When I was a kid (back in the Fifties), I loved anything to do with wild animals, especially my favorites, the big jungle cats. So a picture like this was right up my alley. Oddly, today was the first time I've ever watched "Jungle Book" uninterrupted from start to finish. What I recall of the picture was from my Saturday mornings watching 'Andy's Gang' where it was serialized, and even today the version I watched had those identifiable breaks in the story where a new chapter would take place.
Even so, I recall so many years later the names of the more prominent animal characters - Shere Khan the Tiger, Kaa the Python and Bagheera the Panther. I'm surprised the film credits don't list Mowgli's adoptive parents, the wolves Akela and Raksha, even though the wolves have more screen time than some of the others like Hathi the Elephant and the almost invisible Baloo the Bear. The Disney version would have to rectify that.
Others reviewing the film on this board appear to rave about the picture's early use of the color format but watching today I can't really concur. It's not anywhere near as vibrant as the same era's "The Adventures of Robin Hood' (1938) or the following year's "The Wizard of Oz". Granted, not the same budget obviously so I guess you can give it some slack. The technical effects for the time were fairly well done I thought, what with those talking snakes and all.
For his part, Sabu was quite the accomplished non-actor after having been discovered by the Korda's in the late 1930's. He quite obviously looks the part of the young but principled savage who grows up simultaneously in dual worlds of Man and the Jungle. His disillusionment with the 'civilized' world along with the trio of greedy Indian merchants was strongly reminiscent of the central characters in 1948's "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre", and if you watch closely, his vine swing with Mahala (Patricia O'Rourke) looked like it was carbon-copied by those two young actors in the very first "Star Wars" film - you know who I mean.
Even so, I recall so many years later the names of the more prominent animal characters - Shere Khan the Tiger, Kaa the Python and Bagheera the Panther. I'm surprised the film credits don't list Mowgli's adoptive parents, the wolves Akela and Raksha, even though the wolves have more screen time than some of the others like Hathi the Elephant and the almost invisible Baloo the Bear. The Disney version would have to rectify that.
Others reviewing the film on this board appear to rave about the picture's early use of the color format but watching today I can't really concur. It's not anywhere near as vibrant as the same era's "The Adventures of Robin Hood' (1938) or the following year's "The Wizard of Oz". Granted, not the same budget obviously so I guess you can give it some slack. The technical effects for the time were fairly well done I thought, what with those talking snakes and all.
For his part, Sabu was quite the accomplished non-actor after having been discovered by the Korda's in the late 1930's. He quite obviously looks the part of the young but principled savage who grows up simultaneously in dual worlds of Man and the Jungle. His disillusionment with the 'civilized' world along with the trio of greedy Indian merchants was strongly reminiscent of the central characters in 1948's "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre", and if you watch closely, his vine swing with Mahala (Patricia O'Rourke) looked like it was carbon-copied by those two young actors in the very first "Star Wars" film - you know who I mean.