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The Jungle Book is the story of Mowgli, the "man-cub" who was raised
by wolves. When he reaches boyhood, the wolves decide that Mowgli
should be sent to the "man-village" where he will be safe with his
people from Shere Kahn, whose return to their area of the jungle
is a danger to the boy. What follows is a sort of odyssey of trying
to get Mowgli to the village against many odds, including the boy's
reluctance to leave the jungle.
Considered one of the best of what used to be called Disney's "later"
animated features (before they began a new renaissance with "The
Little Mermaid"), The Jungle Book is also one of my favorites: not
so much because of the animation (which is lovely in its own right),
but because of the infectious score and the wonderful voice talent
assembled for the project. Of course, the most notable voice is
the great George Sanders as Shere Khan, the infamous tiger.
The animators had a field day with the design of his character:
although the Disney animators were known for studying the actors
doing the voices for the characters, they not only copied Sanders'
gestures for Shere Kahn, they actually made the tiger look like
him as well. Also on hand are Phil Harris as Baloo, the goofy bear,
Louis Prima as the scheming king of the orangutans, and Sterling
Holloway as Kaa, the hypnotic snake.
Video: How Does The Disc Look?
The picture is excellent. The colors are beautifully realized,
something that is essential for this film because the palette is
particularly lovely, with subtle pastels in the background and rich,
deep colors for the animals. This is another one of those discs
where we can be thankful for the density of colors offered by DVD:
for instance, at the end of the film the sky goes orange without
a hint of chroma noise. Breathtaking.
Audio: How Does the Disc Sound?
The sound is Dolby Digital 2.0 surround. It's also excellent. There's
more bass than in the earlier Disney animated features, and the
LFE response (though not exactly taxed in this movie) is very good.
The overall dynamics are quite good (except for a tiny touch of
harshness at the very beginning), and the dialogue is clear and
understandable throughout.
Supplements: What Goodies Are There? The disc includes French and Spanish language soundtracks, as well
as English subtitles for the hearing impaired. And of course, let's
not forget the "full-color character artwork on the disc."
I'm sorry, it cracks me up every time I read that.
Parting Thoughts
Picture and sound are excellent, and the movie is very good. But
as with the rest of the Disney animated films, for a featureless
disc, it is overpriced.
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