Rikki-Tikki-Tavi

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...! ;-)

Like many of the other reviewers on this site, my earliest memories of seeing this cartoon were created in my after-school program, with the film being shown on an old projector. I remember Rikki-Tikki-Tavi to be one of the coolest films that we were shown as kids back in the mid '80s. This cartoon classic had everything: adventure, humor, suspense, just a touch of evil (with the two cobras, Nag and Nagaina) to make things interesting, a great story, and a happy ending.

Fast-forward to the present day. By chance, I saw this video for sale at the local Wal-Mart, and the memories started to come back into my mind. Needless to say, I bought the video and watched it again this afternoon. Everything was almost exactly as I remember it from back in the day. Plus, since I've grown wiser with my years, I came to recognize this cartoon as a real classic piece of work. The animation is solid and consistent, just what you'd expect from Chuck Jones. All of the voice work is good, but the stand-out performance has to go to Orson Welles as the narrator, Nag, and the sniveling muskrat. Not only do I now know about Welles being the mastermind behind "Citizen Kane", I also respect his work from his later years, as he provided narration for a couple of killer Manowar songs. I'm glad that I bought the video, as it will most likely become a well-loved addition to my collection. See this with your kids and let them create their own memories of this great cartoon!

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.

Thinking back this was one of my favorite movies as a kid, after seeing it for the first time, I remember dragging my mom to every movie rental store in the town, but could never find it. I have seen it maybe 3 or 4 times in my life, but when ever it would come on, I was instantly glued to the TV. It is a story about a mongoose, who is swept out of his den, by a flash flood, and is then adopted by a caring family, who drys him, cleans him, and fattens him up with bananas. In return for the kindness they have shown to him, he saves the family from 2 evil cobras living in their gardens. I would recommend this movie to any Chuck Jones fan, or anyone who loves classic cartoons, and also to check out his other classic 'The White Seal'.

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.