Viewed in
2010
Premise
A Disney-animated version of Rudyard Kipling's Mowgli stories.
Loved
The memorable music.
Liked
The comedy.
Thoughts
A fun, memorable film.
I loved the music by the Sherman brothers. Even twenty-four hours later, I found myself whistling the melodies. I remember "Bare Necessities" since my childhood, but I also immensely enjoyed "I Wan'na be Like You", sung by Louis Prima.
Not only were they bouncy songs, but the singing and voice-acting was well-done. George Sanders as Shere Khan the majestically evil tiger was freaking awesome. Personally, I found it a little disarming to hear the adorable voice of Winnie the Pooh (Sterling Holloway) as a hypnotizing, antagonist snake.
Another thing I enjoyed was the humor. There were lots of silly, cartoony moments that made me laugh, such as when Baloo, Bagheera, and the monkeys attempt to steal Mowgli from each others' grasps. The marching elephants had their moments of hilarity too.
Watching it four decades later as an adult, there were more than a few weird, distracting moments. Do wolves, bears, vultures and deer actually exist in India? Were the vulture characters lame parodies of the Beatles? Were the behaviors of the monkeys a racist portrayal of black Americans? I ceased to wrack my brains on how different animals and humans can communicate to each other and coexist peacefully, chalked the lack of racial sensitivity to naive times, and just enjoyed the ride.
The unexpected drawback to this film was that it made The Lion King a little less cool, due to many similarities (iconic hedonist-themed song, cross-dressing animals, two wizened animals caring for a naive cub, etc).
Overall, it was much better than I expected, thanks to the well-executed cartoon-like comedy, and the great songs. Just remember to check biology at the door.
What I would change
The scene when the young human girl's singing was sung with a sultry woman's voice. I would have replaced her with a young girl's voice. To sexualize her character was a bit creepy.
