Joseph Boone
14 de octubre de 2007
A True Disney Classic
The Jungle Book tells the story of a boy named Mowgli who is raised by wolves in an Indian jungle. He leads an idyllic life befriended by many animals until the day that Shere Khan, the tiger, returns to the area intent on killing the boy. The animals decide to send Mowgli to the man-village where his people can protect him. Bagheera the panther gets the job of escorting him, but Mowgli has no desire to leave the jungle. In his desperation. Mowgli links up with Baloo the Bear and attempts learn the "Bear Necessities." A good deal more happens, but I don't want to give away the whole plot.Disney has made few movies that have maintained their popularity as well as The Jungle Book. It is a true classic. First, the voice talent is quite possibly the finest ever assembled for an animated film. Younger audiences will not be familiar with names like George Sanders and Sebastian Cabot even though they were very well known in their day. But the important thing is that every single voice is pitch perfect for the part. The epitome of this is obviously Phil Harris who provided the booming voice of Baloo. I must confess that Baloo is probably my favorite Disney character of all time and I can't conceive of anyone else bringing the easy charm and warmth that Harris just radiated with that incredible voice of his.The characters are all interesting and likable. The malicious Shere Khan comes across as incredibly suave with a wry wit that is quite funny at times. Even relatively minor characters like Colonel Hathi and King Louie are memorable and enjoyable. This is partly because of the excellent voice acting and partly because of the unusually sharp script. The story moves along at a brisk pace and more than holds the interest of adults and children alike. Mowgli seems to get in one mess after another and the jungle provides a great source of these situations.The music is yet another high point. The soundtrack features several tunes that are very catchy and fun. Some are well remembered such as "The Bare Necessities" and "I Wanna Be Like You." But even less featured songs such as "Colonel Hathi's March" and "That's What Friends Are For" burn themselves quite pleasantly into your brain.If The Jungle Book has a fault, it is in the animation. The movie was made just as Disney started cutting major corners in their animation and it shows. The character animations are definitely more sketchy and rough than you would see in a movie like Lady and the Tramp when they were more meticulous. Fortunately, the character design was still flawless and the quality of art had not yet diminished to the extent that it would in the 1970s when the company's animation hit rock bottom.My final verdict on The Jungle Book is that it is as entertaining an animated film as you're ever likely to see. In many aspects of its production, it remains one of the true greats and I would recommend it to anyone of any age. The story is interesting, the characters and voices are incredible, and the music is as catchy as any soundtrack you'll hear. The art is a little rough but is not nearly bad enough to detract from the overall experience.Ver másVer menos
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