This is the Jungle Book movie poster.
The one movie that really grabbed me was Jungle Book. The story, the characters, the music..........OH..........yes, that music!! I have always remembered EVERY word, to EVERY song, and EVERY spoken line from that movie.
Speaking of the music. My Dad bought me the soundtrack album for Christmas that year. Jungle Book was released in theaters on October 18, 1967. I was able to go see it shortly after that. I remember sitting in the theater amazed, and happy, and a little scared. Shere Kahn the Tiger was scary. ( After all, I was only nine.)
That music brought such joy into my life. That was the year my paternal Grandmother died, and I think that is another reason why I connect to this so much. It helped me get over a very tough time in my young life.
The album also had a book in it that you could read along to as you listened to the music. That wonderful music by that amazing team, The Sherman Brothers. I have been looking around for that album for a while, as I have always wanted to have it again. Well, I found it, and ordered it for myself, and here is some pictures of what I will be receiving in the mail in a week or so!
Outside album cover.
Inside cover, with the book pages.
This was the last film that Walt Disney was involved in, as he passed away before the film was ever released. For those of you who are not familiar with details about this magnificent film, here is the breakdown.
Plot
Mowgli, a young orphan boy, is found in a basket in the deep jungles of Madhya Pradesh, India. Bagheera, a black panther who discovers the baby, promptly takes him to a mother Indian Wolf who has just had cubs. She raises him along with her own cubs and Mowgli soon becomes well acquainted with jungle life. Mowgli is shown ten years later, playing with his wolf siblings.One night, when the wolf tribe learns that Shere Khan, a man-eating Bengal tiger, has returned to the jungle, they realize that Mowgli must be taken to the "Man-Village" for his own safety. Bagheera volunteers to escort him back.
They leave that very night, but Mowgli is determined to stay in the jungle. He and Bagheera rest in a tree for the night, when Kaa, a hungry Indian Python, appears and hypnotizes Mowgli into a deep and peaceful sleep, traps him tightly in his coils and tries to devour him, but fails when Bagheera intervenes. The next morning, Mowgli tries to join the elephant patrol led by Colonel Hathi and his wife Winifred. Bagheera finds Mowgli and they argue which results in Bagheera leaving Mowgli on his own. Mowgli soon meets up with the laid-back, fun-loving sloth bear Baloo, who shows Mowgli the fun of having a care-free life and promises to raise Mowgli himself and never take him back to the Man-Village.
Mowgli now wants to stay in the jungle more than ever. Shortly afterwards, Baloo is tricked and outsmarted by a gang of monkeys who kidnap Mowgli and take him to their leader, King Louie the orangutan, who makes a deal with Mowgli that if he tells him the secret of making fire like a human, then he will make it so he can stay in the jungle. However, since he was not raised by humans, Mowgli does not know how to make fire. Bagheera and Baloo arrive to rescue Mowgli and in the ensuing chaos, King Louie's palace is demolished to rubble. Bagheera speaks to Baloo that night and convinces him that the jungle will never be safe for Mowgli so long as Shere Khan is there. In the morning, Baloo reluctantly explains to Mowgli that the Man-Village is best for the boy, but Mowgli accuses him of breaking his promise and runs away. As Baloo sets off on foot in search of Mowgli, Bagheera rallies the help of Hathi and his patrol to make a search party. However, Shere Khan himself, who was eavesdropping on Bagheera and Hathi's conversation, is now determined to hunt and kill Mowgli himself. Meanwhile, Mowgli has encountered Kaa once again in a different tree and the hungry python exacts his revenge by hypnotizing Mowgli again, and tries to eat him, but thanks to the unwitting intervention of the suspicious Shere Khan, Mowgli awakens again, tricks the snake again, and escapes.
As a storm gathers, a depressed Mowgli encounters a group of puckish but friendly vultures who closely resemble English rock band The Beatles, and they agree to be his friends as they too are outcasts, and feel that everyone has to have friends. Shere Khan appears shortly after, scaring off the Vultures and confronting Mowgli. Baloo rushes to the rescue and tries to keep Shere Khan away from Mowgli, but is injured. When lightning strikes a nearby tree and sets it ablaze, the vultures swoop in to distract Shere Khan while Mowgli gathers flaming branches and ties them to Shere Khan's tail. As fire is his only fear, the tiger panics and runs off.
Bagheera and Baloo take Mowgli to the edge of the Man-Village, but Mowgli is still hesitant to go there. His mind soon changes when he is smitten by a beautiful young girl from the village who is coming down by the riverside to fetch water. After noticing Mowgli, she "accidentally" drops her water pot, and Mowgli retrieves it for her and follows her into the man village. After Mowgli chooses to stay in the Man-Village, Baloo and Bagheera decide to head home, content that Mowgli is safe and happy with his own kind.
| Directed by | Wolfgang Reitherman | |||
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| Produced by | Walt Disney | |||
| Screenplay by | Larry Clemmons Ralph Wright Ken Anderson Vance Gerry Floyd Norman (uncredited) Bill Peet (uncredited) |
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| Based on | The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling |
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| Starring | Phil Harris Sebastian Cabot Louis Prima George Sanders Sterling Holloway J. Pat O'Malley Bruce Reitherman |
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| Narrated by | Sebastian Cabot | |||
| Music by | George Bruns (Score) Terry Gilkyson Richard M. Sherman Robert B. Sherman (Songs) |
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| Production company |
Walt Disney Productions | |||
| Distributed by | Buena Vista Distribution | |||
| Release date(s) |
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| Running time | 78 minutes | |||
| Country | United States | |||
| Language | English | |||
| Budget | $4 million | |||
| Box office | $205,843,612 |
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