Like Disney's other adaptations of children's classics, The Jungle Book is based on the Kipling original in the same way that a fox hunt is based on foxes. Nonetheless, the result is thoroughly delightful.
75
TV Guide Magazine
TV Guide Magazine
The last animated film to be directly overseen by Walt Disney himself, Jungle Book contains some great visual laughs and is low on sticky sentiment, but the sketchy animation style strains to be modern and looks careless instead.
70
The DissolveKeith Phipps
The DissolveKeith Phipps
Pokily paced for a 78-minute movie, The Jungle Book counts on winning characters and memorable songs to carry it along. That turns out to be a safe bet.
70
Time Out
Time Out
Great knockabout visual gags, mercifully little cutey-poo sentiment, and reasonable songs, including The Bare Necessities. The animation has only the bare necessities, too, and the storyline is weak, but it doesn't seem to matter much.
63
Washington PostGary Arnold
Washington PostGary Arnold
Although it has beguiling and funny interludes, The Jungle Book lacks the narrative suspense and excitement that propel the best of the Disney animated features from the pioneering Snow White and Pinnochio to last year's The Rescuers. It seems to reflect the Disney tradition in repose, still expert and pleasing but also a trifle stuffy. [29 June 1978, p.B7]
40
Chicago ReaderDave Kehr
Chicago ReaderDave Kehr
A serious disappointment, recommended only for inveterate Disney fans and very young people.