WALT DISNEY'S THE JUNGLE BOOK [1967]

Hello again! yes we are talking about another DISNEY classic and this time it is one of my childhood favorites.

Did you know that this was the last animated film that WALT DISNEY himself ever made before his death?

[WALT DISNEY - 1901-1966]

WALT DISNEY passed away in 1966 from complications from lung cancer. “THE JUNGLE BOOK” was released the following year, making it the last animated film to have its production personally supervised by WALT. The fate of animation at THE DISNEY STUDIO was uncertain following Walt's death, so the critical and financial success of 'The Jungle Book' was much needed good news for DIsney animation.

Did you know that the filmmakers got the pronunciation for “MOWGLI’S” name wrong?

According to RUDYARD KIPLING’S daughter - ELSIE KIPLING BAIMBRIDGE, the first syllable of “MOWGLI’S” name rhymes with "cow" rather than "show." The mispronunciation was not unique to DISNEY, as it showed up in at least one previous film adaptation of the book. It's not clear whether DISNEY just didn't know or didn't care how to pronounce "MOWGLI," but KIPLING’S daughter reportedly never forgave the mistake. According to IMDb, his name is pronounced "MAU-glee".

Did you know that one of the Animators originally did not like the ending?

Every story idea was supervised by WALT. Including the ending in which a girl entices “MOWGLI” to go to “THE MAN VILLAGE”. Animator OLLIE JOHNSTON hated that ending because he felt it was lazy and tacked on but the more he worked on the sequence the more he began to feel it was the right one. Later JOHNSTON said that he was glad that WALT didn't listen to him.

[“MOWGLI” and “THE VILLAGE GIRL”.]

[JOHNSTON - 1912-2008]

Did you know that WALT told the entire staff to not read KIPLING’S original novel?

Disappointed by the muted reception to “THE SWORD IN THE STONE” (1963), WALT was determined to come back with a universally well-regarded film. He told his animation crew to "throw away" RUDYARD KIPLING’S book "THE JUNGLE BOOK" because the original concept storyboards were too dark and dramatic. During pre-production, DISNEY assigned animator LARRY CLEMMONS to head story development on the project. He gave CLEMMONS a copy of "THE JUNGLE BOOK" and told him, "The first thing I want you to do is not read it."

[CLEMMONS - 1906-1988]

Did you know that “THE JUNGLE BOOK” almost became the very first animated feature-length film to win an “OSCAR” for “BEST PICTURE”?

When actor GREGORY PECK was THE PRESIDENT OF THE ACADEMY OF MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND SCIENCES, he tried his hardest to get a full-length animated feature film (most notably the “THE JUNGLE BOOK”) not only nominated for “THE ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST PICTURE”, but also to actually win the award. He resigned as president in 1970 when other members didn't agree with him about animated films being nominated for the award. It would be over twenty years later before “THE ACADEMY” would reconsider, allowing another animated film and Disney film, “BEAUTY AND THE BEAST” (1991), to be nominated.

[PECK 1916-2003]

Here’s a quick fact: “KAA’S” song "TRUST IN ME" was originally written for “MARY POPPINS” (1964) as "LAND OF SAND" but it was never used in that film.

[“MARY POPPINS”]

Did you know that DISNEY has made multiple versions of “THE JUNGLE BOOK”?

Besides the 1967 animated version there is also the sequel “THE JUNGLE BOOK 2” [2003] and the live-action reboots including: “DISNEY’S RUDYARD KIPLING’S THE JUNGLE BOOK” [1994], “THE JUNGLE BOOK: MOWGLI’S STORY” [1998] and “THE JUNGLE BOOK” [2016]. And let’s not forget about the hundreds of other film adaptations produced by other movie studios!

DISNEY has also produced two animated T.V. shows inspired by ‘67 film: The anthropomorphic series “TALESPIN” [1990-91] and the prequel series “JUNGLE CUBS” [1996-98].

There are other “JUNGLE BOOK” T.V. shows as well but just like I said above, they were produced by other studios.

Bonus fact: Did you know that there is another connection between two of the different DISNEY versions?

“THE JUNGLE BOOK” [2016] is said to be BILL MURRAY’S first Disney film, but only if his roles in Disney’s live-action Touchstone Pictures films aren’t counted. Murray’s previous voiceover roles include “GARFIELD” and “THE FANTASTIC FOUR’S HUMAN TORCH” (seriously) [It was a short lived 1975 radio show simply titled “THE FANTASTIC FOUR”]. For the new “JUNGLE BOOK” MURRAY voices “BALOO THE BEAR”, a role his older brother, BRIAN DOYLE-MURRAY already played in “THE JUNGLE BOOK: MOWGLI’S STORY”, a live-action, direct-to-video film produced by DISNEY in 1998.

[Brothers BRIAN DOYLE-MURRAY and BILL MURRAY together in a scene from “GHOSTBUSTERS 2” -1989.]

Did you know that another “DISNEY LEGEND” passed away right after production?

Actress VERNA FELTON had previously lent her voice to a host of DISNEY characters including “CINDERELLA’S [1950] FAIRY GODMOTHER”, the volatile “QUEEN OF HEARTS” from “ALICE IN WONDERLAND”[1951], “AUNT SARAH” in “LADY AND THE TRAMP” [1955] and “FLORA” in “SLEEPING BEAUTY” [1959]. She started off with voicing the elephants, “MRS. JUMBO” and “THE MATRIARCH” in “DUMBO” [1941] and ended her career again playing the voice of an elephant named “WINIFRED”, “COLONEL HATHI’S” calm headed wife in “THE JUNGLE BOOK”. Winifred is also the only female character in the movie to have any dialogue [not counting the song the village girl sings at the end of the movie]. She passed away soon after production, just a day before WALT DISNEY’S death.

[VERNA FELTON -1890-1966.]

[An actual “WINIFRED” Production Cel.]

Welp, that is all I have for you guys today. I will see you all again in my next entry!