The Jungle Book

Bagheera the black panther finds a baby boy in a basket. He brings him to be raised by mother wolf. Years later, the tiger Shere Kahn returns to their part of the jungle and threatens to kill the man-cub. The pack decides to send the man-cub back to a man-village with the help of Bagheera. The boy isn't happy to leave the jungle. On the way, he encounters elephants led by Colonel Hathi, orangutans, Kaa the python and the irresponsible fun-loving bear Baloo. It's a fun collection of memorable animal characters. The plot is a little random but I don't think that matters too much in this movie. Compared to its other Disney cohorts, this ranks slightly lower than the classics. The story just isn't that compelling. On the other hand, 'The Bare Necessities' is a great song and there is a childlike joy that permeates much of the movie.

This is not my very favorite, but it IS among the very best of Disney's animated classics. With unforgettable characters, endearing dialog, and an irascible wit that permeates throughout, Wolfgang Reitherman's The Jungle Book features some of the best animation, voice parts, and story in the Disney vaults. The original songs are still as enigmatic as ever, and so are the characters. This is one of my very favorites, although not the top. That position belongs to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, but the Jungle Book presses a very close second. If you have kids, are a kid at heart, or collect Disney features, this is a must have in the collection. It is a beautiful coming of age movie, for both boys and girls. It rates a 9.8/10 from... the Fiend :.

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.

Watching this as a middle-aged adult, I found out, was a far cry from seeing this as a very young adult, or as a kid. When I last saw it about 10 years ago, it was okay but nothing like I had remembered. It not only wasn't as funny as I had remembered, but it dragged a bit. It's still a nice, harmless film in which even the villains - the snake and tiger - weren't too evil or frightening. Thus, little kids should be okay with this. Actually, they should love this film. The movie is known for its theme song, "The Bare Necessitites," a catchy tune that is still fun to hear. Phil Harris, as ""Baloo," does a great job with that song. There are other fine songs here as well.