Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Out of the Celluloid Closet: The Jungle Book

Oftentimes, a beloved childhood favorite can reveal previously undetected subtext when viewed through adult eyes. Such is the case with The Jungle Book. Disney's classic musical adventure, recently re-released on DVD in a Platinum Edition (click here for my full Toon Talk review).

First of all, there are the two fey villains of the piece: Shere Khan the tiger (a clear predecessor to The Lion King's prissy Scar) and Kaa the (phallic?) python, who even has a lisp. Both of these characters have one thing in mind: to eat the "man cub". Yikes. I'll just leave it at that ...

Then there is Baloo, a freethinking bear obsessed with party beats who, when the occasion calls for it, isn't afraid to throw on a little drag. It doesn't take much to associate this Disney bear with a gay bear, especially when he and the prim and proper panther Bagheera finally get Mowgli to the "man village". Baloo has a hard time letting his "Little Britches" go, and his jealousy is pretty obvious when a flirtatious female lures the kid away; he gets over it pretty quickly, though, when he hauls "Baggy" back into the jungle to the tune of "The Bare Necessities". And that, it seems, is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Click here to purchase The Jungle Bookon DVD from Amazon.com.
Links via Imdb.com, LaughingPlace.com and YouTube.com.

1 comment:

Josito Montez said...

Thank God that I'm not the only person in the world that have the opinion that Disney's "Jungle Book" is sooo gay. I've recently watched it and when I saw the bear, the bitchy snake... Thrilling, yes.