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The Jungle Book

  • Is it age appropriate?

    About our ratings

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    Not age appropriate for kids under 6, age appropriate for kids over 8; suggested age 8.

  • Is it any good?

    4.0

  • Common Sense says

    Kids will like that Mowgli can talk to animals.

Why We Rated This on for Ages 8 and Up

What to watch out for

  • Violence & scariness:

    Mowgli's father killed by a tiger (off-screen), Mowgli subdues cobra and kills tiger with a knife, hunter kills cobra, fire in the forest, bad guys kill each other and person eaten by crocodile (not explicit).

  • Sexy stuff:

    Not an issue.

  • Language:

    Not an issue.

  • Consumerism:

    Not an issue.

  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

    Not an issue.

What Parents Need to Know

This review of The Jungle Book was written by Nell Minow

Parents need to know that this version is in sharp contrast with the Disney animated movie, with a real sense of the danger in the jungle and the different kinds of dangers in the "civilized" village.

Families Can Talk About

Talk to your kids about the media in their life. We have more tools and tips that can help
  • Families can talk about how this movie compares to Disney's animated and live-action versions, and also how it compares to Kipling's orginal story.
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More on The Jungle Book

What’s the Story?

In this film version of Rudyard Kipling's book, Mowgli's father is killed by Shere Kahn, the tiger. The toddler boy wanders into the jungle, and is raised by wolves. Mowgli (Sabu) returns to the village in his early teens. Once his mother recognizes him, she socializes him and teaches him the native language. Intent on killing Shere Kahn, Mowgli buys a knife from Buldeo (Joseph Calleia), who hunts for reasons of pride instead of need. Though Buldeo tells his daughter Mahala not to talk to Mowgli, she goes with him into the jungle, where he shows her an abandoned palace filled with gold and jewels. A cobra warns them that the jewels are deadly. Mahala takes one coin, and when her father finds it, he wants Mowgli to show him how to get more. Other locals find out and want to find the palace, too. They find the place, but a battle over the treasure ends in deaths and a fire. Mowgli saves his mother, and returns to the jungle forever.
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Is It Any Good?

Visually lush and striking (produced by some of the same people who made Thief of Bagdad, this version is in sharp contrast with the Disney animated movie, and has a real sense of the danger in the jungle and the different kinds of dangers in the "civilized" village.

Like other "fish out of water" stories, this movie provides an opportunity to deconstruct "civilization" a bit by looking at it from the perspective of an outsider. Mowgli compares of the values of the "wolf-pack" and the "man-pack," and finds it hard to understand why someone would take something of no inherent value (money) in exchange for something of value (a knife), or why someone would kill an animal to display its hide. Children will enjoy Mowgli's ability to talk to animals, and the way he treats them with respect and affection. He is clearly more at home with the animals than he is with the humans.
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Movie Details

Director: Zoltan Korda
Run time: 108 minutes
DVD release: 6/7/2001
MPAA Rating: NR

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