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The Jungle Book, released on October 18, 1967, was Disney’s 19th full length, animated feature film. It was based on the series of books by Rudyard Kipling, and were inspired by the time that he lived in India. The movie tells the story of orphan Mowgli, who is raised in the Indian jungle by wolves, and whose friends are a panther and a bear who want him to leave before the tiger Shere Khan can hurt him.
The film would be Disney’s second high-grossing animated feature for the US and Canadian releases and was the final film that Walt Disney, himself, would work on before his death. The film remains popular with fans and includes two live-action remakes, one from 1994 and another from 2016, as well as a sequel to the 1994 release, The Jungle Book 2.
Now you can watch The Jungle Book streaming online. The film starred Phil Harris, Sebastian Cabot, and Sterling Holloway, and veers away from Kipling’s darker-themed books. It is the highest-grossing film of 1967, and the songs The Bare Necessities and I Wanna Be Like You were both nominated to the AFI’s 100 Years…100 Songs list. Here’s how to stream The Jungle Book right now:
How to Stream The Jungle Book- Exclusively on Disney+
The Jungle Book is one of the fan-favorite Disney original movies that will be streaming exclusively on Disney’s new subscription streaming service, Disney+.
You can sign up for a 7-day free trial of Disney+ HERE, which will allow you to stream The Jungle Book and hundreds of other movies and shows on your computer, phone, tablet, smart TV or streaming device. If you extend past the free trial, the service costs $6.99/month. You may also opt for this discount bundle of Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ for $12.99/month.
- 1. Sign up for Disney+ here
- 2. Go to Disneyplus.com or download the Disney+ app on your device
- 3. Log in using your information
- 4. Search for “The Jungle Book”
- 5. Tap on “The Jungle Book”
- 6. Tap the PLAY button
Disney+ also boasts a vast library of Disney-owned movies and series — plus several new original series coming soon. The service includes unlimited downloads so you can watch offline whenever and wherever you want. The list of compatible devices and smart TVs includes iPads, Apple TV, Amazon devices, Amazon Fire TV, Android, Chromecast, Roku, PS4, and Xbox One.
The Jungle Book: Overview
Release Date: October 18, 1967
Creators: Rudyard Kipling, Larry Clemmons, Ralph Wright, Ken Anderson
Director: Wolfgang Reitherman
Starring: Phil Harris, Sebastian Cabot, Louis Prima, Bruce Reitherman, George Sanders
Rating: G
Synopsis: Raised by wolves, Mowgli is befriended by a panther and a bear who try to get him safely away from the tiger, Shere Khan.
How Long Is The Jungle Book?
The Jungle Book has a running time of 78 minutes.
The Jungle Book Plot
Bagheera, a panther, finds Mowgli, a human orphan, in the jungle one day. Not knowing what else to do, he takes Mowgli to a pair of wolves who have just had cubs and they take in the boy. Mowgli is raised by the wolves for several years before the wolf pack learns of the return of Shere Khan, a man-eating Bengal tiger. Bagheera offers to take Mowgli to the human village where he will be safe, but Mowgli doesn’t want to go. That night, as they sleep in a tree, a python named Kaa attacks, wanting to eat Mowgli. Bagheera saves the boy, but he is still not convinced he should go to the man village. He tries to join the elephant patrol, led by Colonel Hathi. Mowgli and Bagheera fight and Bagheera leaves the boy alone; he meets up with Baloo, who promises to teach him how to survive on his own. But monkeys attack and kidnap Mowgli, taking him to King Louie, who promises to let Mowgli go if he first teaches the monkeys to make fire. Mowgli doesn’t know how.
Baloo and Bagheera rescue Mowgli from the monkeys and Bagheera convinces Baloo to help him convince Mowgli to go to the humans. Baloo agrees. Unbeknownst to them, Shere Khan is eavesdropping and decides to kill Mowgli himself. The next morning, Baloo tells Mowgli he has to go to the Man Village, but Mowgli runs away. He runs into Kaa, who tries to eat him again, but Shere Khan intervenes, allowing Mowgli to escape.
A storm comes to the jungle as Mowgli finds a group of vultures who take him in as another outcast. Shere Khan finds them and scares the vultures away; Baloo arrives and fights him and is nearly killed. Lightning strikes a tree, starting a fire, and Mowgli ties a burning branch to Shere Khan’s tail, scaring him into running away. Safe, Mowgli goes with Bagheera and Baloo to the Man Village, but he is reluctant to go inside until he sees a young girl by the river. She sees him and drops her water pot, which Mowgli retrieves for her. He looks back at his friends, shrugs, and follows the girl into the village, ready to live with humans.
The Jungle Book Cast
Many Disney favorites lent their voices to The Jungle Book, including Sebastian Cabot, Phil Harris, Verna Felton, and Louis Prima. Here are the main cast members of The Jungle book:
Phil Harris as Baloo the Bear
Baloo is Mowgli’s bear friend and wants him to abandon the jungle for a village. Phil Harris is famous for his roles in Disney films. He would star in 40 films and TV series, among them The Jungle Book, The Aristocats, and Robin Hood. He was nominated for three Grammy awards during his career, all for Disney films.
Bruce Reitherman as Mowgli the Man Cub
Mowgli is an orphan child raised by wolves in the jungle; he wants nothing more than to stay with his animal friends. Bruce Reitherman would star in several Disney films; his best-known roles were as Mowgli, and also as Christopher Robin in The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day.
Sebastian Cabot as Bagheera the Panther
Like Baloo, Bagheera wants to save Mowgli from Shere Khan by taking him to the human village. Bagheera is the one who found Mowgli and took him to the wolves to raise. Sebastian Cabot was a well-known actor who appeared in both The Jungle Book and The Sword in the Stone. He is best known as Mr. French in the TV series Family Affair.
George Sanders as Shere Khan the Tiger
Shere Khan sees Mowgli as an enemy and wants to kill him. George Sanders was a famous actor and writer who is best known for his roles in Rebecca, The Picture of Dorian Gray and All About Eve, for which he won an Academy Award.
Sterling Holloway as Kaa the Snake
Kaa is an enormous snake who wants to eat Mowgli. Sterling Holloway was an award-winning actor with 181 roles under his belt. He would appear throughout the Disney universe, and would win a Grammy for the film Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too; he was nominated for three more Grammy awards – two in the Winnie the Pooh franchise and one for The Jungle Book.
The Jungle Book Songs and Soundtrack
The Jungle Book was nominated for both an Academy Award and a Grammy. The Bare Necessities, the movie’s premiere song, was nominated for the Oscar in the Best Music, Original Song category and the film as a whole was nominated for the Grammy for Best Recording for Children category. George Bruns scored the film while the Sherman Brothers, Robert, and Richard, would collaborate on several of the songs. Terry Gilkyson wrote The Bare Necessities.
The Jungle Book at the Box Office
The Jungle Book was released ten months after the death of Walt Disney and had a $4 million budget. During the initial box office run, The Jungle Book earned $11.5 million, and in 1970 became the second-highest grossing animated film with $13 million in earnings. It would be re-released three times, in 1978, 1984, and 1990.
The Jungle Book Reviews – What the Critics Said
Though noting that the film strayed quite a bit from Kipling’s original writing, critics liked The Jungle Book, calling it delightful. The film remains a favorite and holds an 87% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Where The Jungle Book Fits in the Disney Movie Pantheon
The Jungle Book remains a hot property, more than 40 years after the initial release by Disney. The film has spawned several sequels and three live-action remakes, all of which have done well at theatres. Animators continue to say the film was ground-breaking in its character animation, and Disney’s own animators took inspiration from The Jungle Book for several films including Disney’s Robin Hood, Aladdin, and The Lion King. In addition to films, characters from the movie have appeared in other Disney titles including TaleSpin, House of Mouse, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit as well as in video games. Two of the film’s songs, The Bare Necessities and I Wanna Be Like You were elected to the 2004 listing of AFI’s 100 Years…100 Songs list, and Shere Khan was made ScreenRant’s listing of the Top 20 Disney Villains. The film was also nominated to the AFI’s Top 100 Greatest American Movies.
The Jungle Book Trailer
Watch The Jungle Book’s trailer here.
The Jungle Book Trivia: 5 Fast Facts
Released less than a year after Walt Disney’s death, many wondered if the movie – and the studio – would fall. But The Jungle Book was a huge success and the company remained on solid financial ground. Here are five fast facts about The Jungle Book:
1. The Jungle Book Walt’s Last Film
The Jungle Book was the last film to be supervised by Walt Disney, who died only 10 months before it was released. It is also the first film to be released after Walt’s death.
2. Vultures a homage to The Beatles
The vultures in the film were originally supposed to be voiced by The Beatles, but when their manager took the idea to them, John Lennon didn’t like it and passed. The animators kept their original look for the birds – with floppy haircuts and Liverpool accents – as a homage to the rock band.
3. Peck Lobbies for Jungle Book Oscar
Actor Gregory Peck, who was President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences – the Oscar owners – lobbied hard for The Jungle Book to be nominated as Best Picture. Other members disagreed with him on the importance of animated films and The Jungle Book was passed over for a Best Picture nomination. The Academy would reconsider their stance, but not for more than 20 years, when Disney’s Beauty and the Beast was nominated for the Best Picture award.
4. Sherman Brothers Tapped to ‘Rewrite’ Jungle Book Music
The Sherman Brothers, Robert and Richard, were brought in after the original music for the film was produced by Terry Gilkyson. Feeling that music was too dark, Walt Disney asked the Sherman brothers to rewrite the music to make it happier and less dark. They did. The only Gilkeyson song to remain in the movie was The Bare Necessities, which was nominated for an Academy Award.
5. Jungle Book is ‘Last’ for Many Disney Favorites
The Jungle Book would serve as several ‘last of’: is the final film that Darleen Carr would work on for Disney, and the last film that animator Eric Larson would animate. It was also the final role of actress Verna Felton, who starred in several Disney movies, and was the last movie that Walt Disney would have a hand in, as he died during the production.
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