Customer Reviews

Look for the bear necessities - By: Stampy, 27 Jul 2008
In one of Walt Disney's classics, Bagheera the panther offers to take Mowgli, a young boy, to the man village before the evil tiger Shere Khan gets to him.

This family adventure is a classic, made so by a beautiful sentimental plot about human emotions, including loyalty, sensitivity & most importantly love. And these human emotions are decoded through the animals of the jungle.

With the enchanting & fun loving actions of Baloo the bear & the honest & hard actions of Bagheera, do audiences get that true feel of the human spirit, & the facts of life, to have fun, but to face the truth as well, which is also reflectedin some of the most catchy & enjoyable songs ever created for a Disney picture.

"The Bear Necessities", "Trustin me" & "That's what friends are for" are the brightest gems to have ever been written & are beautifully directed & told through humorous & delightful techniques by the team.

Though the plot can be a little slow at times, the characters are all joys to watch, particularly the bad guys Khan & Kaa, who light up the filmin their own dark way. Khan's dialogue is perhaps the best ever written for an animated villain & evenin my adult years I find him chilling to watch.

The film explores the depths of the jungle with a keen interestin different animals, which are exploredin a comic fashion from the forgettable elephant to the bored vultures, the Jungle Book simply has everything.

From an excellent plot, to the wonderful sing-along songs, it is a true landmarkin the animation genre.

9/10

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Get in Quick! - By: James B. Spink, 05 Jun 2008
This is definitely the edition of the Jungle Book DVD to buy! The DVDs themselves are the same asin the standard 40th anniversary edition & there are many reviews covering that aspect of this set under that items Amazon listing. So I won't cover that partin detail I'll just say that it is a five star DVD productionin its own right!

This limited edition collector's item won't be around forever so getin quick! At the time of writing there is only a couple of pounds differencein price between this & the standard edition - a small price for collectors to pay.

This set comesin a book-shaped box containing the DVDs themselves & the bonus book. The book is about the same size as a DVD box & tells the Jungle Book storyin illustrations from the film. Some reviewers may have preferred a copy of the Jungle Book itself but it is this charming little book is what actually makes this set collectable! It is only available as a part of this package.

For those who want a copy of the book of the Jungle Book Amazon have them starting from about £1.50 - so it won't break the bank to have both! If you know what to expect you won't be disappointed, & you won't be disappointed with this edition.

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The Best and my Favourite Disney Film - By: A Child, 26 Mar 2008
This film is very enjoyable!
I would say this is the best Disney film made so far because it has a really good storyline, which is: Mowgli a little babyin a basket was found by a panther called Bagheera, who gave this man cub (as the animals call it) to the wolf pack to raise.
Years go by & the man cub, Mowgli had gotten so used to the jungle. Bagheera the panther realised that one day he had to take him to the man village.
When Bagheera tries to take Mowgli to the man village, Mowgli runs away & meets a friendly, whacky bear called Baloo.
After meeting Baloo, Mowlgi & the bear start to become friends & now Mowgli wants to live with himin the jungle.
Baloo & Mowgli sing a nice happy song about the 'Bear Necessities' which you might have heard of & then Mowlgi lies on Baloo's stomachin the water & suddenly a monkey grabs Mowgli & starts to tease Baloo.
It gets worse.
He takes him to the crazy, loony monkey king called King Louie who wants to know the key to make fire & this funny character is played by none other than Louie Prima.
There is also another song but this time is sung by Louie Prima.
This scene with the monkey king is my favourite part of the film.
After this scene Bagheera explains to Baloo why mowgli should go to the man village, after this Baloo realises that he should have took him to the man village with Bagheera.
When he tries to Mowgli runs away again & this time he runs into some vultures who sing him an entertaining song about friends.
Now it's the exciting bit.
Shere Khan the tiger finishes off the last part of the song which is quite humorous & then he gives 10 seconds to Mowgli to run & instead of running Mowgli picks up a stick with some fire on it & scares Shere Khan with it.
After this is Kipling's ending to a great story which is: A girl with a container for some water goes to get some water & Mowgli gets curious & interested.
She then drops her container on purpose so Mowgli goes to fill it up for her... he does.
Baloo says: 'She did that on purpose!'
'Obviously' said the wise panther.

The Bottom Line: Shere Khan the tiger has returned to the jungle & hates man with a vengeance, he is also afriad of fire + Mowgli does not want to go to the man village.

I would recommend buying this spectacular, animated film.
This would make a fantastic Christmas gift & is fun for all ages.

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Magical and Timeless, a joy from start to finish ! - By: Felix Briant, 06 Feb 2008
Enchanting & wonderful story about a boy who livesin the jungle & comes across some brilliant characters along the way from a posh panther to a fun loving bear, clumsy elephants, swinging monkeys, seductive snakes & a ferocious tiger. The songs are timeless & will live forever & this special DVD has some great extras from deleted songs to lost characters !

A classic to be enjoyed by everyone !

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King of the Swingers - By: DangermouseZilla, 04 Feb 2008
I was never a massive Jungle Book fan. When I was a kid it just wasn't one of the films I'd really seen much of. Disney's Robin Hood was the main Disney film I experienced. But recently I watched this DVD & realised how fantastic the film really is....

...The style of this film seems more akin to a detailed Japanese anime film than an American animated feature. The backgrounds are so detailed & the colours vivid (helpedin this release by the digital remastering). But let's face it, this film isn't necessarily about the visuals - it's the music that has ensured this film has secured iconic status.

The tracks are catchy, & genuinely so - they aren't childish songs, they are proper musical tracks performed by esteemed artists at the time. The music seems to match up perfectly with the characters. Instead of trendy pop songs, you get classic numbers which have never dated.

This release has plenty of additional features; I enjoyed these, but long term Jungle Book fans will love them. From a decent `making of' to a deleted additional character - the DVD has the kind of features DVDs *should* have.

Perfect for the whole family to enjoy, the issues are adult ones, the themes are quite serious - so parents don't feel they are `lowering themselves' when watching. If you watch this & then don't find yourself singing "The Bare Necessities" as a result, then you must have a medical condition preventing you to do so - or you'rein a library & would get chucked out.