The Jungle Book (1967 film)
The Jungle Book is a 1967 American animated musical comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution. Based very loosely on the "Mowgli" stories from Rudyard Kipling's 1894 book of the same title, it is the final animated feature film to be produced by Walt Disney, who died during its production. It was directed by Wolfgang Reitherman and written by Larry Clemmons, Ralph Wright, Ken Anderson, and Vance Gerry. Featuring the voices of Phil Harris, Sebastian Cabot, Louis Prima, George Sanders, Sterling Holloway, J. Pat O'Malley, and Bruce Reitherman, the film's plot follows Mowgli, a feral child raised in the Indian jungle by wolves, as his friends, Bagheera the panther and Baloo the bear, try to convince him to leave the jungle before the ruthless tiger Shere Khan arrives.
Theatrical release poster
A promotional image of the characters from the film. From left to right: Kaa, Flunkey, King Louie, Ziggy, Shere-Khan, wolf cubs, Buzzie, Mowgli, Flaps, Dizzy, Bagheera, Baloo, the Girl, Colonel Hathi, Hathi Jr., Mother Wolf, and Rama.
The Jungle Book was the last animated feature Walt Disney supervised before his death in December 1966.
The casting of Phil Harris prompted Disney to expand Baloo's role from episodic part to one of the film's main characters.
The Jungle Book (1894) is a collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, who is raised in the jungle by wolves. Most stories are set in a forest in India; one place mentioned repeatedly is "Seeonee" (Seoni), in the central
state of Madhya Pradesh.
Embossed cover of first edition with artwork by John Lockwood Kipling
Mowgli made leader of the Bandar-log by John Charles Dollman, 1903
Mowgli, Bagheera, and the wolf pack with Shere Khan's skin. Illustration by W. H. Drake. First edition, 1894
Protagonists from the Soviet animated adaptation, "Маугли" (Mowgli), on a Russian postage stamp.