The Jungle Book (1967)

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According to the 7 eras of Disney animation, the "Silver Age" ends with this particular title, thus ending the third age of the animation studio. For those curious, the Golden Age goes from 'Snow White' to 'Bambi'; the Wartime Era goes from 'Saludos Amigos' to 'Ichabod and Mr. Toad', and the Silver Age covers from 'Cinderella' up to this point. Here we have one of my personal favorites that strays away from the whole "Princess" thing and gives us a solid adventure aimed perhaps a touch more at us boys. Once again this is something that happens a bit more than we tend to realize.

The film tells us the tale of an orphan boy named Mowgli (Bruce Reitherman), who is found by a Panther named Bagheera (Sebastian Cabot) in the jungles of India. Bagheera delivers Mowgli to a pack of wolves, lead by Akela (John Abbott) who raises him as one of the pack. One day, Akela comes to the decision that Mowgli has to leave the pack as well as the jungle he calls home, and be returned to his own kind in what they call the "Man-Village". A threat has returned in the form of a Tiger named Shere Khan (George Sanders), and it's believed that Mowgli doesn't stand a chance of survival.

While being escorted to the "Man-Village" by Bagheera, Mowgli comes across several colorful characters including a hungry python named Kaa (Sterling Holloway), a friendly, rough-and-tumble bear named Baloo (Phil Harris), an Elephant Army, lead by Col. Hathi (J. Pat O'Malley) a greedy orangutan named King Louie (Louis Prima) who happens to be the character of racial controversy in this film. I'm not gonna get too deep into this particular controversy, but once again I give Disney Plus credit for owning up to things in the beginning of the film, and instead of just deleting things, leaving them in to spark conversation among viewers... now if only they'd do something similar for the 'Simpsons' episode 'Stark Raving Dad', but that's a whole other thing.

The truth of the matter is, this is another Disney title that comes from my childhood that I've always enjoyed. Although I understand the controversial elements of it, it's a title I hold close to my heart, having once been in Cubs where all of my leaders were named after 'Jungle Book' characters. I mean, this was a movie I bonded with friends over, and to be honest, I've always really enjoyed the story. Fast-forwarding to 2016, the live action remake was released, and to this day, I still consider it the best one they've done. That said, truth be told, I've never really disliked any version of this story - not even the '94 version, which a lot of people look down their noses at.

This is a fun, and easily watchable adventure for the family - but be sure to give fresh young minds a bit of an education on why the 'I Wanna Be Like You' song by King Louie might be problematic to some. Otherwise, the songs are catchy, the voice acting is solid, the advancement of Disney's animated animals and natural backgrounds evolves, and above all else, it's not one I feel stuck on. In other words it's not like 'Cinderella' or 'Sleeping Beauty' where I know it's not my thing at all, but I can appreciate it for what it is. 'The Jungle Book' is something I can freely say I very much enjoy, and I think as long as one understands the controversial moments here, one can still find the overall adventure very enjoyable.

4/5

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