DVD
REVIEW: THE JUNGLE BOOK
(Platinum Edition)
09/29/07
It's been forty years since
the making of The Jungle Book and Disney is celebrating all
the way. This timeless classic comes as the tenth release of
the "platinum editions" digitally restored with state of the
art bonuses. There is no doubt that Walt Disney's
fingerprints are all over this movie, sadly he died of lung
cancer before the movie was released. The screenplay was
written by Bill Peet who tried to maintain the same lines of
the books, however Walt wanted to bring a story that would
have fun, loving characters. This caused Peet to quit and
Walt asked all the animators not to read the original Jungle
Book. As a result, Disney created a master piece that has
become a gem even after forty years of being released.
The adventure begins with Mowgli (Bruce Reitherman's voice)
being raised by a pack of wolves, when it is decided that he
has to go back to the "man village" because the jungle is no
longer safe for him. A reluctant Mowgli goes with the wise
panther Bagheera, and embark in a delightful journey where
he meets the happy go lucky bear, Baloo. With Baloo Mowgli
learns the soundtrack of this movie "The Bear Necessities',
which also has different version. Along the way he meets one
of the most entertaining devious characters the hypnotic
snake, Kaa and the flashy orangutan King Louie and others.
The plot of this movie serves as the backdrop to bring the
message of what being a true friend is all about through the
characters. Kaa pretends to be Mowgli's friend making
promises as she captivates him hypnotizing him and catching
him as a pray. Mowgli learns that some animals pretend to be
friends and they really are not. When the revengeful Shere
Khan, the tiger is gone for good, Baloo's hopes of Mowgli
staying in the jungle are shattered when Mowgli meets a
beautiful wide eye flirtatious girl and goes with her into
the man village. Baloo learns that sometimes you have let go
of the ones you love in order for them to be happy.
This new digitally restored video comes with many surprises
typical of the wonderful world of Disney. Not only does this
movie shines on visual quality but also in sound. Songs like
" The Bear Necessities", "Trust in Me" and "I wan'na
Be Like You" come in and out of the story line with the
typical sounds of the sixties. Even the song of the
Beatles were part of this big production. The commentary
explains the voice casting which give much personality to
the characters. Another feature is that one of the long lost
characters gets his spot light too, Rocky the Rhino and to
even have modern families and children have the full
entertaining experience, this DVD brings activities and
videos.
VIDEO:
Anamorphic Widescreen (1.75:1) Enhance for 16x9 TVs
AUDIO:
Dolby
Digital 5.1 Surround - English Spanish French,
Subtitles - English, Spanish,
French
BONUS FEATURES:
The Lost Character: Rocky The Rhino.
For the first time ever, the
near-sighted, short-tempered rhinoceros named Rocky is
brought to the
screen using original storyboards and original voice
recordings by Frank Fontaine.
The Bare Necessities:
The Making of The Jungle Book
A comprehensive look at the last animated film that Walt
Disney produced using existing archival footage in addition
to new interviews with Richard Sherman, Brad Bird, Glen
Keane, Eric Goldberg, James Baxter, Will Fi’nn, Andreas Deja,
Burny Mattinson Ted Thomas, Bruce Reitherman, John Culhane,
John Canemaker and Neal Gabler—plus a never-before-seen
collection of artwork and treatments from the film
Disney’s Kipling: Walt’s Magic Touch on
A Literary Classic A discarded film treatment from
1963 includes scenes from Kipling’s “Mowgli Stories” and
more are
used to illustrate Walt’s interpretation of the literary
masterpiece
The Lure of The Jungle
Book Many
of today’s biggest names in animation were inspired to
pursue their careers after seeing The Jungle Book; this
feature examines this phenomenon and features new interviews
with Brad Bird, Andreas Deja, Sergio Pablo, Will Finn and
Eric Goldberg.
Mowgli’s Return to the
Jungle Learn about nature filmmaking and the
experience of making The Jungle Book firsthand from Bruce
Reitherman, the voice of Mowgli.
Baloo’s Virtual Swingin’ Jungle
Cruise Join
everyone’s favorite bear in this set-top and DVD-ROM game on
an adventure through the jungle: enjoy fun activities and
musical challenges, but keep an eye out because there’s no
telling what’s on
the other side of the river bend!
Audio Commentary Combines
comments from current animators with audio from the original
creative team who made the film
English Learning Feature
Still Frame Art Gallery
RATING BREAK DOWN:
| FILM REVIEW |
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VIDEO |
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AUDIO |
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| BONUS
FEATURES |
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Review
By Jen
jen@smartcine.com
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