Review of Jungle Book, The

Introduction

The Jungle Book is probably the most memorable Disney movie ever and certainly one of the most popular. It is the 19th full length Disney animated classic.

Made in 1967, the film is based on the Rudyard Kipling “Mowgli” stories, and features the familiar characters Mowgli the little man cub, Bagheera the black panther who thankfully looks out for Mowgli, Baloo the bear, and Shere Khan the tiger. There are many other familiar, colourful characters of course, each one very memorable in his own way, such as King Louie the ape and Colonel Hathi the pompous elephant leader of the jungle patrol, and evil Kaa the snake.

The film is based on the charming story of how little Mowgli is raised by wolves, and how he eventually finds his way back to the ‘man village’ meeting many colourful characters along the way, and with several very memorable songs. Who can forget “The Bare Necessities”?!

Kids and adults alike will get equal pleasure from this Disney classic, and most of us will no doubt remember seeing it in the cinema far too many years ago.

Video

Oh dear – this is a little disappointing.

The picture is far too soft for my liking, and appears slightly out of focus in parts. Also there is noticeable colour banding on certain areas of one predominate colour, along with a little compression signs.

On the good side though, for a film over 30 years old, they have done a pretty good job in sourcing a clean print for the transfer – very little dust or other imperfections were noticeable. A 1.33:1 full screen picture is shown.

Audio

This is a musical movie first and foremost and the Dolby Digital Surround was surprisingly effective!

Good use was made of all the channels, all be it somewhat exaggerated in parts, but the surround having been remixed in the general restoration of the film, is probable the best feature of this DVD apart from the actual movie itself.

Features

Again this is a major disappointment. Absolutely nothing.

Boring static menus allow you to start the film, choose your scene, or see a blatant advertising feature for other Disney releases and that’s it. There is even virtually nothing in the way of background information in the little booklet that accompanies the DVD – just a short two page effort in four languages that give the chapter stops.

A classic such as this deserves far more. At least the trailer if one still exists, and some sort of background documentary feature would have been most welcome.

Conclusion

A classic film which is let down by a poor DVD. Quite poor value for money.

Video quality could be improved, and the total lack of extras cannot be excused. Sound is pretty good however, and the surround mix has been carefully undertaken, but this is not enough to redeem an otherwise poor DVD.

Come on Disney – for the DVD releases of your wonderful classic movie back catalogue, we really do expect more.