The Jungle Book (1967 film)

The Jungle Book was the final film produced by Walt Disney before his death in 1966.

After The Sword in the Stone was released, storyman Bill Peet claimed to Walt Disney that "we [the animation department] can do more interesting animal characters" and suggested that Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book could be used for the studio's next film.[9] Disney agreed and Peet created an original treatment, with little supervision, as he had done with One Hundred and One Dalmatians and The Sword in the Stone. However, after the disappointing reaction to The Sword in the Stone, Walt Disney decided to become more involved in the story than he had been with the past two films,[10] with his nephew Roy E. Disney saying that "[he] certainly influenced everything about it. (...) With Jungle Book, he obviously got hooked on the jungle and the characters that lived there".[11]

Peet decided to follow closely the dramatic, dark, and sinister tone of Kipling's book, which is about the struggles between animals and man. However, the film's writers decided to make the story more straightforward, as the novel is very episodic, with Mowgli going back and forth from the jungle to the Man-Village, and Peet felt that Mowgli returning to the Man-Village should be the ending for the film. Following suggestions, Peet also created the character of Louie, king of the monkeys. Louie was a less comical character, enslaving Mowgli trying to get the boy to teach him to make fire. The orangutan would also show a plot point borrowed from The Second Jungle Book, gold and jewels under his ruins.[1][10] The ending also was very different from the final film's: after Mowgli got to the man village, he would get into an argument with Buldeo the hunter which would cause him to return to the jungle with a torch, which he would use to scare those who attacked or mocked him through the journey, before being dragged back to the ruins by Buldeo in search for the treasure. After recovering a great part of the treasure, Buldeo would declare his intentions to burn the jungle to avoid the threat of Shere Khan, only for the tiger to attack and kill him, before being killed by Mowgli with the hunter's gun. Due to his actions, Mowgli would be hailed as a hero in both the jungle and the village, and declared the first human to be part of the wolves' council.[1][10] Disney was not pleased with how the story was turning out, as he felt it was too dark for family viewing and insisted on script changes. Peet refused, and after a long argument, Peet left the Disney studio in January 1964.[9]

Disney then assigned Larry Clemmons as his new writer and one of the four story men for the film, giving Clemmons a copy of Kipling's book, and telling him: "The first thing I want you to do is not to read it".[10] Clemmons still looked at the novel and thought it was too disjointed and without continuity, needing adaptations to fit a film script. Clemmons wanted to start in medias res, with some flashbacks afterward, but then Disney said to focus on doing the storyline more straight: "Let's do the meat of the picture. Let's establish the characters. Let's have fun with it".[12] Although much of Bill Peet's work was discarded, the personalities of the characters remained in the final film. This was because Disney felt that the story should be kept simple, and the characters should drive the story. Disney took an active role in the story meetings, acting out each role and helping to explore the emotions of the characters, helping create gags, and developing emotional sequences.[10] Clemmons also created the human girl with whom Mowgli falls in love, as the animators considered that falling in love would be the best excuse for Mowgli to leave the jungle.[1][10] Clemmons would write a rough script with an outline for most sequences. The story artists then discussed how to fill the scenes, including the comedic gags to employ.[13][14] The script also tried to incorporate how the voice actors molded their characters and interacted with each other.[15] The Jungle Book also marks the last animated film from the company to have Disney's personal touches, before his death on December 15, 1966.[16]

Many familiar voices inspired the animators in their creation of the characters[10] and helped them shape their personalities.[16] This use of familiar voices for key characters was a rarity in Disney's past films.[10] The staff was shocked to hear that a wise cracking comedian, Phil Harris was going to be in a Kipling film. Disney suggested Harris after meeting him at a party.[17] Harris improvised most of his lines, as he considered the scripted lines "didn't feel natural".[9] After Harris was cast, Disneyland Records president Jimmy Johnson suggested Disney to get Louis Prima as King Louie, as he "felt that Louis would be great as foil".[18] Walt also cast other prominent actors such as George Sanders as Shere Khan and Sebastian Cabot as Bagheera. Additionally, he cast regular Disney voices such as Sterling Holloway as Kaa, J. Pat O'Malley as Colonel Hathi and Buzzie the Vulture and Verna Felton as Hathi's wife. Felton had previously worked many years with Phil Harris on radio's The Jack Benny Program.[19] This was her last film before she died.[16] David Bailey was originally cast as Mowgli, but his voice changed during production, leading Bailey to not fit the "young innocence of Mowgli's character" at which the producers were aiming. Thus director Wolfgang Reitherman cast his son Bruce, who had just voiced Christopher Robin in Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree. The animators shot footage of Bruce as a guide for the character's performance.[9][20] Child actress Darlene Carr was going around singing in the studio when composers Sherman Brothers asked her to record a demo of "My Own Home". Carr's performance impressed Disney enough for him to cast her as the role of the human girl.[21]

In the original book, the vultures are grim and evil characters who feast on the dead. Disney lightened it up by having the vultures bearing a physical and vocal resemblance to The Beatles, including the signature mop-top haircut. It was also planned to have the members of the band to both voice the characters and sing their song, "That's What Friends Are For". However, at the time, The Beatles' John Lennon refused to work on animated films which led to the idea being discarded.[22] The casting of the vultures still brought a British Invasion musician, Chad Stuart of the duo Chad & Jeremy.[9] In earlier drafts of the scene the vultures had a near-sighted rhinoceros friend named Rocky, who was to be voiced by Frank Fontaine. However, Walt decided to cut the character for feeling that the film had already much action with the monkeys and vultures.[23]

Animation on The Jungle Book commenced on May 2, 1966. While many of the later Disney feature films had animators being responsible for single characters, in The Jungle Book the animators were in charge of whole sequences, since many have characters interacting with one another. The animation was done by xerography, with character design, led by Ken Anderson, employing rough, artistic edges in contrast to the round animals seen in productions such as Dumbo.[24]

Anderson also decided to make Shere Khan resemble his voice actor, George Sanders.[9] Backgrounds were hand-painted — with exception of the waterfall, mostly consisting of footage of the Angel Falls - and sometimes scenery was used in both foreground and bottom to create a notion of depth. Following one of Reitherman's trademarks of reusing animation of his previous films, the wolf cubs are based on dogs from 101 Dalmatians. Animator Milt Kahl based Bagheera and Shere Khan's movements on live-action felines, which he saw in two Disney productions, A Tiger Walks and the True-Life Adventure film Jungle Cat.[24]

Baloo was also based on footage of bears, even incorporating the animal's penchant for scratching. Since Kaa has no limbs, his design received big expressive eyes, and parts of Kaa's body did the action that normally would be done with hands.[25] The monkeys' dance during "I Wan'na Be Like You" was partially inspired by a performance Louis Prima did with his band at Disney's soundstage to convince Walt Disney to cast him.[9]

The Jungle Book was released in October 1967,[10] just 10 months after Walt's death.[16] Some bookings were in a double feature format with Charlie, the Lonesome Cougar.[28] Produced on a budget of $4 million,[2][29][30] the film was a massive success, grossing domestic rentals of $11.5 million by 1968.[31] By 1970, the film had grossed $13 million in domestic rentals becoming the second highest-grossing animated film in the United States and Canada.[4] The film earned over $23.8 million worldwide becoming the most successful animated film released during its initial run.[32]

The Jungle Book was re-released theatrically in North America three times, 1978, 1984, and 1990, and also in Europe throughout the 1970s and 1980s.[33] A re-issue in the United Kingdom in 1976 generated rentals of $1.8 million.[34] The 1978 re-release increased its North American rentals to $27.3 million, which surpassed Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs making it the highest grossing animated film of all-time in the United States and Canada[35] until Snow White was re-released in 1983. The film's total lifetime gross in the U.S. and Canada is $141 million.¹[36] When adjusted for inflation, it is estimated to be equivalent to $671,224,000 in 2018,[37] which would make it the 32nd highest-grossing film of all time in the United States and Canada.[38]

The Jungle Book is Germany's biggest film of all time in terms of admissions with 27.3 million tickets sold, nearly 10 million more than Titanic's 18.8 million tickets sold.[5] It has grossed an estimated $108 million in Germany making it the third highest-grossing film of all time in Germany behind only Avatar ($137 million) and Titanic ($125 million).[39] The film was the seventh most popular sound film of the twentieth century in the UK with admissions of 19.8 million.[40] The film is France's ninth biggest film of all time in terms of admissions with 14.8 million tickets sold.[41] The film's 1993 re-release set an overseas record for a re-issue, grossing $67.5 million overseas during that year.[42]

The Jungle Book was released in the United States on VHS in 1991 as part of the Walt Disney Classics product line and in the United Kingdom in 1993. In the United States, the VHS release sold 7.4 million units and grossed $184,926,000 in 1991, making it the year's third best-selling home video release, behind only Fantasia and Home Alone.[43] By 1994, The Jungle Book sold 9.5 million units in the United States.[44] Home video sales outside North America reached 14 million units and grossed $350 million by December 1993.[45] Overseas sales reached 14.8 million units by January 1994, becoming the best-selling international VHS release in overseas markets, including sales of 4.9 million units in the United Kingdom, 4.3 million in Germany, and 1.2 million in France.[46] By August 1994, it had sold 15 million units in international overseas markets,[47] bringing worldwide sales to 24.5 million units by 1994. As of 2002, The Jungle Book held the record for the best-selling home video release in the United Kingdom, ahead of Titanic which sold 4.8 million units.[48]

It was reissued on video in 1997 as part of the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection for the film's 30th anniversary.[33] A Limited Issue DVD was released by Buena Vista Home Entertainment in 1999.[49] The film was released once again as a 2-disc Platinum Edition DVD on October 2, 2007 to commemorate its 40th anniversary.[50] Its release was accompanied by a limited 18-day run at Disney's own El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, with the opening night featuring a panel with composer Richard Sherman and voice actors Bruce Reitherman, Darlene Carr, and Chad Stuart.[51] The Platinum DVD was put on moratorium in 2010.[52] The film was released in a Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy Combo pack on February 11, 2014 as part of Disney's Diamond Edition line.[53] The Diamond Edition release went back into the Disney Vault on January 31, 2017. In the United States, the DVD and Blu-ray releases sold 12 million units between 2007 and 2016, and have grossed $304 million as of August 2018.[54]

The Jungle Book received positive reviews upon release, undoubtedly influenced by a nostalgic reaction to the death of Walt Disney.[16] The Time reviewer said the film strayed far from the Kipling stories, but "[n]evertheless, the result is thoroughly delightful...it is the happiest possible way to remember Walt Disney".[55] Howard Thompson of The New York Times praised the film as "simple, uncluttered, straight-forward fun, as put together by the director, Wolfgang Reitherman, four screen writers and the usual small army of technicians. Using some lovely exotic pastel backgrounds and a nice clutch of tunes, the picture unfolds like an intelligent comic-strip fairy tale".[28] Richard Schickel, reviewing for Life magazine, referred to it as "the best thing of its kind since Dumbo, another short, bright, unscary and blessedly uncultivated cartoon".[56] Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times, wrote the film was "really, really good Disney indeed, and nobody needs to say a great deal more."[57] Variety gave the film a favorable review while noting that "the story development is restrained" and that younger audiences "may squirm at times".[58] The song "The Bare Necessities" was nominated for Best Original Song at the 40th Academy Awards, losing to "Talk to the Animals" from Doctor Dolittle.[59] Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president Gregory Peck lobbied extensively for the film to be nominated for Best Picture, but was unsuccessful.[60]

Retrospective reviews were also positive, with the film's animation, characters and music receiving much praise throughout the years. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film received an approval rating of 88% based on 40 reviews, with an average rating of 7.19/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "With expressive animation, fun characters, and catchy songs, The Jungle Book endures as a crowd-pleasing Disney classic".[61] In 1990, when the film had its last theatrical re-release, Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly considered that The Jungle Book "isn't a classic Walt Disney film on the order of, say, Cinderella or Pinocchio, but it's one of Disney's liveliest and funniest".[62] Charles Solomon, reviewing for the Los Angeles Times, thought the film's crew was "near the height of their talents" and the resulting film "remains a high-spirited romp that will delight children—and parents weary of action films with body counts that exceed their box-office grosses".[63] In 2010, Empire described the film as one that "gets pretty much everything right", noting that the vibrant animation and catchy songs overcame the plot deficiencies.[60]

Colin Greenland reviewed The Jungle Book for Imagine magazine, and stated that "the last film the old boy worked on himself and I reckon the last good animated feature in his traditional mode - not least because of some rather jolly jazz which, legend has it, Walt himself resisted, and was added after his death."[64]