Rikki-Tikki-Tavi

Based on Rudyard Kipling's classic tale, this 1975 version of Riki-Tikki-Tavi is one I remember with great fondness from my childhood. You can't go wrong with a Chuck Jones cartoon narrated by Orson Welles. It's a well crafted tale exploring the meaning of friendship set in turn-of-the-century British Colonial India. At only one half hour long, the story moves quickly.

I recently had the opportunity to watch it again and was just as entranced as I was as a child, although I had remembered the "scary" and "sad" portions as being much longer and more tension filled than they turned out to be this time around. It's enough to make you want to go live in India just for the chance to have a house mongoose of your very own.

When I was growing up, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi was one of those films the teachers and teacher's aides at my elementary school would pull out of the AV room and spool around on film projectors during inclement weather. I can still here the clacking of the film spools wind around even when I watch on my DVD. By middle school and high school, I had all but forgotten about Rikki-Tikki-Tavi until I saw it for sale on DVD. Now that I'm an adult (or something close to resembling one), I can appreciate the stylization Chuck Jones put into crafting Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. This animated short has chills, thrills, spills, and it has enough for the adults that won't make them sick viewing after viewing, which is why I think the teachers would pull Rikki-Tikki-Tavi out of the closet every time the weather was bad and needed to keep us indoors. I saw this film first in the early '80s, and I was somewhat astonished that it was made in the mid-70s, but that makes sense seeing as to how my elementary school was built in the late-70s. Rikki-Tikki-Tavi holds up well and looks as though it could be shown on Cartoon Network next to today's kids cartoons. It's a must see for anyone with a kid or has been one!

I remember being so excited when I would learn this was going to be on. This and the White Seal were two of my favorites. I feel sorry for kids now days who don't have this sort of anticipation. Now they have them on video and can watch them whenever they like. Part of loving x-mas was that Frosty and Rudolph and the Grinch were going to be on. I haven't seen this in a long time, but since this was created for children I will rate this as I would as a child. It was scary and the snakes posed a real threat. It was incredible that such a sweet fluffy animal would be so deadly. I love this film as I love most things Chuck Jones has done.

I am 34 now but I remember watching this when it came on television in 75. My whole family watched. This was a great adaptation..I remember being so afraid of the snakes and really wishing i had a pet like rikki. This is a great film, high drama and scary but appropriate for kids

When i first read the story and saw this film as a child, something happened, that was surely not intended to be happen; neither by Kipling nor by the producers of this film... Of course, the direction, how the viewer shall see this movie and for who he shall cheer up is clearly given... but damn it... i was dragged to "the dark side of the force"... i felt strong sympathy and pity for Nag and Nagaina! But why? They was supposed clearly enough to be the bad guys of the story... what forced me to cheer up for the bad guys??

Today i guess, the reason are the characters of Nag and Nagaina. Both are deeper and more interesting than the character of the hero. Both are only want to defend their home, and later, Nagaina want to revenge her husband... who would not try to do the same as Nagaina in such a desperate situation?? A similar situation was given, for example, in "Road to Perdition"... and here the audience is clearly on the side of the "bad guy" (remember, the hero was a killer!) who want to revenge his murdered wife! A final revenge, that may include the own death too... and at last Nagaina lost the final fight... but damn it, at least she had tried it! She did not run away, nobody was on her side, nobody helped her. She lost her husband, her eggs/babies... she was alone! On the other side, Rikki Tikki had a lot of friends, like Darzee, that helped him in this fight. This did not mean, that i hate Rikki Tikki, he did his job, and he did it good! But you can tell me, i am on the "wrong side", i know, that i am standing on the "wrong side", but i can't help... i always see the story through the (snake)eyes of the "wrong side"!

This little movie was really well made, it follows almost literally the book (this story is a part of "The Jungle Book" by Rudyard Kipling). The narration of Orson Welles (he made the famous radio broadcasting of H.G. Wells "The War of the Worlds" too) was very good. The story seems to be a bit too dark for younger children in some parts, but compared with a lot of crap that was made today, there was a real story behind it, and the makers did not shy away to show the darker parts too. I saw it again a few days ago on TV after many years... and yes, i am still standing on the other ssssside...! ;-)