Published on Apr 5, 1998
Way back when I was little, I remember my father taking me to
see “The Jungle Book” at the Lawrencewood Theatre as part of a
double feature. The theatre is now a parking lot, and my memories
of the movie are locked away in my brain in some region I don’t
know how to access.
But with the recent re-release of the movie on home video, it
felt like it was time to listen to the original soundtrack of the
movie – well, that, and the fact that Disney sent me the disc
helped. And while I would question labelling the music as “jazz” –
that would be more true with “The Aristocats” – the music on this
one is quite enjoyable. However, this is a disc that is actually
more for the adults than the kiddies.
The animated version of Rudyard Kipling’s story is captured well
in the music – you get a feeling of where the movie is going from
the flow of the music. As “Colonel Hathi’s March” kicks in, you can
see the parade of elephants marching by in front of you. Likewise,
as Sterling Holloway tries to charm the young Mowgli into a trap on
“Trust In Me,” you can almost see the python slithering his way
into position.
This is the benefit of most Disney soundtracks: the music acts
as kind of a storybook to the action, so even if you’ve never seen
the movie or read the book, you have an idea as to what the action
in the story is.
The Jungle Book soundtrack is no exception to this.
Especially entertaining is Louis Prima’s job as the monkey king on
“I Wanna Be Like You,” a song which has the most jazzy feel to it,
but would be hard to call jazz per se.
This soundtrack is fleshed out with the inclusion of two songs
from the storybook album
More Jungle Book, featuring the vocal talents of Phil Harris
as Baloo the bear. In fact, if you weren’t paying close attention,
you might think these songs were in the original movie – the flow
is seamless.
An interview with songwriters Richard and Robert Sherman is the
first clue that
The Jungle Book is not primarily a soundtrack marketed for
the kiddies. It’s an interesting historical piece, but one wonders
if this shouldn’t have been included on a separate disc, allowing
the kids their fun, and the adults their own.
The only misfires on this disc, ironically, are two songs which
were written for the first draft of the movie, then discarded by
Walt Disney when he changed the script to be less dark. “Brothers
All” and “The Song Of The Seeonee” are songs which sound more in
line with early Disney movies, and definitely don’t fit the mood of
the rest of the album. In retrospect, you can’t blame Disney for
putting the kabosh on songs like these.
The Jungle Book soundtrack is sure to revive many memories
for us grown kids, while allowing plenty of sing-along time for the
true children, and is a great addition to the restored video. And
while it must have been difficult for Disney Studios to decide who
to market this disc towards, it might have been better had they
actually made up their minds.