THE JUNGLE BOOK
Walt Disney's cartoon film from Rudyard Kipling's book
Identification sheet:
Direction: Wolfgang Reitherman
Scenario: Larry Clemons, ralph Wright, Ken Anderson, Vance Gerry
Sound Track: George Bruns
Production: Walt Disney
Running time: 78 minutes
Main characters:
Mowgli the child, Baloo the sleeping bear, Bagheera the wise black panther, Shere Khan the tiger, Kaa the hypnotist snake. Notice that george sanders gives voice to the terrible Shere Khan.
A colonialist work subject to Disney's factory:
This cartoon, Walt Disnay's last work for he died in 1966, was very successful. But his adaptation lacks character. Whereas the book had a strong political message "highlighting the qualities of the chosen race and transmitting the superiority of colonialism" (Robert Dictionary), the Disney factory has produced a series of plotless scenes where the only important thing are jazz songs. Hovewer, the anthropomorphisme of animals is already present in Kipling's work.
A cinematographic version made in Hollywood:
In 1942, Zoltan Korda, English director form Hungarian origin, filmed The Jungle Book. It was a real success among his works, mainly exotic films. Thanks to his role as Mowgli, the Indian actor Sabu Dastagir became well-known as a good master of elephants.