The Jungle Book (1967) is the 145th episode of Screen Junkies comedy series Honest Trailers. It was written by Spencer Gilbert, Dan Murrell, Joe Starr, and Andy Signore. It parodies Disney's 1967 animated musical The Jungle Book. It was narrated by Jon Bailey as Epic Voice Guy. It was published on April 12, 2016, to coincide with the theatrical release of the live-action reboot The Jungle Book (2016). It is 5 minutes 13 seconds long. It has been viewed over 4.1 million times. Like many other Honest Trailers based on animated Disney films, it in takes the format of a musical episode. The trailer features parodies of songs from the film with music and performances by AVbyte.
Watch Honest Trailers - The Jungle Book (1967) on YouTube
"A barely feature-length collection of random scenes tied together by a plot as thin as an orphan's loincloth, as this young boy is passed from one jokey singing animal to another until a tiger finally shows up and probably burns to death. The end." ~ Honest Trailers - The Jungle Book (1967)
Script[]
From the author of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi and The White Man's Burden...? (Rudyard Kipling) Uh-oh...comes the animated classic that will get "Bare Necessities" stuck in your head...and have you struggling to remember anything else: The Jungle Book.
Before you catch the latest live-action remake of an old Disney classic, go inside the Jungle Book...book movie for a barely feature-length collection of random scenes tied together by a plot as thin as an orphan's loincloth, as this young boy (Mowgli) is passed from one jokey singing animal to another until a tiger finally shows up and probably burns to death. The End.
Journey deep into the Indian jungle, re-imagined as a swingin' 1960s hipster bar, to hang with a bunch of jazzy beboppin' animals, a couple of squares and downers, and a half-naked little boy that everyone is extremely touchy with (shows clips of Mowgli touching, or being touched by, various animal characters). Stranger danger! Stranger danger!
Stroll aimlessly along with Mowgli, this illiterate, unvaccinated child who really should've been eaten by now. He's so stubborn and whiny, you'll almost understand why he got abandoned by his parents, abandoned by his wolf parents (Akela: The man cub can no longer stay with the pack.), abandoned by his panther dad (Bagheera: From now on, you're on your own.), abandoned by a troupe of elephants (Colonel Hathi: I'll have no man cub in my jungle!), and abandoned by his panther dad again (Bagheera: I give up.), until he finally gets the chance to abandon them back and do god-knows-what to that little girl.
Enjoy Disney's signature handcrafted animation, then enjoy it again as they recycle the same shots over and over (shows animation clips repeated throughout the film), then recycle them even more in other Disney movies (compares clips from The Jungle Book to clips from other Disney animated films). That's, like, Michael Bay lazy.
So forget the plot, because there isn't one, and besides, you're only here for that great song and a bunch of others you couldn't name with a gun to your head, featuring "The Is This Even a Song Song"...
(sung to the tune of "Colonel Hathi's March")
Elephants: There's no need to sing along/'Cause this barely is a song./It's so monotone,/It's a boring drone...(yawn)/That there's no need to prolong,/So let's skip this boring song.
..."The Time-Killing Jibberish Song"...
(sung to the tune of "I Wan'na Be like You")
King Louie: Ooh-be-dime (Gibberish),/I gotta kill some screen time (This song is four minutes long)./Zee dobba zee dop zime (Huh?),/Wee dop wime (What?)/Mi-yi-yime (Hey, as long as it rhymes).
..."The Touchy Uncle Song"...
(sung to the tune of "Trust in Me")
Kaa: I'm a creeeeeep;/Don't trust meeeeeeee,/Like a vaaaaaaaaan/With free candyyyyyyyy.
..."The We Can Pork When We're Older Song"...
(sung to the tune of "My Own Home")
Human Girl: Lead you on,/Lead you on;/I'll flirt with you from a distance/'Til the day that we can pork.
...and "The Only Song That You Actually Remember".
(sung to the tune of "The Bare Necessities")
Baloo: Look, you're a homeless refugee,/Red-diapered homeless refugee./If you don't starve, you'll get eaten alive./Yes, you're a liability/Who almost ends up killin' me./In real life, I would eat you to survive.
Starring Jumowgli (Bruce Reitherman as Mowgli), The Big Balooski (Phil Harris as Baloo), Black Panther (Sebastian Cabot as Bagheera), Tiger Scar (George Sanders as Shere Khan), The Exact Same Voice as Winnie the Pooh; Creepy, Right? (chuckles) (Sterling Holloway as Kaa), and Louie Armslong (Louis Prima as King Louie).
The Jungle Bore
So, wait, isn't this movie supposed to set up TaleSpin? Why didn't Baloo just fly Mowgli back home in the Sea Duck? This movie may have been boring, but we can all agree that TaleSpin was freakin' awesome, right?
Trivia[]
- Screen Junkies have produced Honest Trailers for several other musicals including Mary Poppins, Frozen, The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Moana, The Lion King, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, Les Miserables, La La Land, and The Greatest Showman. They also included parody songs in the Honest Trailers for The LEGO Movie, Fifty Shades of Grey, Toy Story and Honest Retro TV Themes!
- Screen Junkies also produced an Honest Trailer for the 2016 live-action reboot of The Jungle Book.
- An Honest Trailer Commentary for this episode was recorded and was available on the Screen Junkies Plus until the website/app was discontinued. Screen Junkies don't currently have any way of releasing the video.
Reception[]
Honest Trailers - The Jungle Book (1967) has a 96.0% approval rating from YouTube viewers. CinemaBlend found the Honest Trailer notable for highlighting Rudyard Kipling's racist views, the film's lack of plot, the laziness of recycling shots, and the fact that the film isn't memorable - apart from the song "Bare Necessities." Geek Girl Authority wrote "one of the most brilliant parts of this week’s offering is when we are shown how certain animated pieces were used over and over again. Not only that, but in other Disney films – “That’s like Michael Bay lazy.” Also, hats off to HT for the song medley – just wonderful." The Mary Sue wrote "the best part about this Honest Trailer are the song parodies. As a kid, even I knew the part with the snake was super creepy, and hearing this parody with lyrics that reflect as much makes me glad. I should note though that this Honest Trailer can’t seem to stop from making the same kind of weird creepy references across the entire length of the video."
Production credits[]
Music composed and performed by AVbyte
Music/Arrangement/Recording: Antonius Nazareth
Vocalists: Sean Welsh Brown, Michael Ruocco, and Molly Gallagher
Voiceover Narration by Jon Bailey
Title design by Robert Holtby
Series Created by Andy Signore & Brett Weiner
Written by Spencer Gilbert, Dan Murrell, Joe Starr, & Andy Signore
Edited by Anthony Falleroni
External links []
- Honest Trailer: The 1967 animated 'Jungle Book' is barely a movie - USA Today article
- Honest Trailer: ‘The Jungle Book’ (1967) - Geeks of Doom article
- The Jungle Book Honest Trailer Reminds Us Of The Disney Cartoon's Many Faults - CInemaBlend article
- HONEST TRAILERS SINKS ITS TEETH INTO THE JUNGLE BOOK - Nerdist article
- Screen Junkies Rips Apart The Jungle Book in Latest Honest Trailer - The Mary Sue article
- Honest Trailer For Disney's Animated Classic THE JUNGLE BOOK - Geek Tyrant article
- Honest Trailer For The Jungle Book (1967) - Entertainment Buddha article
- Stranger Danger! Honest Trailers Tells Us What’s Really Going on in the Animated Classic “The Jungle Book” - Geek Girl Authority article
- ‘The Jungle Book’ Honest Trailer: Seriously, Almost Everyone Abandons Mowgli - Slash Film article