The Adventures of Mowgli (1973)

An adaptation of a classic tale about a boy raised in jungles by animals.

Director:

Roman Davydov (as R. Davidov)

Writers:

Leonid Belokurov (as L. Belokurov), Rudyard Kipling (novel)

Stars:

Lyusena Ovchinnikova, Aleksandr Nazarov, Anatoliy Papanov

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lyusena Ovchinnikova	...	Mother Raksha (voice)
Aleksandr Nazarov	...	Kaa (voice) (as a A. Nazarov)
Anatoliy Papanov	...	Shere Khan (voice)
Sergey Martinson	...	Tabaqui (voice)
Lyudmila Kasatkina	...	Bagheera (voice)
Stepan Bubnov	...	Baloo (voice)
Lev Lyubetskiy	...	Akela (voice) (as L. Lyubetsky)
Yuriy Khrzhanovskiy	...	White Kobra (voice)
Yuriy Puzyryov	...	Akela (voice)
Vladimir Ushakov	...	Kaa (voice)
Oleg Vidov	...	(voice)
Mariya Vinogradova	...	Young Mowgli (voice)
Tamara Dmitrieva	...	(voice)
Klara Rumyanova	...	Wolfy (voice)
Lev Shabarin	...	Adult Mowgli (voice)

Storyline

A small child gets into the jungle in a wolf family. The mother wolf Raksha liked him, and did not give him to tiger an ogre Sherkhan. Wolves nurtured and brought up a human cub, who was named Mowgli. But the family lives in a wolf pack that is governed by the law of the jungle. The flock council must decide whether Mowgli will live among the beasts or give it to Sherkhan, who wants to get his prey.

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Plot Keywords:

based on novel | tiger | wolf | monkey | boy | 

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Family

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian

Release Date:

23 July 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book Adventures of Mowgli

Company Credits

Production Co:

Soyuzmultfilm

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min 100 min (5 parts)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the animation, Mowgli's hand-to-hand duel with Sher-Khan is added - in the book the tiger simply died under the hooves of bulls.

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Connections

Version of The Jungle Book (1994)

User Reviews

Classic Russian animation

The 1967 Disney film The Jungle Book will always be a childhood and personal favourite, it is an enormous amount of fun with terrific songs and great characters. Adaptation-wise though, this Russian animation is far more faithful to Rudyard Kipling's book and stands on its own feet wonderfully. The animation is wonderfully detailed and expansive, the colours are not as rich but they're still appealing and never ugly. The music fits very well and while atonal music has more appreciation than love with me it is very interesting and haunting rhythmically and melodically. The dialogue is thoughtful and very well-written, and the story is likewise always engaging, it has its heart and charm but any conflict is also done very convincingly. The voice acting is excellent, especially for Shere Kahn, the suave menace is done perfectly. It is indeed with the characterisation where Adventures of Mowgli(or Maugli) really shines, Bagheera steals the show though those who are familiar with and love the story will really appreciate how close in detail and spirit the characterisation is for all the characters, especially with Baloo. In conclusion, a classic Russian animation, if you love the book or Russian animation in general(both even as well) you'll find much to love with it. 10/10 Bethany Cox