The Jungle Book: The Movie (2010)

What parents need to first understand is that this CGI cartoon adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book is NOT affiliated with the 1967 Disney movie The Jungle Book. In fact, I would argue that this adaptation is BETTER than Disney's version because it closely follows the source material and added important characters that were in the original Jungle Book that were omitted from Disney's adaptation. Once we clear that up, I can continue to explain why this show is a lot better than what the bad reviews are saying. This cartoon follows the original Jungle Book a lot better than Disney did, and it actually has Kaa remain the powerful, feared python that he's supposed to be. It always bothered me that Disney made Kaa a comic relief and enemy to Mowgli in their adaptation, when in reality Kaa is supposed to be a friend and mentor to Mowgli. In this adaptation Kaa is depicted as a cranky, feared snake that is usually on good terms with Mowgli, and I appreciate the writers for this change. I also like that Bagheera is more playful and laid back in this series and is more like Mowgli's best friend than mentor. I thought that was a nice change compared to his more stern, serious adaptations. I still don't understand why Baloo wears glasses in this series if he's a wild bear, but that doesn't really take away from the main plot so it's fine. The voices may take a while to get used to at first, since the voice cast is British and it may feel a bit unfitting since Mowgli is an Indian orphan living in the Indian jungle. But eventually the voices grow on you and the voice acting gets better. I think overall this show has a lot of positive messages, like the importance of friendship, family, helping those in need, loyalty, etc. These messages are usually taught through wacky adventures that usually have characters acting really exaggerated and silly, while still getting the message across. Take for example, characters like Jacala the crocodile. He's constantly warning Mowgli and his friends to stay out of his territory or he will attack them and is seen on mamy occasions chasing Mowgli, but even he does not hesitate to help Mowgli when he's in trouble if Mowgli has helped him in the past. This is a great way to teach kids that one good turn deserves another. I think the only "scary" part about this series is Shere Khan's persistent determination to "get the man cub". In almost every episode he can be seen plotting with his henchman Tabaqui the jackal to catch Mowgli. The chase scenes might be scary for younger audiences because of how threatening Shere Khan's dialog usually is and how close he gets to harming Mowgli. But Mowgli and his friends usually end up outsmarting and defeating Shere Khan. I think for older kids this shouldn't be a problem. The last thing I want to talk about is the graphics. At first they may appear cheap at best, but upon closer inspection, I realized that the character designs actually have real animal textures and features to them, making them appear more realistic. Even the backgrounds look almost like real jungle shots. I thought that was a nice touch. You can really tell that the development and animation team worked really hard on this series and it deserves a lot more praise than it's being given. I hope my long, thorough review is helpful.