The Jungle Book (1967 film)

The Jungle Book is a 1967 American animated musical comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution. Based very loosely on Rudyard Kipling's 1894 book of the same title, it is the final animated feature film to be produced by Walt Disney, who died during its production. It was directed by Wolfgang Reitherman and written by Larry Clemmons, Ralph Wright, Ken Anderson, and Vance Gerry. Featuring the voices of Phil Harris, Sebastian Cabot, Louis Prima, George Sanders, Sterling Holloway, J. Pat O'Malley, and Bruce Reitherman, the film's plot follows Mowgli, a feral child raised in the Indian jungle by wolves, as his friends, Bagheera the panther and Baloo the bear, try to convince him to leave the jungle before the ruthless tiger Shere Khan arrives.

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The Jungle Book
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Wolfgang Reitherman
Story by	Larry Clemmons Ralph Wright Ken Anderson Vance Gerry
Based on	The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
Produced by	Walt Disney
Starring	Phil Harris Sebastian Cabot Louis Prima George Sanders Sterling Holloway J. Pat O'Malley Bruce Reitherman
Edited by	Tom Acosta Norman Carlisle
Music by	George Bruns
Production company	Walt Disney Productions
Distributed by	Buena Vista Distribution
Release date	October 18, 1967 (1967-10-18)
Running time	78 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$4 million[1]
Box office	$378 million[2]

The early versions of both the screenplay and the soundtrack followed Kipling's work more closely, with a dramatic, dark, and sinister tone, which Disney did not want in his family film, leading to writer Bill Peet and songwriter Terry Gilkyson being replaced.

The Jungle Book was released on October 18, 1967, to positive reception, with acclaim for its soundtrack, featuring five songs by the Sherman Brothers and one by Gilkyson, "The Bare Necessities". With a gross of $23.8 million worldwide, the film initially became Disney's second-highest-grossing animated film in the United States and Canada,[3] the ninth-highest-grossing film of 1967, and was also successful during its re-releases. The film was also successful throughout the world, becoming Germany's highest-grossing film by number of admissions.[4] Disney released a live-action adaptation in 1994 and an animated sequel, The Jungle Book 2, in 2003; a live-action/CGI hybrid remake directed by Jon Favreau was released in 2016, with a sequel to that film in development.