Maugli

Classic. The favorite cartoon of my childhood. In my opinion the best Disney.

"Mowgli" is far truer to the spirit of Kipling's story than the singsong Disney version (incidentally, there are no songs to speak of in this one). Animation is rather unusual, with rather sweeping strokes and not a lot of color detail, but very detailed movements. I for one love watching Bagheera (who is female here for grammatical reasons), and Tabaqui is also a treat. It's always been hard to stop an episode of "Mowgli" in between, especially the Red Dog episode always has me sitting on the edge of the seat.

This is a classic that every Russian child since 1967 grew up with and I keep returning to it. One of the best in Russian animation, and that means something.

The Soviets released a cartoon version of "The Jungle Book" in 1973. I was made up of five short films released in the 60s-70s. Then, more than two decades later, the film was released on video in the USA with American voice actors and Charlton Heston (as the narrator) instead of the original Russian actors. My review is for this English language version.

The first thing you are bound to notice about this film is the art style...and it's absolutely nothing like the 1960s Disney film. This is NOT a complaint so much as pointing out that the art style is simpler but more artsy. Some will like it, some won't. I personally didn't mind it, though objectively the Disney artwork is more pleasing to see.

The next thing you'll likely notice is that the story of Mowgli is quite a bit different...with a much larger cast of animals and a much more complicated story.

Finally, more thing you'll probably notice.... Bagheera the panther is a female! This is apparently because the Kipling stories turned him into a girl when translated into Russian. This is neither a good nor bad thing and doesn't change the story significantly.

So is it any good? Well, the voice actors are nice and the songs pretty good. To me, it's not at all fair to really compare it to the Disney film. Both are very good but tell very different stories. I personally think the average kid would prefer the Disney film...but the Soviet version is nothing to look down on and is quite entertaining and well made.

I grew up on Disney's version of Jungle Book. Soyuzmultfilm had done an earlier version of this tale but this version is a stunner! By this time (1973) the quality of Soyuzmultfilm's animation was definitely on the decline. Where this film shines is it's emphasis on character. Baloo looked like an "Asian" bear would and Bagherra as a female??! They really did their homework on this one. Whenever Bagherra appears on screen SHE steals the show, looking for all the world like a piece of living art from the deco era. The voice work was superb as would be expected from Soyuzmultfilm. Anatoly Popanov voiced Shere Khan and sounded a hell of a lot better than did George Saunders. Popanov was best know in "Russia" for his voice work in the famous "Nu Pogodi" series, as a lecherous wolf. The atonal music added real depth and atmosphere. I could go on and on - but not enough space. Not to be missed! See the Russian version.

The 1967 Disney film The Jungle Book will always be a childhood and personal favourite, it is an enormous amount of fun with terrific songs and great characters. Adaptation-wise though, this Russian animation is far more faithful to Rudyard Kipling's book and stands on its own feet wonderfully. The animation is wonderfully detailed and expansive, the colours are not as rich but they're still appealing and never ugly. The music fits very well and while atonal music has more appreciation than love with me it is very interesting and haunting rhythmically and melodically. The dialogue is thoughtful and very well-written, and the story is likewise always engaging, it has its heart and charm but any conflict is also done very convincingly. The voice acting is excellent, especially for Shere Kahn, the suave menace is done perfectly. It is indeed with the characterisation where Adventures of Mowgli(or Maugli) really shines, Bagheera steals the show though those who are familiar with and love the story will really appreciate how close in detail and spirit the characterisation is for all the characters, especially with Baloo. In conclusion, a classic Russian animation, if you love the book or Russian animation in general(both even as well) you'll find much to love with it. 10/10 Bethany Cox