Jungle Book [1967] - 1998 [DVD] [1968]

The Disney team have done a fine job of polishing up this 40 year old classic. The picture looks great but the improvement serves to highlight that this is a long way from the highpoints of artwork that was achieved in earlier animation such as "snow white & the seven dwarfs' or 'bambi'. The backgrounds are basic & the characters drawn without much detail. So too the story is extremely basic & ends quite abruptly. So how come this is seen as such a classic? Well for one the characterization is spot on but most of all the songwriting is for my money the best Disney have ever produced & the actors turned each song into a classic. Obviously Phil Harris singing 'Bear neccessities' is memorable but so too are Sterling Holloway,(also the voice of Pooh for Disney), as Kaa the snake slithering his way through 'trust in me', far funnier than you remember & superbly timed. Best of all though are the peerless Louis Prima's impromptu scat on 'King of the swingers' as king Loius which is superb right up to the point when Phil Harris joins in the pair take it to even greater heights with their competing vocals. Quite frankly the DVD is worth the entrance price for this alone.
The sound is an even greater improvement than the picture & the 5.1 mix is vibrant with great use given to the rear surrounds.
The extras are fine, especially the unusually candid commentary & doc.
This deserved a decent release & so this DVD is a pleasure to own.

It cant get any better than this. Disney beloved animated classic "The Jungle Book" finally gets the long overdue special edition treatment. This new 40th Anniversary release will include an all-new digital restoration of the film and for the very first time ever, this release will feature the movie in 1.75:1 widescreen aspect ratio (Please be aware that "Jungle Book" was filmed in 1.37:1 aspect ratio and was cropped for its theatrical screenings. The movie loses a little from top and bottom here in this restored version so think twice before selling off your old copies which featured the movie in its original fullscreen ratio). Along with a 5.1 Disney Enhanced Home Theater Mix soundtrack, this edition includes a restored original theatrical soundtrack too. French and Spanish language tracks will also appear on the disc. According to dvdtimes, extras on this platinum edition will include:

Audio Commentary - Combines comments from current animators with audio from the original creative team who made the film

The Lost Character: Rocky The Rhino - For the first time ever, the near-sighted, short-tempered rhinoceros named Rocky is brought to the screen using original storyboards and original voice recordings by Frank Fontaine.

The Bare Necessities: The Making of The Jungle Book - A comprehensive look at the last animated film that Walt Disney produced using existing archival footage in addition to new interviews with Richard Sherman, Brad Bird, Glen Keane, Eric Goldberg, James Baxter, Will Fi'nn, Andreas Deja, Burny Mattinson Ted Thomas, Bruce Reitherman, John Culhane, John Canemaker and Neal Gabler--plus a never-before-seen collection of artwork and treatments from the film

Disney's Kipling: Walt's Magic Touch on A Literary Classic - A discarded film treatment from 1963 includes scenes from Kipling's "Mowgli Stories" and more are used to illustrate Walt's interpretation of the literary masterpiece

The Lure of The Jungle Book - Many of today's biggest names in animation were inspired to pursue their careers after seeing The Jungle Book; this feature examines this phenomenon and features new interviews with Brad Bird, Andreas Deja, Sergio Pablo, Will Finn and Eric Goldberg.

Mowgli's Return to the Jungle - Learn about nature filmmaking and the experience of making The Jungle Book firsthand from Bruce Reitherman, the voice of Mowgli.

Baloo's Virtual Swingin' Jungle Cruise - Join everyone's favourite bear in this set-top and DVD-ROM game on an adventure through the jungle: enjoy fun activities and musical challenges, but keep an eye out because there's no telling what's on the other side of the river bend!

English Learning Feature

Still Frame Art Gallery

This 40th Anniversary edition of Jongle Book will be available for a limited time only. So bring home Mowgli, Baghira, Baloo and Shere khan and all the lovable characters we've all grown up with, before they go back to Disney vault again!

This is one of those films that you simply can't go wrong with.

My one year old son calls for "Jungle" on a daily basis and routinely announces the appearance of all the animals... "jungle" (Bagheera the panther), "bear" (Baloo the bear), "phunt" (Elephants), "tiger" (Shere Khan), "neck" (Kaa The Snake), "monkey" (King Louis the orang utan).

As for me, in my thirty-somethings... I just enjoy the story of friendship, loyalty, and down-right wackyness. And I can't help but love the music from the days when Disney films just made toe-tappingly catchy music instead of going for grand-scale Oscar nomination material.

I defy anyone not to have "Bear Necessities", "I Wanna Be Like You" or "Trust In Me" buzzing round their head 24 hours after watching this classic film.

Disney have produced some remarkable films over the years but this must surely feature in anyone's top ten.