In February, Tristi wrote a fantastic blog about The Jungle Book and this week, Disney’s opened the vault to re-release the film on DVD just in time to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the film’s release. The beauty of the Jungle Book is that the story itself is timeless and well done. Mowgli is an orphaned boy raised by wolves and befriended by many of the animals, save for Kaa and Shere Khan.
Kaa, the great python, is more of a nuisance than a real enemy. He’d like to eat Mowgli, but then Mowgli would fill him up for quite some time. Shere Khan, on the other hand, is the real enemy. He’s a Bengal tiger and he’s suffered at the hands of the men in the village. He would like the opportunity to wreak havoc on the boy as revenge on the humans who’ve hurt him.
Mowgli’s Friends
Luckily for Mowgli, he has great companions in Baloo the Bear and Bagheera (voiced by the absolutely wonderful Sebastian Cabot). They want what is best for Mowgli, even if that means sending him back to the man village and away from them. Mowgli experiences the flaws of being a child and he makes mistakes. The film doesn’t pull its punches, especially during the climactic showdown with Shere Khan.
To be honest, this is a must have for your collection and it’s one of the few Disney classics that we did not own on DVD so we snatched up this release as fast as we could. Remember, the Disney Vault doesn’t stay open for long so if you’re interested in your own personal copy grab it now.
Now, can they release the follow-up movie again? My daughter loved it and it’s not on DVD either!