"I'm gone, man, solid gone!!"

Rating: 6/10 (27 November 2005)

Walt Disney's surprisingly flat animated retelling of the Rudyard Kipling books has a practical panther and a devil-may-care bear attempting to return 10-year-old man-cub Mowgli back to his people, continually thwarted by various comical characters and the villainous Shere Khan (majestically voiced by George Sanders). Only two good songs (the Oscar-nominated "The Bare Necessities", and Kaa the Snake's "Trust in Me") highlight the music score, and though there's fine voice-work from Sebastian Cabot and Sterling Holloway and some lovely background detail, much of the slapstick is short on inspiration. Phil Harris gives his Baloo lots of groovy flourish, but he's an 'oobie-doobie' product of his time. **1/2 from ****