Songwriter Richard M. Sherman remembers the first time he and
his brother were called into a meeting to learn about this idea Walt
Disney had for a new film. “We were called into Walt’s office with
several other people: Woolie Reitherman, Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston,
Larry Clemmons and a whole bunch of the regulars at the studio. We were
all staff people with our own specialties. Walt sat us all down in his
office and he looked at us and said, ‘How many of you guys have read
Jungle Book
by Rudyard Kipling?’ And of course nobody raised their hand. So I, sort
of sheepishly said, ‘I saw a movie with Sabu.’ He said, ‘Yeah, yeah,
but you didn’t read the book, did you?’ I said, ‘No, I didn’t read the
book.’ ‘Good.’ He said, ‘We’re going to tell the story of
The Jungle Book
the Disney way.’” And while Walt didn’t live to see the completion of
the film, it was released on this day in 1967 and met with great praise
by the critics. Richard’s brother, Robert B. Sherman, takes pride in his
involvement and calls
The Jungle Book “Walt’s parting gift to the world.”
King Louie (the orangutan voiced by
Louis Prima) was one of the characters created especially for
Disney's The Jungle Book, for he doesn't appear in
Rudyard Kipling's original story.
Click Here to watch an amazing video in youtube about it!
