The Jungle Book

It's a slight tale, of course, and incredibly short, but the characters and songs are pretty much perfect viewing time and again. Read full review

Based loosely on Rudyard Kipling's Mowgli stories, this glowing little picture should be grand fun for all ages. Read full review

Like Disney's other adaptations of children's classics, The Jungle Book is based on the Kipling original in the same way that a fox hunt is based on foxes. Nonetheless, the result is thoroughly delightful. Read full review

The last animated film to be directly overseen by Walt Disney himself, Jungle Book contains some great visual laughs and is low on sticky sentiment, but the sketchy animation style strains to be modern and looks careless instead. Read full review

Pokily paced for a 78-minute movie, The Jungle Book counts on winning characters and memorable songs to carry it along. That turns out to be a safe bet. Read full review

Great knockabout visual gags, mercifully little cutey-poo sentiment, and reasonable songs, including The Bare Necessities. The animation has only the bare necessities, too, and the storyline is weak, but it doesn't seem to matter much. Read full review

Although it has beguiling and funny interludes, The Jungle Book lacks the narrative suspense and excitement that propel the best of the Disney animated features from the pioneering Snow White and Pinnochio to last year's The Rescuers. It seems to reflect the Disney tradition in repose, still expert and pleasing but also a trifle stuffy. [29 June 1978, p.B7]

A serious disappointment, recommended only for inveterate Disney fans and very young people. Read full review