#mowgli productions

[mowgliproductions]

Surviving on Rainwater: The Hidden Island's Astonishing Secret

[nathanparisi]

Disney characters voiced by child actors from Pinocchio (1940) to The Lion King (1994), including Dickie Jones (Pinocchio), Donnie Dunagan (Bambi), Kathlyn Beaumont (Alice from Alice in Wonderland), Bobby Driscoll (Peter Pan), Bruce Reitherman (Mowgli from The Jungle Book), Michelle Stacy (Penny from The Rescuers), Keith Coogan (Tod), Corey Feldman (Cooper), Susanne Pollatschek (Olivia Flaversham from The Great Mouse Detective), Joey Lawrence (Oliver from Oliver and Company), Bradley Pierce (Chip from Beauty and the Beast) and Jonathan Taylor Thomas (Simba from The Lion King).

[acmeoop]

Man-Cub Chase “The Jungle Book” (1967)

[choicefineart]

The Jungle Book Original Production Cel on Original Background: Mowgli, Buzzy, Flaps, Dizzy, and Ziggy

MEDIUM: ​Original Production Cel on Original Background IMAGE SIZE: 12 Field PRODUCTION: The Jungle Book, 1967 SKU: CCV2035

[sonntam]

I don't think I've seen a write-up on various fairy-tale and Russian sayings references in the English translation, so I'd like to make one.

"Puddles make poor drinks" and "Gorkhon water will turn you into livestock": what's up with that?

There is a fairytale about a big sister and the little brother. They walk for a long time and the brother is very thirsty. His big sister keeps telling him to keep going and not to drink from the puddles, like a goat. Eventually the little brother drinks from the puddle.

And promptly turns into a goat.

Rest of the fairytale is about the big sister returning the little brother to his original form.

So, this is where the talks about puddles and water turning you into livestock is about.

The Akela joke did not work at all in the translation.

It comes from Mowgli, which is well known due to the USSR cartoon. In the book (and in the cartoon) the elderly wolf leader Akela misses during a hunt... after which he promptly is deposed as a leader of the pack. Mowgli loses his protection and this is a Big Deal.

So whenever a boss in real life makes a silly mistake (say, throwing a paperball into the bin and missing) everyone thinks it's very funny to say "Akela missed!" implying that they will get a new boss now and the current one will get deposed for this mistake.

Here "Akela never misses" means that Khan being at risk of infection and coming into the nutshell does not diminish his importance at all and his dogheads are just as loyal as before, happily delivering loot to him.

There is a saying: "Better a sparrow in hand, than a stork in the sky."

It means that you should treasure what you have, instead of preferring that which you can't get (so easily).

Lara Ravel references that she can't be happy with the little she has. She wants to help others and for this she needs more.

"Maybe I could be useful to you" is a classic thing that various animals say to people in fairytales, once they are caught and plead for their lives.

I think, this is a popular trope in English fairytales as well, but the phrasing here is lifted directly from fairytales in Russian, so pointing it out either way.

"Everyone's shirt is closer to their skin" is a well known Russian saying.

It means that your happiness and comfort is always more important to you than the comfort of other people. Hence: your shirt is closer to your skin, so you care about it more.

"Silence implies assent" is another popular saying (it even rhymes in Russian).

If someone proposes a course of action and no one speaks out against it or for it, then people usually say "silence is a sign of assent" and consider the matter settled. (Or, more often, people then suddenly say that they disagree and you get a more lively and productive conversation.)

I can't find another screenshot, but Dankovsky says something similar about "I wore down seven pairs of shoes getting to this town".

It obviously could be taken as a factual statement, but most likely it's a reference to fairytales.

In a lot of fairytales the protagonist will be given on a long journey seven pairs of iron boots. Once all of them break, the hero has reached his destination.

Same here: it's a fairytale way of saying that you had a long and arduous journey (or in Capella's case, ran around the whole town for years).

"I'll just peek with one eye" is another popular Russian phrase.

"Can I look?"

"No"

"How about if I look with just one eye?"

Obviously, it's nonsense, but it's a typical thing to say if you REALLY want to look at something, so you just say "pleeeease, I will just look only a little".

[emailsfromanactor]

A small taste of Letters from an Actor by William Redfield:

Some years ago, Mr. Johnny Weissmuller, having become famous as the monosyllabic Tarzan, essayed the role of Mowgli the Wolf Boy in a play the title of which escapes me entirely. Quite possibly, it was called Mowgli the Wolf Boy. Anyway, I hope so, but I did not actually see the play. The novelty of the production proceeded from Mr. Weissmuller’s scantily clad presence at a well-furnished mansion in the city of San Francisco. Precisely why Mowgli the Wolf Boy should have been stopping over at a well-to-do San Franciscan’s I cannot imagine without considerable aid, but he was all the same and his mode of dress remained a loincloth, a pair of sandals, a band round his head, and a knife angled into his whipthong belt. At a climactic second-act moment, Mowgli and the villain of the piece struggle to the death for possession of a pistol with which the villain has attempted to shoot Mowgli. On opening night (in Los Angeles, I believe) the powerful Mr. Weissmuller wrested the weapon from his snarling but flimsy adversary and fired it at him. But the prop weapon misfired and the tell-tale clickclickclick of the trigger told a sad story: villain of play will not be shot tonight, dear friends and neighbors. Mr. Weissmuller, showing commendable presence of mind, immediately went for his knife. Unfortunately, the knife bent visibly double against the villain’s chest because it was made of rubber. This amused the audience a good deal but caused the villain to break out in a cold, trembling sweat. Actors who are supposed to be killed become frightfully nervous when things don’t go as expected - more nervous, for some reason, than fellow actors who are supposed to kill them. Weissmuller himself? Unfazed, apparently. He began to growl and grunt and stomp. He dragged the villain to the window. He then wrapped window drapes around the hapless chap’s neck and the latter, being only too happy to cooperate, commenced to expire. But the audience would have none of it. “He’s not dead,” several cried, and “Hit him again!” When Mr. Weissmuller ripped the drapes away from the villain’s throat, the audience burst into applause. “No more strangling,” a man cried derisively. “Think of something else.” Weissmuller did. He stared hard at his fellow player, who - terrified - began to sink slowly to his knees. Weissmuller then lifted his right fist threateningly. The villain mumbled and whimpered. Suddenly, Weissmuller pressed his fist against the villain’s forehead and croaked ominously, “I keel you weeth my poison ring!” The villain gasped his relief and fell over in a heap, quite theatrically dead. I believe that even the audience was satisfied. If they weren’t, they should have been. Mr. Weissmuller deserved a standing ovation that night. If he didn’t get one then, he gets mine right now.

Read the rest of the book with Emails from an Actor!

[niuniente]

Niu, You like annimated movies correct? I remember sometime ago trying to branch out from american production ones. there was the whole 'secret of the kells' and 'song of the sea' and 'Kirikou and the sorceress' that i watched at the time all lovely. But one i found was a french animation called 'Le Jour des corneilles' The day of the crows in english that is a bit of a Mowgli mixed in with a bit of spiritualism i guess. Well i don't know if you already watched it, but if not i think it would be a interesting watch for when you have the time. all the ones i mentioned really.

I haven't seen it. It looks really wonderful, so I will check it out - among the others. I love animated movies and series but I don't really watch any of them more than a few times a year. Even when I'd like to.

[rachelbethhines]

60 Years of Doctor Who Anniversary Marathon - T. Baker 1st Review

Disney Time - Behind the Scenes

So for the Third Doctor we looked at trailers and promos for the show itself, well for the Fourth Doctor we’re looking at promotional material and advertisements for things that aren’t related to the show.

See Doctor Who is so popular that the series has been used to advertise various products, charities, PSAs, both for the UK and other countries, and even promote other IPs.

Which leads us to Disney Time. 

Disney Time was an annual special that ran in the UK from 1961 to 1998. And it was literally just one giant advert for Disney each and every year. It would show clips from it’s newly released or up coming movies, including recent re-releases and shorts, and promote it’s other tv shows.  

Each year the segment was hosted by a celebrity who would provide linking segments and explain the context of the clips being shown. And in 1975 that celebrity was Doctor Who.

Not just Tom Baker, who played the Doctor, but the actual character of the Doctor, running around the theater proclaiming how great Disney is, how much he loves classic Disney characters like Donald Duck, and horribly mispronouncing Mowgli’s name.

The in universe explanation being that the Doctor is on vacation. Having just dropped off Harry and Sarah Jane back home at the end of Revenge of the Cybermen, he enjoys his holiday by going to the movies. At the end of his day off he gets a message from the Brigadier which is supposed to lead directly into Terror of the Zygons. So yeah, this is meant to be canon to the show.

The segment has never officially been released due to copyright, but mega fans with home recorders have kindly posted Tom Baker’s clips to youtube.

In order to watch the show as intended, I pulled up the missing clips off of Disney Plus and kept the Doctor Who linking clips up in another tab; switching between the two when needed.

To re-create the experience yourself, this is the line up.

To start everything off, you have

“The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” from Fantasia

The Doctor’s 1st clip

The Clock-cleaners (the short was edited down for the episode, but I don’t know where the cuts were made, so I just watched the entire short) 

2nd Doctor clip

“Blackbeard drives a car and says fuck the police” from BlackBeard’s Ghost (the clip starts with Dean Jones and Blackbeard driving in the car and ends with Dean Jones getting handcuffed) 

3rd Doctor Who clip

"Trust in Me" from The Jungle Book (clip starts with Kaa singing, and ends Kaa being pushed out of the tree by Mowgli. just end when the segment fades to black) 

Back to the Doctor; 4th clip

“The hippopotamus segment” from The African Lion  

5th  intro by the Doctor

“Theodore and Amos try to rob the bank” from The Apple Dumpling Gang (the segment starts with Theodore telling Amos his plan for using a rope to haul himself to the roof, it ends at the next scene with the Sheriff finding the two thieves tied up together in front of the vault. cut the scene before the trial starts)

6th clip for the Doctor

"The Beautiful Briny" from Bedknobs and Broomsticks (start with them meeting Mr. Cod and end as soon as they accept the trophy)

Another Doctor segment, the 7th clip

“A cougar attacks a child” from  Return of the Big Cat (This TV movie is on youtube not Disney+; and clips were actually shown out of order for the episode. first clip time stamp 41:52 to 43:53, and the second clip time stamp is 37:30 to 39:27)

 7th Doctor Who clip

“The puppets dancing” from Escape to Witch Mountain (the scene starts with the kids being stuck inside while it rains. they make the puppets come to life, the villains watch them from a hidden camera, next scene the children discuss running away)

8th Doctor who clip 

“He’s a Tramp” from Lady and the Tramp (scene kicks off with Lady being brought into the pound, ends with the song ending)

Final Doctor Who clip

Of course it’s Disney and Doctor Who, two my favorite things combined so I love it. THe best bits were the songs, but even the segments from ‘lesser’ films proved to be at least interesting given their context.

The Apple Dumpling and Escape to Witch Mountain were the big theatrical releases at the time, hence their inclusion.

BlackBeard’s Ghost, The African Lion, and Jungle Book were all getting planned releases that following year, and indeed the theater where this was filmed was playing Lady and the Tramp at the time. Which is why the episode ended on that segment in particular. 

But most interesting of all was the Return of the Big Cat segment. A movie that I didn’t even knew existed until this marathon.

It’s not a theatrical release, but rather a made for tv movie that was created for Disney’s anthology show The Wonderful World of Color.

Disney made original tv movies from time to time for his anthology and they’re basically the prototype for the Disney Channel Original Movies that I grew up on. With about the same level of quality too.

With new Doctor Who coming to Disney Plus soon, this was a fun look in that I wouldn’t mind revisiting again. Especially since I know where the clips actually begin and end. It took a while to figure that part out.

[kravnov]

#   𝐊𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐍𝐎𝐕   . A   soldier   distances   themselves   from   their   enemy.   The   aim   is   desensitization.   𝐇𝐀𝐓𝐄.   Whatever   it   takes   to   pull   the   trigger.   The   𝙷𝚄𝙽𝚃𝙴𝚁   does   the   opposite.   The   hunter   tries   to   understand   their   𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒚.   They   want   to   know   how   it   thinks,   what   it   loves,   what   it   fears.   It   is   why   the   best   hunters   are   𝙴𝙼𝙿𝙰𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚃𝙸𝙲.   A   good   hunt   is   an   act   of   respect.   It   requires   sacrifice.   It   requires   planning.   It   requires   timing.   A   good   hunt   is   𝒑𝒐𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒚.   It   is   art.   / a mowgli production. ©

[hitchell-mope]

Remakes and fans should let things stand on their own.

Now I’ve never watched mash. Up until like last year I always thought that it was an hour long drama and not a half hour comedy. Mostly because I only ever knew about the dead chicken that was really a dead baby. But @rpsocsandcanonohmy told me about Klinger who dressed up as a woman in the hopes of getting Blighty’d out of the army on the grounds of insanity and how today they would probably fuck it up by making him transgender when it doesn’t make sense for the character. Which got me thinking.

In general. I think remakes can be a good thing. When done properly that is. Take the 2016 Jungle Book remake for instance. It gave Mowgli a proper character and agency as opposed to him just being a plot device for the animals

But. With things like mash you really need to remember when the original is set and when the original was made. @rpsocsandcanonohmy telling me about Klinger made me think how Sally Rogers would he ruined by a modern writing team.

Sally Rogers is a wonderful character. Man hungry. Hilarious entertainer. Gifted comedy writer. Wants to get married. She’s also the same height as Dick Van Dyke and has a raspy voice. So knowing a modern writing team’s shaky grasp on why she was groundbreaking. They’d probably make her a man hating lesbian. Either that or they’d turn her into a home wrecker by having an affair with either Mel, Rob or Buddy. All of whom are married.

And that goes for golden girls as well. I’ve seen people on tumblr ship Dorothy and Blanche. Now that in itself isn’t a bad thing. It’s just not my thing. Ship and let ship you know. But it seems to me that sometimes certain fans try to use shipping as a way to get past things they think unsavoury like Blanche’s man hungry nature. Which kind of befuddles me a little bit because apart from the typical jokes about it, mostly because on Dorothy and Sophia, Blanche was never ashamed of her hobby. So why should the fans be?

It applies to more modern things as well. Supernatural would probably never be made today because Dean Winchester goes against everything modern audiences think a male co-lead should be. And he’d probably be the villain nowadays what with his perviness, binge drinking and his very present Oedipus, Electra and brother complex. That is to say if hellers are rightfully left out of the conversation like they should be.

Take avatar for another example. The Netflix adaptation excised Sokka’s sexism in the early episodes because it was “politically correct”. Obviously failing to understand that he worked through that and won over the girl who made him see he was wrong.

Hell. It applies to modern things set in the past. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen posts either hinting or outright demanding a pride episode from stranger things that blatantly ignore that it’s set in Indiana during Reagan’s America. Aka. A time of sadly rampant homophobia. So frankly I forgive the show for not having Will and Robin be out and proud because it just doesn’t fit either the time period or the genre of the show.

Mash, The Dick Van Dyke Show, the golden girls, supernatural, avatar, stranger things. They’re all either beholden to or a product of either when they were made or set. And trying to change that to make a modern audience at ease is just plain stupid.

TL;DR: it all comes down to it being a feature and not a bug. People should accept things as they are. If you don’t like it then don’t like it. But don’t try to ruin it for people who accept the features as they are just because you don’t like it. Just accept that what it is isn’t for you and please. Move on. This goes for both fans and writers looking to remake. Don’t treat a feature like it’s a bug because then you’ll be getting rid of what made it interesting in the first place.

[barkingbonzo]

The Jungle Book 1967

The Jungle Book is a 1967 American animated musical comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution. Based very loosely on the "Mowgli" stories from Rudyard Kipling's 1894 book of the same title, it is the final animated feature film to be produced by Walt Disney, who died during its production. It was directed by Wolfgang Reitherman and written by Larry Clemmons, Ralph Wright, Ken Anderson, and Vance Gerry. Featuring the voices of Phil Harris, Sebastian Cabot, Louis Prima, George Sanders, Sterling Holloway, J. Pat O'Malley, and Bruce Reitherman, the film's plot follows Mowgli, a feral child raised in the Indian jungle by wolves, as his friends, Bagheera the panther and Baloo the bear, try to convince him to leave the jungle before the ruthless tiger Shere Khan arrives.

The early versions of both the screenplay and the soundtrack followed Kipling's work more closely, with a dramatic, dark, and sinister tone, which Disney did not want in his family film, leading to writer Bill Peet and songwriter Terry Gilkyson being replaced.

The Jungle Book was released on October 18, 1967, to positive reception, with acclaim for its soundtrack, featuring five songs by the Sherman Brothers and one by Gilkyson, "The Bare Necessities". With a gross of $23.8 million worldwide, the film initially became Disney's second-highest-grossing animated film in the United States and Canada, the ninth-highest-grossing film of 1967, and was also successful during its re-releases. The film was also successful throughout the world, becoming Germany's highest-grossing film by number of admissions. Disney released a live-action adaptation in 1994 and an animated sequel, The Jungle Book 2, in 2003; a live-action/CGI hybrid remake directed by Jon Favreau was released in 2016, with a sequel to that film in development.

[mowgliproductions]

War-Torn Wonders: Discovering Palau’s World War 2 Japanese Lighthouse in...

[bjsmall]

18.08.23

We watched Walt Disney's The Jungle Book (1967).

IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061852/

The Jungle Book is a 1967 musical comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution.

The film is based on Rudyard Kipling's 1894 book of the same name. It was the 19th Disney feature film and the final film produced by Walt Disney who died during its production.

The film plot follows Mowgli, an abandoned human child raised in the Indian jungle by Wolves. Bagheera the panther and Baloo the bear have to convince Mowgli to leave the jungle before Shere Khan arrives to kill him.

Wiki link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jungle_Book_(1967_film)

Early versions of the screenplay and soundtrack were more faithful to the book with a dramatic, dark and sinister tone which Disney did not like. Leading writer Bill Peet was replaced. Much of Peets work was thrown away but his characters were kept but made more happy and funny.

Work on the animation began on June 5th 1965. The animation was done by Xerography, using rough artistic edges to contrast the round animals. Background were hand painted and used in the foreground and background to create a feeling of depth.

The character of Baloo was based on real footage of bears and their movements in the wild. This was one of the first animated films to study animal behaviour.

A Disney trademark of using previous cel-sequences from other films was used for the Jungle Book. This includes 101 Dalmatians and A Tiger Walks.

The films score was composed by George Bruns and orchestrated by Walter sheets. The score features six original songs, five by the Sherman Brothers and one by Terry Gilkyson who wrote The Bear Necessities. The songs have become classic in their own right. The songs are as follows:

- The Bear Necessities - Trust in Me - I Wan'na Be Like You - Colonel Hathi's March - That's What Friends are For - My Own Home

For more information on the production of The Jungle Book, see:

Favourite scenes in The Jungle Book:

- The wolves scene at the beginning, who adopt Mowgli and raise him.

- The King Louie scene where he sings 'I'm the King of the Swingers'. ''Have Two Bananas!''

- The vultures 'That's What Friends are For' scene. The vultures where influenced by the Beetles who came from Liverpool. - - The 'Trust in Me' scene featuring Kaa the Rock Python who tries to hypnotise Mowgli with his eyes and the song!

- And of course, The Bear Necessities, which Baloo sings with Mowgli in the river.

The Jungle Book was released in October 1967, 10 months after Walt Disney's death. The film was a massive success, costing $4 million dollars to make and earning over $23 million dollars by 1970.

The film was re-released throughout the 70s, 80s and 90s and is regarded as being in the top 50 grossing films of all time.

The film has been released to home media on all available formats from VHS to streaming. The Jungle Book was digitally re-mastered in 2014.

The original aspect ratio of The Jungle Book is 1.37.1, the alternate theatrical released was 1.75:1.

The Jungle Book received positive reviews upon its release. This was partly due to the affection for Walt Disney after his death. Although it was nothing like the book, the film was seen as simple, bright and delightful entertainment.

It still has a rotten tomatoes approval rating of 88%.

In later years the film has received some criticism for being racist, however this was not the film makers intention.

In 2016, a live action/CGI version of the Jungle Book was released. It is darker than the animation but it is highly regarded.

I have seen the live action version recently on BBC iPlayer.

I first saw the Jungle Book in the late 90s on VHS, more recently I brought a copy of the film on Blu-Ray disc in 2017. This version was watched on YouTube Movies. The Jungle Book looked fantastic on my 4K LG TV!

I particularly enjoy watching Kaa, as I like snakes!

My favourite stories from Rudyard Kipling were his 'Just So' stories which I first read in the classic children's Golden Treasury book. My favourite story from 'Just So' is How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin!

Obviously the film isn't up to modern animation standards, but it is still really enjoyable to watch with its catchy songs and engaging characters.

It is a classic!

[beardedmrbean]

Mowgli was such a little shit for ditching his wolf family to go fuck around in the jungle.

Don't know that I'll ever understand Rudyard Kippling's ability to fly under everyone's radar in terms of racism but Dr. Seuss gets canceled because the guy drew propaganda for the US during WW2.

I have nothing against either one, much like Twain the things in question are very much a product of their time and shouldn't be subjected to 21st century standards, but the dude wrote a whole thing called "White Man's Burden" to try to inspire American Imperialism to go to the Philippines and bring civilization to the people there.

Commented several times about how similar it is to the woke white people trying to explain to various minorities who don't agree with their agenda that they know better than them and as white people of privilege they will lead the way so they may at last achieve the equality they deserve.

Yes this is Breitbart, shut up there's video so there's not really any way to lie.

This was 100% not what you were looking for I'm sure, sorry bout that, you triggered one of my pet peeves.

And yes he was a little bitch, but to be fair if I could hang out with Baloo and nap on a fat Melursus ursinus (sloth bear) tummy it would be tough to resist.

[wonderfulworldofdarklords]

(Sorry for getting the Tumblr link up late! The weekend has been full of family stuff. Good, but busy.)

Welcome to Wonderful World of Darklords! Second edition already did a Jungle Book-inspired domain with the Wildlands, but it didn't make the jump into 5e and it had some key differences from its source material, which means that this movie is as ripe for picking as a pawpaw or a prickly pear (as opposed to classic Disney movies that are already covered in 5e by certain Dementlieus we can name). As a heads up, we love both the classic animated Jungle Book and the 2016 live-action version, so we're going to be bringing in elements from both. Topics discussed include:

Why we feel it's crucial that the humans in the man village be much more innocent than humans typically are in a man-versus-nature story;

The rich potential of a setting that has so many NPCs with their own agendas, from Bagheera, the vultures, and the wolves to Kaa, King Louie, and old stripes himself;

"Aging-down" ideas for allowing an entire party of Mowglis, each raised by different animals;

The style of campaign we've barely discussed in this podcast that fits Jungle Book like tiny red shorts;

and more!

The full writeup for the Seeonee is available for free on DM's Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/product/464028/Mowglis-Jungle-A-Ravenloft-Domain-of-Dread-01-13?view_as_pub=1

All music recordings are in the public domain (mark 1.0) and are licensed through https://musopen.org:

Chopin Nocturne in B-Flat Minor, Op. 9 No.1 (main theme), performed by Eduardo Vinuela

Chopin Etude Op. 25, No. 12 in C Minor: “Ocean” (darklord theme), performed by Edward Neeman

Chopin Nocturne in F Minor, Op. 55 No. 1 (land theme), performed by Luke Faulkner

Rachmaninoff Morceaux de Fantaisie, Op. 3 - 2. Prélude in C sharp minor (Dread Possibilities), performed by Sergei Rachmaninoff

Chopin Nocturne in E Minor, Op. 72 No. 1 (parting thoughts), performed by Luke Faulkner

Dialog for Yensid was written by Azalin Rex himself @darklordazalin

The Wonderful World of Darklords logo was designed by Halite Jones, whom you can find @halite-jones or on Instagram at http://www.instagram.com/insta_halite

Contact us on:

Gmail: wonderfulworldofdarklords@gmail.com

Facebook: @wonderfulworldofdarklords

Patreon: www.patreon.com/WonderfulWorldofDarklords

[thealmightyemprex]

Disney Month :Talespin: Plunder and Lightning

for this 18th installment of Disney month we are gonna look at the 4 part pilot to one of the most unusal yet beloved spin offs ever ,Talespin

In this group of 1990 TV episodes,Baloo (Ed Gilbert) is a lazy pilot who has lost his business to a businesswoman Rebecca  Cunningham(Sally Struthers),but with the help of an orphan Kit Cloudkicker (RJ Williams) ,plans to buy back the business with a stone that is being pursued both by ruthless business man Shere Khan (Tony Jay ) and sky pirate Don Karnage(Jim Cummings )

Soooooo the premise of this show is....Friggin weird.It is a spin off of the Disney classic Jungle Book....But not really ,cause it doesnt take place in India ,the animals are fully anthropomorphic,and it only uses three characters from the Jungle Book:Baloo the Bear ,Shere Khan the Tiger and Louie the Orangutan .It then places these characters in this action adventure series with planes and pirates ....This is a weird mix of things.....And looking into it....Thats cause this was a last minute pitch ,the creators were struggling to think of a show,Jungle Book was rereleased so they wanted to do somthing with Baloo and combined it with a hodge podge of other influences like the TV shows Tales of the Gold Monkey ,the manga Hikotei Jedai,the classic film Casablanca and of all things the hit TV show Cheers with the character of Rebecca .BAsically the creators threw a bunch of stuff they like in a blender and combined it.....Considering that is similar to my own creative process ,I respect this alot .It paid off cause this show was a hit and is considered a cartoon classic

As for my own relationship to the show,I loved this show as a kid.Now admittedly it has been a long time since I have seen it and all I remebered was Baloo was a pilot,Shere Khan was a businessman and there were sky pirate and I dont know if I ever saw the pilot so I went into this semi blind ......I kind of love this show and I mi9ght watch more

As a spin off,I maintain on the surface this is weird...But it does work cause while the setting has changed ,the characters are mostly in tact .Yeah Louie has been transformed entirerly into a good guy and at least in these episodes Khan has lost his sadistic playfulness ,but Louie is still loads of fun and Shere Khan is still a feared intimidating character,and I like the roles they have been placed in ,Louie is well suited to be the laid back bartender , and I get kind of a kick out of the ruthless apex predator being made into a cutthroat capitalist .I was a little bummed Khan didnt have much to do in these episodes ,but hey this is setting up the premise and we already have another villain I will talk about later . Baloo is completely in character ,even though he is now a pilot,he is still the slacker papa bear with a heart of gold and I like that the at least these episodes focus on the dad quality of Baloo.WE dont have Mowgli here,so the father and son relationship is between Baloo and Kit ,and they have an adorable father son dynamic .Also Baloo weirdly transitions well into being a reluctant action hero .Also I must praise the cast for the Jungle Book characters cause they are alll really good.Jim Cummings does a very good Louis Prima impression as King Louie (SO good it caused some legal kerfuffles ) ,Tony Jay voice is eerily simlar to George Sanders that it borders on spooky and I am glad that for over a decade he became the official voice of Shere Khan in Jungle Book material ,but the big praise has to go to Ed Gilbert ,who listened to recording to Phil Harris and practicved for hours to get it right and was a perfect sucessor to Harris (Now Harris was alive when Talespin was in production,and they used him initially , but he was 85 ,he had lost some of his comedic timing, they couldnt afford to cheffuer him to the studio ,and they realized that he couldnt do a full 65 episode series ,so replaced him with Gilbert which I think was a good call as much as I wouldve loved to have heard him play Baloo on more time )

The new characters are decent ,I'm not a fan of Wildcat,who is Baloos mechanic , but he isnt in these episodes a lot .Molly,Rebeccas young daughter is a bit of a Scrappy for fans but I thought she was OK .REbecca I thought might be annoying but I thought she is a good foil for Baloo .Of the new heroes my favorite is Kit ,whohas a good dynamic with Baloo and an actually very fascinating back story

However the BEST character is theshows main villain,Don Karnage ....Who might be one of the greatest cartoon villains ever ,and I am tempted to watch ALL his episodes .A wolf air pirate ,who is both an intimidating threat due to how cunning he is while still being incredibly funny , due to his very flamboyant egocentric personality .Jim Cummmings,who is doing of all things ,a Desi Arnez impression ,and it is one of the funniest performances I have ever heard in animation .Also he gets a villain song and it is delightful

Animation,like all animation back then,depended on the episode.First and third episode have some great animation .Character designs in general are solid ,and the action and comedy are really good

My only complaint is part of me wishes they used mor Jungle Book characters (Maybe have Kaa as a recurring villain or Bagheera as a supporting character ) but hey thats what fanfics are fore

I think this 4 parter sets up the series well ,and I definately wanna watch more .Good set of episodes

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