TPR Comments on The Jungle Book Platinum Edition DVD:
We don't really feel like there's much we need to say about the film itself. It's the last film that Walt Disney produced and is a classic. It might not have the strongest story of the classic Disney animated films, but in Baloo, it has one of the best characters of any animated film. The structure of the film is much like a series of vignettes or adventures that allow for a number of supporting characters to be featured. But it all goes back to Baloo and the memorable music.
Now onto the Platinum DVD. First off, the video and soundtrack have been restored and enhanced. This alone makes adding this DVD to one's collection worth it, but there's quite a few features which include some quality material. In addition to the film, the first disc includes a featurette on a deleted character as well as some musical extras. The music video is a bit of a disappointment. The song selection feature basically skips through the musical numbers in the film and the deleted songs is a collection of additional music that had been written for the film, but ultimately was not included.
The second disc is split into two sections: Man Village and Jungle Village. As the name implies, Man Village is for adults and includes five different behind-the-scenes featurettes. Though there's plenty of the obligatory gushing, there is some wonderful information from both the original cast and crew as well as the film's influence on contemporary animators. Jungle Village is content aimed at the younger audience. The four games are set in different locations with different tasks. Also included is DisneyPedia, which connects the film's characters with educational material on their real-life animal counterparts as well as an underwhelming Fun with Language Game.
The Jungle Book Voice Cast List
Phil Harris
Sebastian Cabot
Louis Prima
George Sanders
Sterling Holloway
J. Pat O'Malley
Bruce Reitherman
Verna Felton
Clint Howard
Chad Stuart
Lord Tim Hudson
John Abbott
Ben Wright
Darleen Carr
The Jungle Book Platinum DVD Extras: Disc 1:
— Audio Film Commentary from Composer Richard M. Sherman,
Animator Andreas Deja and Bruce Reitherman (Mowgli)
— Deleted Scene - The Lost Character: Rocky the Rhino [6:35]
— Music & More - "I Wan'na Be Like You" Music Video [2:45]
— Music & More - Disney Song Selection [13:24]
— Music & More - Deleted Songs [21:00] Disc 2:
— The Bare Necessities: The Making of The Jungle Book [46:23]
— Disney's Kipling: Walt's Magic Touch on a Literary Classic [15:00]
— The Lure of The Jungle Book [9:25]
— Mowgli's Return to the Wild [5:10]
— Frank & Ollie: Frank Thomas & Ollie Johnston Discumm Character Animation
— Art Galleries
— Games & Activities - Baloo's Virtual Swingin' Jungle Cruise: Kaa-Zen-Tration
— Games & Activities - Baloo's Virtual Swingin' Jungle Cruise: Hathi's Boot Camp
— Games & Activities - Baloo's Virtual Swingin' Jungle Cruise: Buzzard Shop Quartet
— Games & Activities - Baloo's Virtual Swingin' Jungle Cruise: Louie's Lounge
— Games & Activities - DisneyPedia: Junglemania
— Games & Activities - The Jungle Book Fun With Language Games Buy The Jungle Book Platinum Edition DVD Now!
Animated Films Items Available at eBay - Scroll for additional items
