deja and the voice of Mowgli Bruce Reitherman provide a chatty, fun and informative commentary for 'The Jungle Book'. With archive commentary from people involved in the original production of the classic movie and fascinating insights into the production of the film, this is a track well worth listening to.

Ensuring a future for Wildlife and Wild Places (3.35 mins)
See what Disney is doing with their conservation fund.

Trailers
Previews of 'Disney Princess: Enchanted Tales', 'Pixar: Animation Collection', '101: Dalmatians', 'Enchanted', 'Ratatouille' and 'Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse'.

Disc 2

Man Village

The Bare Necessities: The Making of the Jungle Book (46.27 mins)
Split into five 'Walt's lasting impression', 'King of the Jungle', 'Drawn to the voices', 'The jungle beat' and 'The Last act', the featurette looks at Walt Disney's last masterpiece with insights from the people who worked on the classic and those it as influenced.

Disney's Kipling: Walt's magic touch on a Literary Classic (15.02 mins)
This featurette looks at the differences between the original stories by Kipling, Bill Peet's first take on the story and Walt Disney final adaptation of the beloved classic.

The Lore of the Jungle Book (9.28 mins)
Disney animators talk about how 'The Jungle Book' influenced them and how it when onto influence future classic like 'Aladdin', 'The Little Mermaid', 'The Lion King', 'The Incredibles' and 'Tarzan'.

Mowgli's return to the wild (5.10 mins)
Bruce Reitherman talks about becoming a natural history cameraman and filmmaker and talks about the career of his father, director Wolfgang Reitherman.

Frank & Ollie (3.47 mins)
Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston discuss the character animation from the 'Jungle Book'.

Art Galleries
View 'Visual development', 'Character design', 'Storyboard', 'Layout and Backgrounds', 'Production Photo' and 'Publicity'

Jungle Fun

Baloo's Virtual Swingin' Jungle Cruise
Split into the sections entitled 'Kaa-Zen-Tration', 'Hathi's Boot Camp', 'Buzzard Shop Quartet' and 'Louie's Lounge', follow Baloo as he takes you around the Indian jungle on another adventure.

DisneyPedia: Junglemania
See the animals and habitats of India that inspired the movie and the novels.

The Jungle Book Fun with Language Games
Interactive fun with all of your favourite characters. Insert into your DVD-ROM drive for even more fun.

OVERALL

The DVD package for the 40th Anniversary of 'The Jungle Book' is one that will enthral fans of the classic movie. With loads of information about the production of the film, games for younger viewers and a good commentary track, this is an excellent package and one that everyone can enjoy.

DVD

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