Mowgli's Brothers

Rudyard Kipling's famous story The Jungle Book is often associated with the much more popular Disney adaptation, but many fans of his work will agree that it is far from a faithful tribute to the man's work. That being said, all the way back in 1976, acclaimed animation director Chuck Jones took it upon himself to produce three televised adaptations of Kipling stories at his own studio, one of which being the first chronological story of the wolf raised man cub Mowgli. While it did fall under obscurity after its original CBS broadcast, it has remained possibly the most faithful animated adaptation of anything from The Jungle Book to date.

The film essentially tells the story of a little human boy named Mowgli who is raised by wolves, but must grow up fast in order to defend himself and the wolf pack from the lame white tiger Shere Kahn. In addition to the special pretty much translating the whole Kipling story into a half hour special, the whole thing is narrated by Roddy McDowal as if you're being read to while viewing it. While it might seem distracting at first, it allows for a storybook aesthetic to creep its way through the film, especially when what we're watching depends on specified action. Given Chuck Jones's determination to bring the harsh seriousness most commonplace in Kipling's work, the special does not hold back in showing the cold realities of having to grow up within a different species, therefore maturing quicker than expected. Perhaps the special's unapologetic dark honesty is why it isn't as remembered as other Kipling adaptations that tried to lighten the mood up, yet because of how bleak and well-intent the message is throughout the special, it can speak to anyone fearing the future of growing up differently from others.

Even beyond the serious content, the art direction is nothing short of brilliant. The backgrounds and environments feel like graphic illustrations in a retro children's book brought to life, with sharp colors and bold albeit abstract compositions all throughout the staging. In some ways, the more vibrant minimal setting makes the jungle stick out like a jungle due to the general attributes we associate jungles to look like. As for the characters, they look like Jones's more cartoonish and grotesque style of the time, but they come with a lot of very expressive poses and acting, all of which are in account of the brilliant animators and layouts from Jones himself. Some characters do have more dynamic expressions than others depending on their role, such as the more slow yet humble bear Baloo being around the much more stoic and intelligent panther Bagheera, or the sophisticatedly manic jackal Tabaqui serving the much more intimidating tiger Shere Kahn. Even Mowgli himself can show signs of being a happy little boy in contrast to his more fierce fighting gestures.

With all of these strong qualities intact, the love and passion embroidered all over Mowgli's Brothers just screams faithfully strong. It may not appeal to the broadest audiences outside of those unfamiliar with Kipling's original work or the Disney adaptation, but for those who love the works of Chuck Jones or any literature enthusiasts, this should be right up your alley. It is a shame that such a magnificently crafted retelling of a classic story has been largely forgotten today, so it's only a matter of time until it gets newly found appreciation for its well aged brilliance. Only time will tell.

Kipling purists might quibble over the fact that Shere Khan becomes a white tiger and regains the use of his bad leg, or the fact that some of the animal characters look as if they belong in one of Jones's Road Runner cartoons. On the other hand, this is the only adaptation from the Mowgli stories that actually sticks closely to Kipling's original plot and dialogue. So if you want to see where Disney got it wrong, this 25-minute film is definitely worth checking out.

Interesting not only to see how uncanny the Mowgli & Shere Kahn are to the ones in Disney's original adaptation of The Jungle Book but even how Shere Kahn was seen but took a back seat.The wolves look nothing like the ones in Disney's Jungle book & have an even bigger spotlight in this feature as well as that we actually get to see Mowgli grow to manhood & prepare to leave wolfdom behind.Roddy McDowall's voice doing the narration is very impressive as he is in any acting he's done in movie's & TV show's too. But all in all any time when I think of this I recall the 2 nights on which I'd seen it as a Middle School kid.

Truthfully,Stephen "Steve" G. Baer a.k.a. "Ste"of Framingham,MA.USA

Legendary animator Chuck Jones has brought another Jungle Book story to life after Rikki-Tikki Tavi and The White Seal, with excellent animation and story telling by Roddy McDowall and Dean Elliott's musical score. You know, the only adaptation of the "Mowgli" stories I knew about was the Disney version, but I love both! Including the version from Russia. But unlike Disney's version, Jones adhered to the original story, although Shere Khan becomes a white tiger and there is no reference to his lameness. Of course, I did not know the tiger was lame in the original stories. And we also got to see his spineless slave/henchman, the jackal Tabaqui, animated by an animator from the Warner Bros. Years, Ben Washam (who had worked with Jones), who didn't appear in the Disney version. I love how he made his appearance in the picture. What a grin.

I love the little wolf babies; they're so cute! I also love that bit of animation that was put into the scene when Rashka (Mother Wolf) tells Shere Khan to leave Mowgli alone.

THIS is the the best adaptation of Mowglie's Brothers. It follows the original almost exactly, with two added scenes of Mowgli dressing up in sheets to scar Tabaqui, and dropping a melon on Shere Khan.

this got me to read all of the Jungle Book stories as a young child. As far as Shere Khan being white, I always thought he was supposed to be, and looked for some reference to that in the books. In "Tiger! Tiger!" the villagers DO think SHere Khan is a ghost, but it's because of his lameness, the same as "wicked old money lender, who passed away some years ago." If he were white it would have only increased their superstitions, but what I think happened was this: Chuck Jones considered doing more adaptations of Kipling; and since it wouldn't animate well to show a limping tiger, he decided on another reason the villagers believed he was a ghost--namely making him white. Unfortunately, "Tiger! Tiger!" never got made.