A great story and great tunes... just great!

Rating: 7/10 (4 April 2020)

This has probably the most perfect balance of story and soundtrack of any film I've ever seen - animated or otherwise. Adapting Rudyard Kipling's tale of "Mowgli" the child abandoned in the Indian jungle, but rescued and raised by a family of wolves. "Bagheera", the sagacious panther realises as the boy starts to grow to manhood, that he ought to return to his own kind but "Baloo", the avuncular bear thinks otherwise and so takes our young man-cub on some fun adventures in the jungle - including some near-misses with the wonderfully menacing, sardonic tiger "Shere Khan" and "Kaa" the hypnotic python. The voice cast - especially Phil Harris as the bear and George Sanders as the tiger are great; Louis Prima as "Louie" the King of the Apes provides us with one of the best songs ever to feature in a Disney film - and the Sherman brothers provide a great slew more of them for us to enjoy, too. The detail in the animations and the humour in the script are super - this really is a must watch.