The Bare Necessities: The Jungle Book at 55
It all began at the start of the 1960s. While Walt Disney was busy with many things happening at the company, he had time to approve of a few animated films.
One was story artist, Bill Peet’s idea of an adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s Mowgli stories.
While it captured Walt’s interest, adapting the Kipling tales proved to be a chore. Initially, Bill Peet wrote and storyboarded a version that was close to the books, with ideas from both The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book. But Walt was not pleased with this at all.
The problem Walt had was that Bill’s original vision was too spooky and dark for a Disney-animated family movie. Then after a heated argument with Walt, Bill left the studio.
Starting Over
After that, Walt called a meeting with the story artist Larry Clements and the songwriting team, the Sherman Brothers, and asked them to reshape The Jungle Book after throwing out Bill Peet’s version.
What Walt wanted was a simple story that brought out the personalities of the rich characters.
Characters
As Walt instructed, the film would place more emphasis on the characters and personalities than on a complex story. A lot of the charm came in through the voices.
For the character of Baloo the Bear, Walt had Phil Harris in mind for the part. At first, the animators didn’t think that Phil could be a Kipling character. But they soon saw that he was perfect for the character.
After Phil Harris was brought in, more well-known actors that the audience knew were brought in for the film. This included Sebastian Cabot as Bagheera the Panther, George Sanders as Sher Kahn the Tiger, and Lois Prima as King Louie.
The animators of the film were able to capture the essence of these big stars that brought the hand-drawn animation to life. This can be seen in Milt Kahl’s animation of Sher Kahn.
Last Goodbye
When The Jungle Book was a year before its release, Walt learned that he was diagnosed with lung cancer.
Between November and December of 1966, Walt took one more visit to the studio he built. There he said goodbye to everyone, including the Sherman Brothers.
On December 15th of that year, animator Ollie Johnston told everyone that Walt passed away. This was a major blow to the company because no one knew what was going to happen now Walt is gone.
Nevertheless, production had to continue for the next projects, including The Jungle Book.
Release
In the fall of 1967, almost a year after Walt Disney’s death, The Jungle Book premiered at Grauman’s Chinese Theater.
It was an immediate success. So much so that the company decided they should continue making animated films despite that Walt wasn’t around.
After 55 years, the movie still continues to be a gem in Disney animation history. This is because its character animation has left a lasting impact on today’s legendary animators. This included animators Glen Keane, Brad Bird, Will Finn, and Andreas Deja.
And thus it will continue to do so for the future.
