Disney Movie Challenge Bonus: Christopher Robin (2018)

 Disney Movie Challenge Bonus

Christopher Robin (2018)

Adding to the ever increasing list of live action remakes of animated films Christopher Robin came out in 2018 to mostly positive reviews but never really seemed to make an impact with audiences.  Maybe it was it’s August release date and action movies were dominating the box office, maybe it just seemed like a knockoff of Hook, or people just thought Disney was trying to cash in on the Paddington craze.   Whatever the reason I feel like the movie went under the radar, which is unfortunate.  

In Christopher Robin we have the titular character who after he went to school slowly forgot about Pooh and his friends in Hundred Acre Wood.  We find Christopher as a grown man, married with a daughter. His job is putting a lot of stress on him and he has to miss a vacation away with his family to do business.  But as he is nearing his lowest point Winnie the Pooh suddenly appears and forces him to revisit his childhood.  He returns to Hundred Acre Wood and the cynical side slowly fades away.  But when he leaves to go back to London for work he forgets his papers and Pooh and gang team up with Christopher’s daughter to get the papers back to him before his meeting.  

The Hook comparison is fair.  Both films deal with a character that lived in a fantasy world who grew up and forgot how to have fun.  While I can see this feeling like a retread I think this one stands on its own.  It’s not overly complicated and you can see where it is going from the start. You know Pooh is going to teach Christopher how to recapture his imagination, that family is important, and help him figure out how to save the company he is working for.  But the journey is a satisfying one. It manages to capture the essence of Pooh and what Pooh means to so many people.  It’s charming and funny.  Ewan McGregor as Christopher Robin is spot on.  The guy does not get enough credit for the range he is able to play.  In this film you see him as a downtrodden man who slowly discovers the fun in life again.  Marc Forster who also directed the story of Peter Pan’s author J.M. Barrie in Finding Neverland once again creates a world where fairy tales come to life.  While this movie has more stakes than a typical Pooh movie it still doesn’t get real dark and keeps things light.  Seeing Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore in London creates a lot of opportunities for fun shenanigans, the score does a great job setting the mood, and the CGI looks great.  

Overall: I really enjoyed this movie.  My kid watched most of it with me and he usually hates the live action remakes.  The most surprising thing for me was how funny it really was.  Pooh has some great one liners and watching Ewan McGregor react to them is really a lot of fun.  Again the stakes are low but it’s a great movie for family night when you want something light and fun to watch. 

Random Facts:

Jim Cummings did the voice of Pooh and Tigger he has been doing the voices since the 80’s and is a spot on for the original voice actors from the animated films of the 60’s.  Chris O’Dowd was originally hired for the voice of Tigger but test audiences didn’t like the way his voice sounded so Cummings returned to voice Tigger.  

Some of the Sherman Brothers original songs were used in the film.  Richard Sherman returned to write 3 new songs for the film.  

Jóhann Jóhannsson (one of my favorite composers)  was hired to do the score but died shortly after he was hired.  Would have love to see what he would have done but the new composers did a great job. The movie is dedicated to Jóhannsson.  

Found out that in the original story Owl and Rabbit are the only two real animals in the books and the rest are stuffed animals.  The movie continued that tradition.  

  

Disney Movie Challenge: The Many of Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)

 Disney Movie Challenge

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)

WHAT IS THE DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE: With Disney+ making available almost all of their films from the vault I thought it was a good time to watch all the theatrically released feature length Disney Studio Animated films. That’s a lot of qualifications so what does it all mean? It must be a film developed and released under the Walt Disney Animation Studios (so no PIXAR or Tim Burton stop motion films). Must have been released in theaters (no direct to video releases). And feature length (no shorts that played prior to the features). Currently there are 58 films. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 going to Frozen II in 2020. 

How this movie is considered  Disney Cannon baffles me.  Similar to the 1940’s Package films this one is made up of shorter films, but in this case they are all shorts that previously screened. Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree was released in 1966 as the pre-feature to The Ugly Dachshund.  Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day was released in 1968 as the pre-feature to The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit.  The final short that makes up the film is  Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too was released in 1974 as the pre-feature to The Island at the Top of the World.  Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day won the Oscar for Best Animated Short and Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too was nominated but lost the Oscar.  

The three shorts are based on the books by A.A. Milne and follow Pooh and his friends Rabbit, Piglet, Eeyore, Owl, Kanga, Roo, and of course Tigger. To summarize  The Honey Tree has Pooh pretending to be a rain cloud to get honey. He also eats all of Rabbit's honey and gets stuck in Rabbit’s doorway.  The Blustery Day involves a windy day with  Piglet and Pooh being blown into Owl’s house.  It also introduces us to Tigger who is hiding out in Pooh’s house. He tells Pooh about the evil Heffalumps and Woozles.  This gives Pooh a bizarre nightmare. There is also a flood where Piglet gets washed down a river and Pooh ends up saving him. Winnie the Pooh and TIgger Too has rabbit trying to teach Tigger a lesson that backfires on Rabbit.  It also has a story of Tigger bouncing too high and getting stuck in a tree.  

There really isn’t much story going on in these shorts.  Mostly silly stuff with very low stakes.  But they do leave an impression.  I have never seen this movie but as I watched it I remember seeing bits and pieces of them as a kid. The strangest sequence in the film is Pooh’s nightmare during the “Hephalumps and Woozles” song. This trippy nightmare is reminiscent of the Pink Elephants scene in Dumbo. It has bizarre creatures changing shape and colors while trying to steal Pooh’s honey.  The scene stands out in a movie that is mostly gentle and soothing in it’s story telling. 

Even though the Sherman Brothers left Disney by this point since all of these were older shorts we got a few more songs from them. Including the Winnie the Pooh theme song, “The Wonderful thing about Tiggers”, and “Heffalumps and Woozles”. 

Overall:  The film is relaxing and strangely comforting.  It's a movie that is perfect for little kids.  Nothing too scary, no bad guy, and silly situations.  If you are looking for action or adventure you won’t find it here, but there is plenty of memorable scenes that stick with you.  While the movie is made up of previously released shorts they do a really good job of combining the films in a wraparound story that feels coherent.

Random Facts: 

In Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree there is a gopher that mentions he isn't in the books.  When it was first released they had used a gopher instead of Piglet.  This made many fans of the original books upset and Piglet was then added in the future shorts. 

Since each short was made in different years Christopher Robin was voiced by a different actor.   Jon Walmsley came in and re-recorded all of Christopher Robin's dialogue to keep it consistent.  

Disney Movie Challenge: Robin Hood (1973)

Disney Movie Challenge

Robin Hood (1973) 

WHAT IS THE DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE: With Disney+ making available almost all of their films from the vault I thought it was a good time to watch all the theatrically released feature length Disney Studio Animated films. That’s a lot of qualifications so what does it all mean? It must be a film developed and released under the Walt Disney Animation Studios (so no PIXAR or Tim Burton stop motion films). Must have been released in theaters (no direct to video releases). And feature length (no shorts that played prior to the features). Currently there are 58 films. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 going to Frozen II in 2020. 

Robin Hood is the first animated film made that Walt Disney himself had nothing to do with.  Not wanting to stray far from other Disney films the team looked to the familiar story of Robin Hood and made it into a musical.  They decided it would be more interesting if they turned all the characters into different animals.  The idea was a big hit at the company and the movie went into production.  

The story is the familiar Robin Hood tale.   Robin steals from the rich and gives to the poor, he is the best archer, and he loves Maid Marian.  Both Robin and Marian are foxes.  You also have the usual cast of characters. Little John (a bear), Friar Tuck (a badger), The Sheriff of Nottingham (a wolf), and Prince John (a lion).  There are a few other characters like Sir Hiss (a snake) who is Prince John’s sidekick and Lady Kluck (a chicken) who is Maid Marian's lady in waiting, and Allan-a-Dale (a Rooster) acts as our narrator.  

The movie is an odd one.  I still can’t figure out how I feel about it.  While I have seen other Robin Hood films I have never seen this one.  Maybe having a vague familiarity with the story made something feel off for me.  But I think it is just the way the story is told.  In the beginning we go on a side story with some kids that doesn’t include Robin and just feels unnecessary.  Also the whole love story just feels strange for a kids movie.  There is a scene where Robin and Marian take a romantic walk with a love song playing (Here is the full scene.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aM85ygxYbI ). The song is actually called “Love” and it was nominated for Best Song at the Oscars that year. The scene reminded me of the “Can You Read My Mind” scene in Superman when Superman and Lois have a romantic flight.  Maybe it just seemed too sappy for an animated film about anthropomorphic animals.  

Saying all that there are some good times to be had in the film.  The voice actors are impressive and the character interactions are fun.  It's weird having Phil Harris as Little John in this one because this is the third movie in a row he has voiced a major character.  Having him back as a bear (he was Baloo in The Jungle Book) just felt right as him as a cat in The Aristocats  didn’t quite work for me.  There are also lots of fun scenes.  The archery competition and the castle robbery at the end are both great.  

The songs are also a mixed bag.  “Love” is a sappy song but the songs by Roger Miller like “Oo-de-lally” and “Not in Nottingham” are pretty good.   I will be honest I didn’t know who Roger Miller was before watching this movie but looking into it he was a pretty prolific country singer.  While I’m not usually a fan of country music I do think he was perfect for the role and his songs work really well.  

Overall: A mixed bag of a movie.  As the song “Not in Nottingham” says “sometimes ups outnumber the downs” and that sums up this movie for me.  It doesn’t hit it out of the park but the hits are more than the misses.  

Random Facts

The film originally was planned to take place in the old west. That is why some classic western stars like Any Devine, Ken Curtus, and George Lindsey were cast.  Also why country singer Roger Miller was probably asked to voice the Rooster and write songs for the film.  

The last Disney animated film scored by George Bruns. He scored the previous 5 Disney animated films and always created something unique.

During the chase at the end of the archery scene you can hear a snippet of “On Wisconsin”

Known for reusing scenes from earlier Disney Movies.  Here is a comparison of one of the scenes and the other films that were reused. https://youtu.be/Uf9PMbpH_j8 also here is brief overview about how it was a common practice for Disney to do that not just in Robin Hood. https://youtu.be/JU21shbaVBo

First Disney film since Bambi not to have any human characters on screen.  

A favorite film of Director Byron Howard who would go on to co-direct Zootopia. 

Disney Movie Challenge Bonus: Float and Loop

Float and Loop

With this blog I have been focusing on the Disney Animated features and the bonus posts have usually be something to do with a feature I just watched.  

But this week I wanted to do something a little different.  There are two PIXAR shorts on Disney+ that hit a little close to home for me.  Float and Loop both represent Autism in different ways.  

Pixar SparkShorts was started to allow Pixar animators to try something new. Per the website

 “The SparkShorts program is designed to discover new storytellers, explore new storytelling techniques, and experiment with new production workflows. These films are unlike anything we’ve ever done at Pixar, providing an opportunity to unlock the potential of individual artists and their inventive filmmaking approaches on a smaller scale than our normal fare.” 

Jim Morris - President, Pixar Animation Studios

This freedom really let directors tell personal stories. Both Float and Loop are SparkShorts and I appreciate Pixar letting directors tell these stories because both of these films feel personal to me. 

Float

As some of you know my youngest son has Autism. After Disney+ went live the chatter in a lot of Autism groups was about the Pixar short Float. Obviously I had to check it out and man did it hit me in the feels. Every time I watch it I get teary eyed.

The short is about a dad whose child can float in the air. When others see him floating they react with fear or judgement. The dad brings him inside and tries to keep the kid away from the world. When the dad brings the kid out on a walk he stuffs rocks in the kid’s pockets so he doesn’t float. When they end up at a playground you can see the anxiety on the dad’s face but before he can do anything the kid is already floating with everyone at the playground gawking. The dad runs around to try to bring him back down. Finally the dad grabs the kid and is dragging him out of the playground while the kid screams. The dad turns to the kid and yells the only spoken words in the film 

“why can’t you be normal?”

The dad sees the hurt on the kids face and then decides he should let the kid have fun. They go on a swing and as the dad swings the kid floats but everyone is happy. 

At the end of the film it says it’s "Dedicated with love and understanding to all the families with children deemed different". While the film isn’t necessarily about Autism it certainly something Autism parents can relate too. The director’s son has Autism and that’s probably why it feels authentic. I can’t speak to what it’s like for others, just my own experience but parenting a special needs kid is difficult.  You want to protect them from the world and that can become a lonely and isolated place. When your child has to be watched closely otherwise he might run away it makes you less likely to bring him anywhere. When other people ask him questions (like what’s your name or how old are you) and you have to say sorry but he doesn’t talk, it makes you want to avoid those situations. When your child has no sense of personal space, you feel you have to constantly apologize for him going near people and possibly touching them. Lastly you feel like people are always staring and judging you even if it’s not true. So, when the father takes the kid to the playground in the film I feel that anxiety.  I feel that stress. I feel those eyes judging. It’s stressful. 

When the dad shouts  “Why can't you be normal” it gets me every time.  All you want is your kid to be happy and not have to be judged or need special precautions. While we all love our kids for who they are, sometimes everything is overwhelming.  You see other kids able to do stuff that they can’t, or other parents able to do thing thtrust their kids with more freedom that you can’t do.  These are the times when you wish everything could be “normal”. But like the dad in the film you just want your kid to be happy. And sometimes that means letting go and having him be different and not caring what others think. 

Loop

Right after Float came out there was talk that Pixar was going to release a short that dealt with Autism directly. In early 2020 Loop was released.  

Loop is about a kid Marcus who is forced to ride in a canoe with a non verbal autistic girl named Renee. She carries a phone that she is constantly playing a repeated sound on. Marcus feels burdened and doesn’t know what to do.  He asks her what she wants to do and uses her phone to say she wants to go to the bathroom.  As Marcus paddles over to some porta potties he realizes that she didn’t need to use the bathroom just wanted to go over that direction because she likes to touch the reeds growing in the water.  Marcus then takes her to a bridge to show her how cool the echo makes her phone sound.  When the sound of a motor boat scares her they end up crashing and Renee hides under the canoe while Marcus paces around frustrated not knowing what to do.  Eventually Marcus just talks to her calmly and she is able to come out of her shell (both literally and figuratively) and they make their way back.  

The movie didn’t hit me in quite the emotional spot that Float did, but it does a good job showing how interactions with kids with Autism can be a struggle.  First thing is even if a kid doesn’t talk it doesn’t mean they can’t communicate.  The way they do it might not make sense to us, but they can usually communicate what they want.  The other thing we see is Marcus finally coming to an understanding and meeting Renee where she is at.  He just sits and talks to her instead of yelling and making a fuss.  Sometimes you just have to let them work through their issues and they will let you know when they are ready to move on.  One of the last lines in the film is Marcus telling Renee “you’re kind of intense”.  This is a sentiment I can certainly understand.

The director Erica Milsom worked with a group of Autistic self advocates as consultants to get their insight into how an Autism mind works.  They even used a non-verbal girl to do the vocalizations for Renee (just because a kid is non-verbal doesn’t mean they are quiet). One of the things they did that I appreciate is to show that not all people with Autism react the same way to sensory input.  While most movies and television shows portray someone with Autism as having a negative reaction to loud noises or getting overloaded by sensory input that is not the case for all.  For example my son loves loud noises and craves sensory input.  It was nice to see that reflected in the movie.  

Overall: Both movies do a good job at showing interactions with special needs kids.  Obviously each kid is different but I feel both these films tap into something universal.  For me with a single line of dialogue Float provides an emotional impact. Seeing a kid with Autism on screen is rare but showing the struggles of communicating with a non-verbal kid is even rarer. Loop really shows the struggle with interacting with kids that are not able to communicate well.  

Disney Movie Challenge: The Aristocats (1970)

 Disney Movie Challenge

The Aristocats (1970)

WHAT IS THE DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE: With Disney+ making available almost all of their films from the vault I thought it was a good time to watch all the theatrically released feature length Disney Studio Animated films. That’s a lot of qualifications so what does it all mean? It must be a film developed and released under the Walt Disney Animation Studios (so no PIXAR or Tim Burton stop motion films). Must have been released in theaters (no direct to video releases). And feature length (no shorts that played prior to the features). Currently there are 58 films. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 going to Frozen II in 2020. 

I once read that Disney disliked cats and that is why most of the cats in his early films were villains (Lucifer in Cinderella, the Siamese cats in Lady and the Tramp, and the Cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland).  So, after he died the first film they made was a movie all about cats. I can’t find any information if that is true and since he did personally approve the film and it was in the works since 1962 I assume it is false but I still think it’s a fun conspiracy theory.   After Walt died some say Disney entered the “Disney Dark Ages”. These so-called dark ages would go til The Little Mermaid came out in 1989 and the “Disney Renaissance” started. But the first film of the dark ages was The Aristocats. Just knowing this really puts the film at a disadvantage since you are going in with a negative impression before you ever see it.  

The film takes place in 1910 in Paris France.  A wealthy older woman, Madame Bonfamille lives alone with her four cats and her butler Edgar.  The cats include the mother Duchess and her three kittens Berlioz, Marie, and Toulouse.  When Edgar overhears Madame Bonfamille making her will and that all the money would go to her cats first then to him he decides he needs to take the cats out of the picture.  He drugs them with sleeping pills and drives them out into the country to leave them for dead.  But they escape and meet up with Thomas O'Malley, an alley cat who says he knows how to get back to London.  Along the way they have an adventure that includes meeting two English geese and a jazz band where they sing “Everybody Wants to be a Cat”. Duchess and Thomas end up falling in love but Duchess is loyal to Madame Bonfamille and says she must return to her home.  When the cats do return home Edgar finds them and tries to have them shipped to Timbuktu.  But the mouse Roquefort manages to warn O’Malley and he gets other alley cats to come help him rescue Duchess and her kittens.  In the end Edgar gets shipped to Timbuktu and O’Malley gets adopted by Madame Bonfamille and they all live happily ever after. 

This is one of those movies where there isn’t much to say about it.  It’s a fine movie but not very memorable and kind of boring.  Similar to The Sword and the Stone the film is mostly forgettable.  The big exception is the song “Everybody Wants to Be a Cat”.  The song feels random and doesn’t fit the tone of the rest of the film.  It’s also shot completely differently and definitely feels like something out of the psychedelic 70’s.  The plot seems to be cobbled together as part adventure rescue story of 101 Dalmatians and part love story of animals from the wrong side of the tracks of Lady and the Tramp.  But it wasn’t as fun as the former nor as romantic as the later. 

While the story doesn’t quite work the voice talent is pretty good for the most part.  Phil Harris as O’Malley works well unfortunately I had recently watched The Jungle Book so as soon as he started talking all I could think of was Baloo, which is a much more memorable character.  Another The Jungle Book alum is Sterling Holloway who was the voice of Kaa.  He is the voice of Roquefort the mouse in this one, and would go on to be famous as the voice Winnie the Pooh later in the 70's.  The biggest star at the time was Eva Gabor who brought a regal and calming voice to Duchess.  She always seemed in control and never got flustered.  Eva was perfect for the voice.  At the time she was popular for being on the show Green Acres., and would go on to be a voice in The Rescuers. You also have Scatman Crothers appropriately enough as the voice of Scat Cat, the leader of the Alley Cat band that sings “Everybody Wants to be Cat”.  Originally Louis Armstrong was supposed to voice Scat Cat but he had to drop out due to illness.  

There is a subplot about these two dogs (Napoleon and Lafayette) who live in the country and harass Edgar.  These are the funniest parts of the movie and kind of steal the show.  It’s very cartoony with Edgar and the dogs getting picked up by a windmill and running upside down under a bridge. So while it is funny it  feels very different from the main part of the story.   

OVERALL: A fine movie but not memorable.  It’s perfect for smaller children since it doesn’t have many scary parts and has a few cartoony parts with the dogs (although there is an odd scene with a drunk Goose that kids probably won’t get).   The movie lacks the  fun of  101 Dalmatians and romance of Lady and the Tramp.    

RANDOM FACTS

It was the last film approved by Walt Disney directly and therefore the last to end with A Walt Disney Production”

The song “Everybody Wants to be a Cat” has to be edited due to some lyrics by the Chinese Cat Shun Gon being insensitive.  

The Sherman Brothers convinced Maurice Chevalier to come out of retirement to record the title song. 

It was the last animated film the Sherman Brothers would work on until 2000’s The Tigger Movie.  After Walt’s death they had a lot of problems at the studio and had a number of their songs cut from this movie.  The songs that did make it in are not very good.  

The film was originally planned as a two part live action segment for Disney’s TV show The Magical World of Disney in the early 60’s.  Disney himself suggested it should be animated and production on the animated film officially began after The Jungle Book was finished.  

A sequel had been planned to be made by DisneyToons (the same part of Disney that did the sequels to Cinderella and Bambi).  It was supposed to feature a grown up Marie on a cruise boat trying to capture a jewel thief.  The film was ultimately scrapped.  

Disney Movie Challenge Bonus: The Jungle Book (2016)

 Disney Movie Challenge Bonus

The Jungle Book (2016)

Every time I watch a Disney Live Action remake I say the same thing "It's not fair to compare it to the original" but it's always hard when you watch them close together. Of course I made it that much more difficult on myself because I watched this one the same day as I watched the original.  So expect some unfair comparisons.  

I feel like this movie set the bar for the live action remakes.  It was a huge hit and got some great reviews so went in with some high hopes.  Maybe it was because I watched the original on the same day that I left feeling disappointed but this movie just didn't have the same magic the original had.  The story unfolds a bit differently then the animated version. Since I haven't read any of the books I can't say if it follows the original Kipling story more closely.  In this one Mowgli is still found by Bagheera but this time we learn that it was Shere Khan that killed Mowgli's father and the Mowgli's dad the one that burned Khan. Bagheera then takes Mowgli to the wolves where he is raised as one of their own.  Shere Khan the tiger returns to the jungle during a water truce that allows anyone to drink from the water hole without fear from predators.  When Khan finds that there is a Man Cub there he vows that he will kill it one day but will not do anything during the water truce.  The wolves know that once the truce is over they will have to do something about Khan so they decide the best thing to do is have Mowgli leave with Bagheera and return to the man village.  Once on their journey they meet a cast of characters including Ka the snake, King Louie a gigantopithecus (a change from orangutan from the original) and of course Baloo the bear.  Khan on the other hand is waiting with the wolves and keeping the wolves in constant fear knowing that Mowgli will eventually return.  When Mowgli finds out that the wolf pack is in danger he goes and gets fire from the man village and returns to the wolves to scare off Khan.  But while he is running through the jungle he accidentally sets a big forest fire.  He does have a confrontation with Khan and must outwit him to win.

The movie has an amazing cast of voice talent including Ben Kingsley as Bagheera, Idreis Elba as Shere Khan, Scarlett Johansson as Kaa, Bill Murray as Baloo, and Christopher Walken as King Louie, Unfortunately their talents don't do much to elevate the characters.  Kingsley and Elba are the ones that stand out.  I think Johansson is actually a better Kaa than Sterling Holloway but she isn't given much to do.  As much as I like Bill Murray I just feel he was kind of miscast as Baloo.  While he seems like he would be a great person to play the aloof bear it just didn't work.  And you never get that feeling that he has a great friendship with Mowgli.  

The movie did have some great cinematography and visual effects.  The jungle really looked amazing and the animals fighting each other looked realistic.  I do wish we got more of Shere Khan vs. Bagheera as the two cats were fun to watch fight.  While some of the fast moving shots felt off overall it was a great looking film.  

Again maybe watching it back to back with the original gives it unfair standards to live up to, but it just felt the story wasn't as compelling.  Did we need a backstory about why Khan hates man? Or that Khan killed Mowgli's father? Also one of the highlights of the original is the fun banter between Baloo and Bagheera and that was sorely missing in this one.  Being more realistic made the songs feel out of place.  Christopher Walken singing "I Wan'na Be Like You" was pretty disappointing. Then all we got was Baloo humming "The Bare Necessities".  Either commit to the music or ignore it.  That just sets you up for comparison that you know isn't going to end well for the film.  

Overall:  There is  amazing cinematography and great visual effects but the story just feels like something is missing.  As far as the music goes I wish they would make up their minds, either keep the songs or get rid of them all.  

Random Facts

Not the first live action remake of the Jungle Book there was one in 1994. The film starred Jason Scott Lee, Cary Elwes, Sam Neill, Lena Headey, and John Cleese.  

Garry Shandling voiced a porcupine.  It was his last role before passing away from a pulmonary embolism prior to the film being released.  

Disney Movie Challenge: The Jungle Book (1967)

 

DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE

The Jungle BOok

WHAT IS THE DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE: With Disney+ making available almost all of their films from the vault I thought it was a good time to watch all the theatrically released feature length Disney Studio Animated films. That’s a lot of qualifications so what does it all mean? It must be a film developed and released under the Walt Disney Animation Studios (so no PIXAR or Tim Burton stop motion films). Must have been released in theaters (no direct to video releases). And feature length (no shorts that played prior to the features). Currently there are 58 films. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 going to Frozen II in 2020. 

First I want to say this review has taken me a while to write as there has been a lot going on and it is also the longest time from watching a film to writing a review luckily the movie is pretty memorable so it wasn't that hard to write.

After a number of Eurocentric films Disney took a trip to the Indian Jungle’s (although it is based on a book by an Englishman) to tell the story of Mowgli, a boy abandoned in the jungle and raised by wolves.  After being mostly hands off with 101 Dalmatians and The Sword in the Stone Disney was fully invested in this film.  Insisting on so many script changes that the original writer Bill Peet eventually left the Disney Company all together.  Peet was also the one who suggested The Jungle Book be the next Disney Film.  Peet’s original story was more faithful to the books but Disney wanted it to be more family friendly and straightforward as the books were darker and more episodic.   

The movie follows Mogwli who is found abandoned in the woods by Baghreera, a Panther.   Baghreera decides to save the boy and brings him to a pack of wolves who raise him as one of their own.  But as the Mogwli grows his existence threatens the wolves when Shere Khan the Tiger returns to the jungle.  Khan hates humans and would not hesitate to kill everyone to get to the boy.  It is decided that the best thing to do is have Baghreera bring the boy back to the man village (and that's just in the first 10 minutes). Mogwli doesn’t want to leave the jungle and give Bughera trouble the whole time.  Along the way they meet a series of characters, some good like Baloo the bear who wants to adopt Mowgli, and some bad like King Louie the orangutan who just wants Mowgli to teach him how to make fire.  Eventually there is a confrontation with Shere Khan and Mowgli must decide what he wants.  

The Jungle Book is one of those classics that I have never seen and wasn’t sure if it would live up to the classic status it has, but it actually does.  The biggest thing the film has going for it is the voice cast.  Everyone in the cast is excellent and really brought the characters to life.  The second thing the film has going for it is the music.  While the Sherman Brothers songs were lackluster in The Sword in the Stone in The Jungle Book they were all fun and catchy.  Oddly enough one of the best known songs from The Jungle Book “The Bare Necessities” was written by Terry Gilkyson. One of the things that makes the music work is the songs tell a story and move the plot along.  We learn everything about King Louis’s plot from the song “I Wanna Be Like You”.  

The most surprising thing I enjoyed about the film was the friendship that develops between Baloo and Baghreera.  They hate each other in the beginning but slowly become friends as they both try to take care and protect Mowgli.  It’s truly an odd couple scenario.  Baghreera is the neat and straightforward one and Baloo is the laid back aloof character.  Their banter throughout the film gives the film fun and heart (On a side note, this is what is missing from the 2016 live action version of the film).  At the end of the film I expected them to turn to each other and say “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship”.  

 

Overall: A fun filled film. Great music and great cast.  It's a step up in animation from The Sword in the Stone and shows the true genius of Disney because wanting to make a “family friendly straightforward film” really worked. The movie also movies quickly. We learn all the exposition in the first 10 minutes and then get on with the adventure.  The relationship between Baghreera and Baloo give the film it's heart. The ending felt a little abrupt but still works.  

Random Facts:

Walt Disney died during productions of this film and is considered the last film in the “Silver Age” of Disney animations.  The next film The Aristocats  is considered the first film in the “Dark Age” of Disney Animation.