Walt Disney never saw the finished product. He died in December 1966, right in the middle of production, leaving a massive, gaping hole in the studio’s heart. Honestly, that’s the shadow that hangs over the jungle book original film. It isn't just a cartoon about a kid in a loincloth; it’s the literal end of the "Silver Age" of animation. If you watch it closely, you can see the exact moment the studio shifted from Walt’s meticulous, high-art storytelling toward a more character-driven, loose, and—let’s be real—slightly messier style.
It almost didn't happen this way. The early drafts were dark. Bill Peet, the legendary story artist, wanted to stick close to Rudyard Kipling’s original book. If you’ve read Kipling, you know it’s not exactly a "Bare Necessities" vibe. It’s grim. There’s blood, law, and a lot of existential dread. Walt hated it. He supposedly told his team, "I want to do The Jungle Book, but I don't want to read it." He threw out Peet’s treatment, which led to Peet walking out on the studio after decades of work.
Walt wanted personality. He wanted the voices to dictate the characters, which was a radical move at the time. Usually, you drew a character and found a voice to match. Here, they found Phil Harris and basically invented the Baloo we know today based on Harris's natural charisma. It changed everything.
The Rough Edge of the Jungle Book Original Film
If you look at the lines in the jungle book original film, they look scratchy. You’ll see "sketchy" black outlines around Mowgli and Bagheera. That’s not an accident. It’s Xerox.
Back in the day, every frame was hand-inked by a literal army of artists. It was expensive and slow. By the 1960s, Disney started using a xerographic process to transfer drawings directly to cels. It saved the studio from bankruptcy, but it lost that soft, painterly look of Cinderella or Pinocchio.
📖 Related: Al Pacino Angels in America: Why His Roy Cohn Still Terrifies Us
Why the "Scratchy" Look Matters
Some critics at the time thought it looked cheap. Maybe it was. But it also gave the film a raw, energetic pulse that matched the jazz-inspired soundtrack. You can see the animator’s actual pencil strokes. It feels human. In an age of sterile, perfect CGI, there is something deeply comforting about seeing the "mistakes" of the hand-drawn era.
Ken Anderson, the art director, fought with Walt over this look. Walt supposedly hated the rough lines, but by then, he was distracted by his "Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow" (EPCOT) and his failing health. The jungle book original film became a bridge between the old guard and the "Nine Old Men" taking full creative control.
Character Over Plot (The Baloo Factor)
Let’s talk about Baloo. In the book, he’s a strict teacher of the law. In the jungle book original film, he’s a "jungle bum." This transition is the reason the movie works.
- The Phil Harris Effect: Phil Harris brought a breezy, 1960s cool to the role. When he started ad-libbing with Bruce Reitherman (the voice of Mowgli and son of director Wolfgang Reitherman), the chemistry was so real they had to rewrite the script to give them more scenes together.
- Louis Prima as King Louie: This was pure genius. Prima was a jazz powerhouse. The "I Wan'na Be Like You" sequence is arguably the best-animated musical number in history because the animators actually filmed Prima and his band dancing around the studio to capture their movements.
- The Vultures: Everyone knows they were supposed to be the Beatles. The haircuts, the Liverpool accents—it’s obvious. The Beatles turned it down (John Lennon reportedly wasn't interested), so Disney turned them into a generic barbershop quartet. It’s a weird, dated, but somehow perfect addition to the film’s psychedelic jungle vibe.
The plot is basically non-existent. It’s just Mowgli walking from Point A to Point B and meeting weirdos along the way. But that’s why we love it. You aren't watching for the stakes; you're watching for the vibes.
👉 See also: Adam Scott in Step Brothers: Why Derek is Still the Funniest Part of the Movie
The Darker Side of the Shere Khan Threat
George Sanders voiced Shere Khan. He didn't scream. He didn't roar much. He just purred. That’s what made the jungle book original film villain so terrifying. Sanders played him like an aristocrat who would kill you just because he was bored.
The animators, led by Milt Kahl, gave Shere Khan a heavy, muscular grace. Kahl famously hated how other animators drew tigers, so he spent weeks studying the anatomy of big cats. If you watch the way Shere Khan’s shoulders move when he walks, it’s frighteningly realistic. It creates a weird tension: the background is a colorful, jazzy fantasy, but the threat is a grounded, lethal predator.
The Problem with the Ending
Many people hate the ending. Mowgli sees a girl, gets "the feels," and leaves his family forever. It’s abrupt. It’s almost a betrayal of everything Baloo stands for. But from a 1967 perspective, it was the "natural order." It shows that even in a world of talking bears and jazz-playing monkeys, you can't escape growing up. It’s the death of childhood, mirroring the death of Walt Disney himself.
Practical Insights for Modern Viewers
If you're revisiting the jungle book original film today, don't just put it on for the kids and walk away. Look at the craftsmanship.
✨ Don't miss: Actor Most Academy Awards: The Record Nobody Is Breaking Anytime Soon
- Watch the background art: The jungle isn't green. It’s a wash of blues, purples, and deep greys. This was Al Dempster’s influence, creating a moody, atmospheric world that feels much bigger than the characters.
- Listen to the Foley: The sound design in the 60s was incredible. The "slurp" of Kaa’s coils, the heavy thud of the elephants, the crackle of the fire—it’s all tactile.
- Compare it to the 2016 remake: The remake is a technical marvel, but it lacks the "swing." The original is a product of the jazz age meeting the hippie era. It has a soul that can't be replicated by an algorithm.
To truly appreciate this piece of history, you have to see it as a goodbye letter. It was the last film Walt personally touched. When the credits roll, you're seeing the end of a specific type of magic that lived in a small studio in Burbank.
Next Steps for Your Rewatch
Start by comparing the song "The Bare Necessities" to the rest of the soundtrack. You’ll notice it sounds different—that’s because it was the only song kept from Terry Gilkyson’s original, darker draft of the movie. The rest were written by the Sherman Brothers to be "happier." After that, look up the "Nine Old Men" of Disney animation to see which of them animated your favorite character; usually, one person was responsible for the entire "acting" performance of a single animal. This level of individual artistry is what keeps the 1967 classic ranking as a top-tier piece of cinema almost sixty years later.