I wanna be a man , man cub

This is ultimately a review of the Platinum Digitally Re-Mastered Jungle Book which was released on DVD a little before Christmas 2007. It does however tell you all you would need to know about the film, without spoiling it for you.
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On my Christmas list to Santa, along with The Simpsons movie , was the 40th Anniversary edition DVD of Walt Disney's The Jungle Book. Now I must have been a good girl last year because I got both of these and other treats. The jungle Book is a classic Disney production which has long been a favourite of mine and has only recently appeared on DVD at all.

If any of you are new to this charming tale I will just give a few brief details. This film was adapted from the Rudyard Kipling tale. There is an earlier film, with a young Sabu in the lead role which dates from 1942. This Jungle Book however is an animated version and has a great musical score to run alongside. It can be played via fast play or you can select various options from the main menu. Before the credits it is claimed that the DVD has pure digital magic and enhanced home theatre mix. I only have a straight forward wide screen 30 inch television, not one that is HD ready, but the picture was perfect. The colours are a little less bright than these days but seem to fit well with the whole film. I guess it was the way animation was made then. This animation was the 19th, originally released in 1967 and was the last that Walt Disney was personally involved with.

The tale revolves around Mowgli the baby boy, who is raised by a family of wolves. When Shere Khan the tiger returns to the jungle he is determined to kill young Mowgli and so it is decided to try and return him to his own kind, man, in the nearby village. The journey to this village has some hilarious moments, some sad ones and a couple of scary ones. However I do not think it would be to frightening for children. It is rated a U after all.

When this film was released over 40 years ago now, I was a teenager and a little too old for Disney. However I remember seeing this movie at the cinema with a friend and loving it. The Double DVD released a little before Christmas 2007 has had the film digitally remastered. The colour and the sound are spot on.

The musical score has many classics such as , The Bear Necessities and I wanna be like you. They are from that jazzy, swing genre of music and King Louise the orangutan is the swinginest of them all. It is a tale of friendship, albeit with somewhat strange companions and a man cubs journey to his real family.


The Cast of course is huge, as is often the case in animations. There are many names of the animators and some of the voice overs. George Sanders drolling, threatening voice is perfect for the tiger Shere Khan. Most of the other names mean nothing to me but yet the voices sound familiar.

My Favourite bits include:
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Kaa the snake with his hypnotic 'Trust in me' song.
Baloo telling Mowgli all about the 'Bear necessities'.
King Louise capturing Mowgli to acquire the secret of how to make fire and proclaiming his desire to be a man and 'Be like you oo oo'

The double-disc set has extras which include:
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Conversations with songwriter Richard Sherman and Andreas Deja who is a present day Disney animator, and Bruce Reitherman, who was the voice of Mowgli when he was a man cub. There is a character who was dropped from the film, Rocky the Rhino. He is shown through storyboards and voice-over. This character was not in the actual film but we can see what was planned.

There are songs which never made the big screen, including strange versions of ones that did. Most of these are not the happy go lucky affairs they were on the big screen and this DVD. The disc includes a new version of 'I Wanna be Like You' by the Jonas Brothers but I am not keen on this.

The Making of The Jungle Book is quite good and gives lots of details of the filming and difficulties that were encountered.There is also an interesting section about the man, as he is now, who was the voice of Mowgli when he was a boy himself.There are plenty of photographs and lots of games and activities for the younger audience. There is a little more but I am never one for the extras I'm afraid.

Disc one has the film, sneak peeks, bonus features, scene selection and more. Disc Two has a visit to the man village and one to the jungle. There is a variety of clips on this disc which will appeal to those who like the extras on DVD. I rarely watch them and just concentrate on the film.

Overall
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This is a great family film which will appeal to those who have seen it a million times and to those who have never seen it before. At around £16 from many stores, more or less it is great value. A timeless classic from Disney's better years.

However please remember that this film, though digitally remastered, has not got the all singing, all dancing animation of today. Mind you I feel that adds to its nostalgic charm and,let's face it the oldies and the little ones will not mind one bit.

Thanks for reading
(C) Eiley 2008