Bagheera the Panther finds a human baby lost in the jungle, and takes it to a local wolf pack in hopes the new parents will adopt it. Which they do. Who knew panthers and wolves were so easily swayed by a child's laugh?
Ten years later, the child has grown into a strong and rather willful young man named Mowgli, who wants nothing more than to keep living in the forest with his friends. Unfortunately, the fearsome Shere Khan, a deadly tiger who hates all humans, has returned to the area after a long absence. The wolves decide that Mowgli must be sent back to his own people, as Shere Khan will surely hunt and kill the boy if he remains in the jungle.
Bagheera volunteers to escort the reluctant Mowgli in this journey, which leads to a variety of humorous and/or exciting encounters with various other denizens of the forest, be they bears, elephants, apes or ... well, you know Shere Khan will show up eventually, right?
The Jungle Book was a success for Disney, and it's not hard to see why. It's got some good musical numbers ("Bare Necessities" and "I Wanna Be Like You" being the signature tunes) and plenty of laughs. Plus at a snappy 78 minutes, it would be difficult for it to outstay its welcome.
All that said, I don't think it would be unfair to say this film is not in the top tier of Disney releases. There's some obviously re-used animation (mainly involving the snake, Kaa, who is voice acted by the same guy that did Winnie the Pooh), and the film lacks a strong plot through-line or villain. It's mostly just a series of scenes tenuously linked by the need to take Mowgli back to humanity, and Shere Khan barely even has time to show up before the film is over. It's a light, fun film, but not ultimately a very emotionally deep one.
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