The Jungle Book: Diamond Edition Swings onto Blu-ray™, DVD and Digital {Review}

Make Mowgli and His Jungle Family A Part of Yours. Now on Blu-ray™, DVD and Digital.

Now for the first time ever on Blu-ray with glorious digital high definition, Disney’s Jumpin’ Jungle Classic has never looked so lush or sounded so good! Beloved characters, swinging music and new behind-the-scenes bonus features make this Diamond Edition Blu-ray a must-have for every family’s classic collection!

Meet the most unforgettable characters and embark on a thrilling adventure with Mowgli as he journeys deep into the jungle and learns “The Bare Necessities” of life from happy-go-lucky Baloo the bear. Meet Bagheera, the wise old panther, and crazy King Louie, the orangutan. But watch out for the cunning tiger Shere Khan and Kaa, the ssssneakiest snake in the jungle!
Explore your family’s wild side as you venture into The Jungle Book for extraordinary adventures and a heartwarming tale that celebrates the true meaning of friendship.

My thoughts:

Both of my kids grew up watching The Jungle Book and singing along to favorites like “The Bare Necessities” and ” I Wanna Be Like You”. It was one of those feel good family favorites that no matter what kind of mood we were in when The Jungle Book came on you couldn't help but sing a long and "forget your worries" as Baloo would say. Ours was a VHS version so when I was offered a chance to review a DVD and introduce the movie magic to the little ones I jumped at the chance.

The Jungle Book: Diamond Edition on Blu-ray and DVD & Digital Version arrived on a Friday during a snowstorm. Both Peter and I couldn't wait for the little ones to come over so we decided to see if it still held the same spell on us after all these years. We watched the DVD version and sang along just as we had years ago. We even watched the bonus features which were fantastic. I learned fun facts from behind the scenes and interesting details about characters who never made it to the final film. The Disneyopedia bonus feature showed footage of real animals portrayed in the movie in their natural settings and showed how Imagineers crafted the characters. The Blu-Ray version has over 2 hours of bonus features!

The details:

Voice Talent: Phil Harris (Robin Hood, The Aristocats) as Baloo the Bear; Sebastian Cabot (The Sword and the Stone, Winnie the Pooh) as Bagheera the Panther; Bruce Reitherman (Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree) as Mowgli the Man Cub; George Sanders (All About Eve, Rebecca) as Shere Khan the Tiger; Sterling Halloway (The Aristocats, Alice in Wonderland) as Kaa the Snake; J. Pat O’Malley(Robin Hood, Mary Poppins) as Col. Hathi the Elephant/Buzzie; and Louis Prima (The Continental Twist, Hey Boy! Hey Girl!) as King Louie of the Apes

Producer: Walt Disney

Director Wolfgang Reitherman (The Jungle Book, 101 Dalmatians, The Aristocats)
Writers:

Larry Clemmons (The Fox and the Hound, Robin Hood, The Aristocats)

Ralph Wright (The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh, The Aristocats)

Ken Anderson (The Rescuers, The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh)

Vance Gerry (The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh, Robin Hood)

**Inspired by the Rudyard Kipling Mowgli Stories.

Music: Music by George Bruns, Songs by Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman. “The Bare Necessities” by Terry Gilkyson.”

Release Date: Blu-ray™, DVD and Digital on February 11, 2014

All-New Blu-ray Bonus Features:

Introductions by Diane Disney Miller and Richard M. Sherman
Alternate Ending – Mowgli and The Hunter
@DisneyAnimation: Sparking Creativity
Music, Memories & Mowgli: A Conversation with Richard M. Sherman, Diane Disney Miller and Floyd Norman
Disney Intermission – Bear-E-Oke hosted by Baloo
Bear-E-Oke Sing A Long
I Wanna Be Like You – Hangin’ Out At Disney’s Animal Kingdom

DVD Bonus Features:

All the Classic bonus features included in the original DVD release

Packaging: 2-Disc Blu-ray Combo Pack (BD + DVD + Digital Copy), DVD and Digital
Feature Run Time: 78-minutes
Rated: G in U.S. & Canada (Bonus materials are not rated)

To learn more visit: @ facebook.com/DisneyJungleBook
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View website @disney.com/junglebook

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