The Jungle Book
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The Jungle Book (1894) is a collection of stories written by Rudyard Kipling and inspired by his genius at writing for children; and by his literary prowess. He had accrued much knowledge about the jungle through listening to others and using research. All of the stories were published in magazines in 1893-4. The original publications contained illustrations, some by Rudyard's father, John Lockwood Kipling.
The tales in the book (and also those in The Second Jungle Book which followed in 1895, and which includes two further stories about Mowgli) are fables, using animals in an anthromorphic manner to give moral lessons. The verses of The Law of the Jungle, for example, lay down rules for the safety of individuals, families and communities. Kipling put in them nearly everything he knew or "heard or dreamed about the Indian jungle" (The Long Recessional: the Imperial Life of Rudyard Kipling David Gilmour, Pimlico 2003 [[ISBN 0-7126-6518-8]). The best-known of them are the three stories revolving around the adventures of an abandoned 'man cub' Mowgli who is raised by wolves in the Indian jungle. The most famous of the other stories are probably "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi", the story of a heroic mongoose, and "Toomai of the Elephants", the tale of a young elephant-handler.
As with much of Kipling's work, each of the stories is preceded by a piece of verse, and succeeded by another. The title of each is given in italics in the list of stories below.
The Jungle Book, because of its moral tone, came to be used as a motivational book by the Cub Scouts, a junior element of the Scouting movement. This use of the book's universe was approved by Kipling after a direct petition of Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Scouting movement, who had originally asked for the author's permission for the use of the Memory Game from Kim in his scheme to develop the poor morale and fitness of working-class youths in cities. Akela, the head wolf in The Jungle Book, has become a senior figure in the movement.
Stories in The Jungle Book:
The complete book, having passed into the public domain, is on-line at Project Gutenberg's official website and elsewhere.
- "Mowgli's Brothers": A boy is raised by wolves in the Indian Jungle with the help of Baloo the bear and Bagheera the panther, and then has to fight the tiger Shere Khan. This story has also been published as a short book in its own right. Night-Song in the Jungle; Hunting-Song of the Seeonee Pack.
- "Kaa's Hunting": This story takes place before Mowgli fights Shere Khan. When Mowgli is abducted by monkeys Baloo and Bagheera set out to rescue him with the aid of Chil the Kite and Kaa the python. Maxims of Baloo; Road Song of the Bandar-Log''.
- "Tiger! Tiger!": Mowgli returns to the human village and is adopted by Messua and her husband who believe him to be their long-lost son Nathoo. But he has trouble adjusting to human life, and Shere Khan still wants to kill him. The story's title is taken from the poem "The Tyger" by William Blake. Kipling's preceding poem is untitled; Mogli's Song.
- "The White Seal": Kotick, a rare white-furred seal, searches for a new home for his people, where they will not be hunted by humans. The story may be considered an allegory for the Zionist movement, whose efforts to find a Jewish homeland started in the same decade when Kipling wrote the book. Seal Lullaby; Lukannon.
- "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi": Rikki-Tikki the mongoose defends a human family living in India against a pair of cobras. This story has also been published as a short book. untitled; Darzee's Chaunt.
- "Toomai of the Elephants": Toomai, a ten-year old boy who helps to tend working elephants, is told that he will never be a full-fledged elephant-handler until he has seen the elephants dance. This story has also been published as a short book. untitled; Shiv and the Grasshopper.
- "Her Majesty's Servants" (originally titled "Servants of the Queen"): On the night before a military parade a British soldier eavesdrops on a conversation between the camp animals. unititled; Parade-Song of the Camp Animals.
Adaptations
The book's text has often been abridged or adapted for younger readers, and there have also been several comic book adaptations.
Live-action film versions
- Jungle Book (1942 film) - directed by Zoltán Korda, starring Sabu as Mowgli
- The Jungle Book (1994 film) - starring Jason Scott Lee as Mowgli
- [[The Second Jungle Book: Mowgli and Baloo]] (1997) - starring Jamie Williams as Mowgli
- [[The Jungle Book: Mowgli's Story]] (1998) - starring Brandon Baker as Mowgli
- "Toomai of the Elephants" was filmed as Elephant Boy, also starring Sabu. In the 1960s there was a television series of the same name, loosely based on the story and film.
Animation
- There are several Disney animated adaptations based very loosely on the Mowgli stories. (Adaptations of The Jungle Book tend to concentrate on Mowgli's adventures). It has also been filmed several times with varying degrees of authenticity. Disney's 1967 animated film version, based loosely on the Mowgli stories, was extremely popular, though it took great liberties with the plot and characters.
- Chuck Jones' made for TV cartoons Mowgli's Brothers, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi and The White Seal stick to the original storylines more closely than most adaptations.
- There was a Japanese anime television series called Jungle Book Shonen Mowgli broadcast in 1989. Its adaptation represents a compromise between the original stories and the Walt Disney version. Many of Kipling stories are adapted into the series, but many elements are combined and changed to suit more modern sensibilities. For instance, Akela, the wolf pack alpha eventually steps aside, but instead of being threatened with death, he stays on as the new leader's advisor. Also, there is an Indian family in the series which includes Rikki-Tikki-Tavi as a pet mongoose. Finally at the series' conclusion, Mowgli leaves the jungle for human civilization, but still keeps strong ties with his animal friends.
- *The Japanese anime was dubbed in Hindi and telecast as "Jungle Book" by Doordarshan in India during the early 90's. The Indian version featured original music by Vishal Bharadwaj (with words by noted lyricist Gulzar) and a very good choice of dubbing artistes for the voice acting, which made it quite popular among television series of that time.
- *The anime was also dubbed in Arabic under the title "فتى الأدغال " (Fatah El Adghal: Boy Of The Jungle) and became a hit with arab viewers in the 90's.
- In 1973 in Russia was released another animated adaptation "Mowgli" (Маугли), also known as the 'heroic' version of the story. It's also very close to the book's storyline, and one of the few who has Bagheera as a female panther.
See also
- Works of Rudyard Kipling
- The Jungle Book characters
- The Third Jungle Book
- Feral children
- Feral children in mythology and fiction
External links
- [The Jungle Book Collection]: a website demonstrating the variety of merchandise related to the book and film versions of The Jungle Books.
- [Free eBook: The Jungle Book] at Project Gutenberg
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