I had the great fortune to watch The Jungle Book in the theaters when it was re-released in the early 90's. It was originally made in 1967 and was one of the last films approved by Walt Disney himself. This film is especially rare since the earlier ones focused on princesses more, and there are almost no female characters in this.
The whole film feels a bit rushed. They also tried to cram too many songs in there. All anyone ever remembers are Baloo and King Louie's songs so it's not like it matters. My husband asked me why the vultures looked like the Beatles. They didn't have the vultures in the live action film, and obviously their song was cut. They actually were based on the Beatles because the filmmakers wanted them to voice them, but it didn't work out. I think it would have been hilarious if they actually did. That makes me think, what is the difference between vultures and buzzards? I really don't know.
The character of Mowgli is also a lot different. The live action one makes all these inventions, which show off his human cunning and intuition whereas cartoon Mowgli doesn't do this. The cartoon character also seems a lot younger and more immature. Live action Mowgli chooses to leave the pack of his own volition in order to protect them from Shere Khan. The cartoon one simply gets kicked out and doesn't understand.
My daughter really loved Shere Khan. When he appeared on screen, she would jump out of her seat and yell, Tiger! Tiger!!! RAWRRR! I believe this is because my husband and I both went to Auburn and are huge Auburn Tigers fans. We have tiger stuff all over our house and love tigers. So Azalea simply can't see a tiger as a villain.
Overall, this isn't the best Disney film, but there are some good songs and it's great to watch with kids. I will give it a 6/10.
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