Like Disney's other adaptations of children's classics, The Jungle Book is based on the Kipling original in the same way that a fox hunt is based on foxes. Nonetheless, the result is thoroughly delightful.
I'm aware nostalgia and bias plays a big part in my high rating, but I would give it a 9.5. It is immersive and magical from everything from the way the characters move, to the musical numbers, to the backgrounds.
Great knockabout visual gags, mercifully little cutey-poo sentiment, and reasonable songs, including The Bare Necessities. The animation has only the bare necessities, too, and the storyline is weak, but it doesn't seem to matter much.
Pokily paced for a 78-minute movie, The Jungle Book counts on winning characters and memorable songs to carry it along. That turns out to be a safe bet.
Although it has beguiling and funny interludes, The Jungle Book lacks the narrative suspense and excitement that propel the best of the Disney animated features from the pioneering Snow White and Pinnochio to last year's The Rescuers. It seems to reflect the Disney tradition in repose, still expert and pleasing but also a trifle stuffy. [29 June 1978, p.B7]
OK guys, heres what I'm going to do. This is definitely one of disneys last films. Me and my friend Harry loved it. We were quoting all the lines all the way through and I've said it before and I'll say it again, it is so much fun. The songs are memorable, The March Song, I Wanna Be Like You, Trust In Me, That's What Friends Are For and the one The Bare Necessities. My favorite part about this film is Baloo singing The Bare Necessities. There are all that I really love like I Wanna Be Like You and The March Song. The music sounds the same much like from Sleeping Beauty, 101 Dalmatians, The Sword in the Stone and others. I even found the opening music creepy when I was a kid, well not that creepy. The villain is brilliant and he's name is Shere Khan and he hates men and do whatever it to kill Mowgli. Bagheera has all the loyalty he can get. By the way, Bagheera is not just a cat he's a panther, a black panther and he sure reminds me of the pink panther. Well that's it, that's The Jungle Book the last disney classic he had ever made. You'll enjoy the characters, the animation and the catchiest songs ever.
Based on Rudyard Kipling's book, a young boy called Mowgli is abandoned and raised by wolves, but his happy life is threatened by the return of the man-eating tiger Shere Khan.
Rightly considered a classic, The Jungle Book is full of memorable characters and some of the greatest songs found in cinema. It may now be over 50 years old, but this more than stands the test of time.
A Book And A Torch Of Fire.
The Jungle Book
Disney's favourite kid among all, is not some biased political act, but works hard and succeeds on nothing but merit. This is why after decades, this film has aged well. It welcomes every fear of ours with open arms and chirpy body language that makes this stay equally heartwarming as much as smart it is. In fact, the narration is so lucid that the writers might be making a fool out of us and we wouldn't know the difference. Now this is the sort of writing that we shouldn't mind, if anything we should encourage it. Passing on shoulder to shoulder- literally- our lead character Mowgli, meets plethora of characters.
From Bagheera The Panther to a pack of wolves, to Elephants, to Kaa The Snake, to Baloo The Bear, to a troop of monkeys only to visit the ultimate Shere Khan and the most underrated and hilarious Vultures. This back and forth of being taught on, our protagonist seems to be left a bit undercooked in the process. Often gullible and also dogmatic at times, Mowgli, the protagonist that we are told to root for, doesn't have anything to offer as an individual being.
In fact, if anyone soars above all these bushy plants, is Baloo's carefree and father-ly attitude gluing this entire cast for a more meaningful reason. Bagheera too comes under the similar shade, but his almost non-flawed theories makes him one dimensional in certain parts of the storytelling. Nevertheless, this culmination of possibly every social satire brings in one delight night out for you to sleep on. The songs are catchy to a point where it is impossible to not hum "The Bear Necessities" for a couple of days. The Jungle Book has the quality to be wild, it may not be foliated to its best, but it certainly isn't discouraged.