Animated Heroes . . . Mowgli

Mowgli

Look for the bare necessities, the simple bare necessities
Forget about your worries and your strife (yeah, man!)
I mean the bare necessities, all Mother Nature's recipes
That bring the bare necessities of life!

The Bare Necessities
Sherman/Sherman

Mowgli is the hero of The Jungle Book (1967).

Following the classic story by Rudyard Kipling, Mowgli is found in a basket by a group of wolves, and the mother's maternal instinct requires that she raises him as one of her own. He grows up with the rest of the litter of pups, and becomes well-acquainted with the jungle and its creatures. When the wolf pack learns that Shere Kahn is in the jungle, they realize that Mowgli must be taken to the man village at last, to protect him and those around him. The panther, Bagheera, volunteers to escort the boy to the village, and they leave right away. Mowgli meets a pachyderm of elephants, but is dismissed from their ranks, due probably to his lack of trunk. Mowgli is frustrated that he's being banished, and when he meets the fun-loving, Bohemian Baloo and learns the fun of being a bear, Mowgli refuses, much to the uptight Bagheera's chagrin. The python Kaa tries to hypnotize and devour the boy, and he escapes just in time. Before too long, to complicate matters, Mowgli is kidnapped by a gang of monkeys and taken to their leader, King Louie, who demands Mowgli fill him in on the secret of making fire, as he wishes to be just like a man. He doesn't believe Mowgli when he says he doesn't know how to make fire, and when Baloo arrives, a serious song and dance number ensues, in which Mowgli escapes. He runs away from Baloo and Bagheera and encounters a solemn vultures, and they say they'll be his friend, but when Shere Kahn appears, Baloo rushes to the rescue, and together they manage to get rid of the ruthless tiger. Baloo in his heart realizes that the safest and best place for Mowgli is indeed the man village, but Mowgli is still hesitant. His mind quickly changes, however, when he sees a beautiful girl from the village fetching water at the riverside. This creature is one completely foreign and immediately enchanting to Mowgli, following his natural human feelings and instincts concerning men and women. She "accidentally" drops her water pot, and Mowgli retrieves it for her, following her without a backward glance into the man village.

In the sequel, Mowgli, with Shanti (named in only the second film) and Mowgli's adoptive brother Ranjan, returns to the jungle and again encounters and defeats Shere Kahn, this time for good.

Mowgli is voiced by Bruce Reitherman and by Haley Joel Osment in the sequel.

Films and series featured in.

Mowgli finds the perfect motivation to finally enter the man village and human society--a beautiful girl fetching water at the side of the stream (called Shanti in the sequel). He does what's only natural and follows her into the village.

The formidable and dangerously sophisticated tiger Shere Kahn is after Mowgli when he learns a man cub is in the jungle. As he hates all men because of their weapons, particularly fire, he makes it his personal goal to find and exterminate Mowgli to keep him from growing up and threatening the tiger. Kind of a coward, really, as posh as he is.

My personal thoughts and analysis...

The Jungle Book was the last film Walt Disney collaborated on personally, and it's definitely a great way to end his mortal legacy. It's a lot of fun, and contains some of Disney's most fun and colorful characters. The story is pretty much a coming-of-age story, man finding his natural place in society, but the journey is the fun part.