Some song-and-dance scenes stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the best of their peers; the rest, not so much.

Rating: 5/10 (14 July 2018)

'The Jungle Book (1967)' has an odd sort of structure, or lack of it, which leads to a lax pace and utter absence of urgency that's evocative of an overall aimless experience. In the end, it's a somewhat lazy - and, indeed, somewhat lazily put-together (see the multiple pieces of readily apparent reused animation, sometimes just minutes apart) - slumber through extended but unexciting set-piece after set-piece that actually seems in dire need of a proper 'story' - that is, one with character arcs, proper conflict, rising tension and generally more traditional 'beats' - regardless of how closely it follows the events of its source material. The picture isn't devoid of merit, however, as it is a traditionally animated Disney movie and, no matter how stuffy or stiff it seems or how obvious its 'corner cutting' is, there's always a general sense of an unshakable charm, a feeling that the flick is a free-flowing story-book come-to-life like most of the studio's attempts usually are. A couple of song-and-dance scenes stand out not for their narrative merits - or even, particularity, their musical ones (though the songs themselves, sung solo, are certainly good and have stood the test of time) - but for their lively animation and cheerful choreography. These pop off the screen as sequences that deviate from the rest of the movie's slightly 'lower rent' status and easily align themselves shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the best of their peers, to the point that they feel like the only reason you'd ever actually watch the movie. Ultimately, there's little here. It's a decent if dull picture that plays it by-the-book and only has a couple of scenes that really stand out, as well as the odd quirk indicative of the style and time. 5/10