An animated classic with some great songs

Rating: 9/10 (16 March 2019)

This classic Disney animation, based on the story by Rudyard Kipling, tells the story of Mowgli; a young boy who was raised by wolves after being found in the Indian jungle as a baby. He has been with the wolves for ten years when news of Shere Khan, the man-hating tiger's, return to that part of the jungle reaches the pack. It is decided that for Mowgli's safety he must be returned to the man-village; Bagheera, a panther, volunteers to take him. On the way they meet various dangers as well as some friendly creatures; most notably a sloth bear named Baloo.
This film is a lot of fun with a combination of a simple but solid story; enjoyable characters and a variety of catchy songs. 'The Bare Necessities' and 'I Wanna Be Like You' may be the best known of the songs but the others are pretty good too; especially 'Trust In Me', sung by Kaa the hypnotic python. The story contains elements that are mildly threatening but these are balanced by the comedy and songs. The characters are great; I particularly liked Baloo and the way he was portrayed with a John Wayne like drawl; and Kaa's hypnotic stare and hissing voice. As one would expect from Disney the animation and character designs are all top notch. One or two gags might have dated a little... today's children might not spot that a quartet of vultures are based on The Beatles but that doesn't matter as the characters are still funny. Overall I'd definitely recommend this classic film to viewers of all ages.