Story
Disney’s animated adventure movie The Jungle Book opens with Bagheera the panther (voice of Sebastian Cabot) discovering a baby boy named Mowgli (voice of Bruce Reitheman) abandoned in the Indian jungle. Bagheera rescues the ‘man cub’ and takes him to a family of wolves, who adopt Mowgli into their pack.
Ten years later Mowgli is well adapted to living life in the jungle and is still living with his wolf family. But then the tiger Shere Khan (voice of George Sanders), who hates humans, returns to Mowgli’s part of the jungle. Mowgli’s wolf parents decide that it’s no longer safe for Mowgli to stay in the jungle and that Mowgli must be sent away to a human village. Feeling responsible for Mowgli, Bagheera volunteers to take him.
On the way to the village, Mowgli has several misadventures. They involve a hypnotic python named Kaa (voice of Sterling Holloway), a herd of elephants on a dawn patrol, a carefree bear named Baloo (voice of Phil Harris), and a band of monkeys lead by an aristocratic orangutan named King Louie (voice of Louis Prima).
Eventually Mowgli finds himself face to face with Shere Khan.
Themes
Abandonment; family; jungle animals
Violence
The violence in this movie is mostly slapstick, showing mild accidental injury to various jungle animals. But the movie does have a couple of scenes that show some menace and peril. One scene at the end shows an intense fight between large jungle animals, which might scare young children. Here are some other examples of violence in the movie:
Sexual references
This movie has some sexual references. For example, when a young girl mildly flirts to get Mowgli’s attention, Baloo the bear says, ‘Forget about those [girls] – they’re nothing but trouble’.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
None of concern
Nudity and sexual activity
This movie has some very mild nudity and sexual activity:
- There’s a brief glimpse of Mowgli’s buttock when Baloo the bear tugs at his loincloth.
- A young girl flirts with Mowgli. She flutters her eyelashes and pretends to drop a water container to get his attention.
Product placement
There is no product placement in the movie, but plenty of associated merchandise is marketed to children.
Coarse language
This movie has some mild humorous name-calling that young children might copy.
Ideas to discuss with your children
The Jungle Book is a digitally restored version of a classic Disney family adventure movie.
The movie has some catchy songs, great character voices and lots of humour and slapstick comedy. But it does feature some menacing characters, scary scenes and one intense fight that might disturb young children. The movie might be too scary for children under five years, and parental guidance is recommended for children aged 5-7 years.
The main message from this movie is that having friends and family is the most important thing in life. Many of the animals make sacrifices to either care for or protect Mowgli. Baloo the bear and Bagheera the panther are willing to sacrifice their lives to protect him.
You could talk with your children about Shere Kahn the tiger’s fear and hatred of humans. What makes Shere Kahn fear humans? Is his fear justified? Is this an accurate representation of how wild animals respond to humans?