Le Livre de la jungle

What can I say about The Jungle Book? It probably has the best songs of any Disney movie, it's full of wonderful animals such as Baloo the Bear and King Louie the ape and it has a great little character in Mowgli who was raised in the jungle (so I guess he's related to Tarzan).

This is a great story throughout and the songs were just wonderful. When I first watched this film I couldn't get the songs out of my head and just kept humming them to myself time after time.

There's plenty of creatures for fans of animals from snakes to elephants to a big bad tiger called Shere Khan (one of the best Disney villains ever).

For those who haven't seen The Jungle Book, may I suggest viewing it as soon as possible?

This was the last cartoon feature Disney was directly involved with before his death, and it is one of his better films. The animation appears a bit dated, in large part because it appears to use the Xeroxing method, but that doesn't detract from the great story Disney had created, or the voice actors who add life to this movie. The film's standout is obviously Phil Harris as Baloo the Bear. A veteran of old time radio, such as "The Jack Benny Show," Harris brought his comic talents to the fore and provided a very lively portrayal of happy-go-lucky, free-spirited lovable oaf, which is a welcome contrast to the cute anthropomorphic animals Disney had a penchant for in "Bambi," "Cinderlla," and "Dumbo." The guy who does the voice of King Louie is also great, as is Sterling Holloway as the goofy villain Kaa; you might remember Holloway better as the original Winnie the Pooh. The Sherman Brothers did very well with lots of good songs, such as "I Want to be Like You" and "Bare Necessities" This is a great animated film for the whole family to enjoy.

It isn't completely faithful to the book, but for a good reason. The book has bits that you can't have in an animation. The animation is beautiful, the backgrounds rich in colour, and the characters beautifully drawn. The story is a very simple one, yet effective, and allows the songs and characters to take force. The songs and music by the Sherman Brothers perfectly match the breeziness of the film, with classics such as " Bare Neccessities" and "Wanna Be like you". Unlike some people, I liked the vulture barbershop, excellent harmonies. And what a talented voice-cast. Phil Harris was hilarious as Baloo, and Sebastian Cabot was brooding as Bagheera. Reitherman's son was good as Mowgli, and Louis Prima(who's not black so the racist overtones idea is ridiculous) was a riot as Louis. The real star was the perfectly cast George Sanders as the frightening and calculating Shere Khan. This is fantastic, if a little short, and avoid the sequel! 9/10 Bethany Cox

The Jungle Book is a great classic animation movie. It is famously known for being the last film that Walt Disney himself ever got to work on. He died while the film was in production, and sadly never got to see the outcome of the movie. The animation in this film is excellent, and the songs and performances are even better! Each character has something about him or her that makes you like them. The movie seems to be very cheery and happy. I remember watching this movie as a little kid, and I absolutely loved it! I give The Jungle Book a 10/10.

It may interest readers of these reviews that the voice actor who played King Louie is not in fact black.

If you follow this helpful link right here at imdb ( http://us.imdb.com/Name?Prima,%20Louis ), you'd find that Louis Prima is in fact white, and was quite well known at the time for his musical repertoire, of which the song "I Wanna Be Like You" is a prime example. I don't think he was chosen for that role because of how 'black' he sounded, but rather for his musical abilities, and how that fit into the character of King Louie.

As with all the other voice actors chosen for this film, Walt Disney made perfect choices.... so much so that the film works perfectly: animation, voices and story all mesh together perfectly to make one of his best films, precisely because it *is* so simple, yet effective.

No need for fancy computer graphics here.