But it also shouldn’t be unmentioned that Kipling himself is a controversial figure. One can’t understate the influence The Jungle Book had on literature, especially children’s literature. The other five stories, Tiger! Tiger!, Letting in the Jungle, The King’s Ankus, Red Dog and The Spring Running explore Mowgli’s relationship to humans and to his former pack. The short stories which are relevant for discussing the Disney adaptations are Mowgli’s Brothers (which tells the story about how Mowgli was raised by the wolves and his fight with Shere Khan), Kaa’s Hunting (a midquel to the previous story about how Mowgli once got kidnapped by the apes/Bandar-Log) and some elements of How Fear Came (covering the events during a Water Truce). There are overall eight short stories covering the events before In the Rukh as well as six related poems: Hunting-Song of the Seeonee Pack, Road-Song of the Bandar-Log, Mowgli’s Song that he Sang at the Council Rock when he Danced on Shere Khan’s Hide, The Law of the Jungle, Mowgli’s Song against People and The Out-Song. The two Jungle Books pick up Mowgli’s story again, describing his childhood. It further describes Mowgli falling in love, marrying and fathering a son before returning to his wolf brothers. It describes an English forest ranger encountering a young man named Mowgli with extraordinary tracking abilities and a strange connection to wolves, eventually discovering that Mowgli was raised by wolves. Mowgli actually makes his first appearance in the short story In the Rukh. And not all of them are about Mowgli, nor are all Mowgli stories in those books. Each is a collection of short stories, and between each of the short stories is a poem. Technically there are two Jungle Books, but they are usually published in one book nowadays. So, don’t expect this one to get too analytical, I’ll focus entirely on the differences this time around. But I’ll leave technical aspects and a deeper analysis of the characters and the structure of the respective movies for “Double Take”. So I’ll do the following: I’ll adjust my approach to “By the Book” a little bit to fit this particular situation and compare both adaptations to the source text and each other.
And not just in a “By the Book” context, this deserves a “Double Take” article. I have finally gotten around to watch The Jungle Book and to my delight Disney not only created for the very first time a sequel which I would recommend, but one worth discussing. But I guess there is an exception to every rule. Usually it isn’t and I end up throwing in my two cents – or a long rant – at the end of a finished article. More often then not I end up delaying an article until I have seen a remake (which is not in theatres), just in case that it might end up being relevant.
Disney’s current obsession with live action remakes has a lasting impact on my posting schedule.
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