| The Jungle Book | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Soundtrack album by various artists | ||||
| Released | 1967 | |||
| Recorded | February 1964 – June 1967 | |||
| Studio | Sound Stage A,Walt Disney Studio Lot[1] | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Label | Disneyland Walt Disney | |||
| Producer | Larry Blakely | |||
| Walt Disney Animation Studios soundtrack chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
The Jungle Book, the soundtrack to the Disney filmThe Jungle Book, has been released in three different versions. The film score was composed byGeorge Bruns, with songs written byTerry Gilkyson and theSherman Brothers.
The instrumental music was written byGeorge Bruns and orchestrated by Walter Sheets. Two of the cues were reused from previous Disney films, with the scene whereMowgli wakes up after escapingKing Louie using one of Bruns' themes forSleeping Beauty, and Bagheera giving a eulogy to Baloo when he mistakenly thinks the bear was killed by Shere Khan being accompanied byPaul J. Smith's organ score fromSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs.[3]
"Overture" and "Jungle Beat" are scores separated from one deleted score "The Sand of Time" fromThe Sword in the Stone.
Longtime Disney collaboratorTerry Gilkyson was brought in to write the songs for the film. Gilkyson delivered several complete songs which were faithful in tone toRudyard Kipling'snovel, butWalt Disney felt that his efforts were too dark. TheSherman Brothers were brought in to do a complete rewrite, on the condition that they not read Kipling's book. The only piece of Gilkyson's work which survived to the final film was his upbeat tune "The Bare Necessities", which was liked by the rest of the film crew.[4] In one of his first union jobs, famed songwriterVan Dyke Parks arranged the version of "Necessities" heard in the film.[5]
Walt Disney asked the Shermans to "find scary places and write fun songs" for their compositions,[3] and frequently brought them to storyline sessions. The duo decided to do songs that fit in the story and advanced the plot instead of being interruptive. The song "Trust in Me" is based upon a song entitled "Land of Sand", which had been written by the Sherman Brothers for, but not used in,Mary Poppins.[4]
"We're Your Friends" was originally conceived as arock and roll song, sung by the quartet of vultures. The vultures were designed based onThe Beatles, withmoptop haircuts andLiverpudlian accents, and would be voiced by the band, which did not come into fruition due to problems with their schedule. During production Disney decided the '60s-style rock would cause the song to be considered dated later, leading "We're Your Friends" to be changed to thebarbershop quartet that appears in the film.[6] One ofThe Mellomen's members,Bill Lee, sang as Shere Khan during the final recording of the song because George Sanders was unavailable, and can be heard on the soundtrack.[3]
The first version wasWalt Disney Presents the Story and Songs of The Jungle Book, also known as the "Storyteller" version, issued on theDisneyland Records label. It featured a retelling of the story with narration by voice actorDal McKennon asBagheera, and dialogue and sound effects from the film itself along with the songs. It was a commercial success, beingcertified Gold by theRIAA,[7] and was later nominated for aGrammy Award for Best Album for Children.[8] Another version, simply titledThe Jungle Book, was issued on the Buena Vista Records label, featuring less narration and dialogue to be marketed for adults.[7] It was first reissued on CD in 1990, as Disneyland Records was reworked intoWalt Disney Records.[9]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Performer(s) (character) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Trust in Me" | Sherman Brothers | Sterling Holloway | |
| 2. | "Colonel Hathi's March" | Sherman Brothers | J. Pat O'Malley andVerna Felton, chorus ("pachyderm chorus") | |
| 3. | "The Bare Necessities" | Terry Gilkyson | Phil Harris andBruce Reitherman | |
| 4. | "I Wanna Be Like You" | Sherman Brothers | Louis Prima and Phil Harris | |
| 5. | "Colonel Hathi's March (reprise)" | Sherman Brothers | J. Pat O' Malley, Verna Felton and chorus | |
| 6. | "That's What Friends Are For (The Vulture Song)" | Sherman Brothers | J. Pat O'Malley,Chad Stuart,Lord Tim Hudson,Leo De Lyon, Bruce Reitherman, andBill Lee | |
| 7. | "My Own Home" | Sherman Brothers | Darleen Carr | |
| 8. | "The Bare Necessities" (reprise)" | Terry Gilkyson | Phil Harris andSebastian Cabot |
Disneyland Records issued another soundtrack album,Songs from Walt Disney's The Jungle Book and other Jungle Favorites, which featured reworkedjazz versions of the film's songs plus two covers, performed byLouis Prima and his band under the title "The Jungle V.I.P.s".[10][11]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Colonel Hathi's March" | Sherman Brothers | |
| 2. | "The Bare Necessities" | Gilkyson | |
| 3. | "I Wan'na Be Like You" | Sherman Brothers | |
| 4. | "The Abba Dabba Honeymoon" | Arthur Fields,Walter Donovan | |
| 5. | "Trust In Me" | Sherman Brothers | |
| 6. | "That's What Friends Are For" | Sherman Brothers | |
| 7. | "My Own Home" | Sherman Brothers | |
| 8. | "Civilization" | Bob Hilliard,Carl Sigman |
Disney Records reissued the soundtrack in 1997, coinciding with the reissue of the film onVHS to celebrate its 30th anniversary. The soundtrack marked the first time a majority ofGeorge Bruns' instrumental score was included. This version included an interview with theSherman Brothers, and four bonus songs: two demos of the discardedTerry Gilkyson songs, and two songs taken from the 1968Disneyland Records albumMore Jungle Book, an unofficial sequel to the film written by screenwriter Larry Simmons.[12][13]
All tracks are written byGeorge Bruns, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Performer | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Overture" | (score) | 2:43 | |
| 2. | "Baby" | (score) | 2:11 | |
| 3. | "Colonel Hathi's March (Elephant Song)" | Sherman, Sherman | J. Pat O'Malley, Verna Felton and Chorus | 2:32 |
| 4. | "The Bare Necessities" | Gilkyson | Bruce Reitherman, Phil Harris | 3:31 |
| 5. | "I Wan'na Be Like You (The Monkey Song)" | Sherman, Sherman | Louis Prima, Phil Harris | 4:39 |
| 6. | "Monkey Chase" | (score) | 1:06 | |
| 7. | "Tell Him" | (score) | 2:15 | |
| 8. | "Colonel Hathi's March (Reprise)" | Sherman, Sherman | J. Pat O'Malley, Verna Felton and Chorus | 2:00 |
| 9. | "Jungle Beat" | (score) | 1:22 | |
| 10. | "Trust in Me (Python's Song)" | Sherman, Sherman | Sterling Holloway | 2:50 |
| 11. | "What'cha Wanna Do" | (score) | 3:09 | |
| 12. | "That's What Friends Are For (Vulture Song)" | Sherman, Sherman | J. Pat O'Malley, Chad Stuart, Lord Tim Hudson, Digby Wolfe, Bruce Reitherman, Bill Lee | 2:06 |
| 13. | "Tiger Fight" | (score) | 2:44 | |
| 14. | "Poor Bear" | (score) | 1:08 | |
| 15. | "My Own Home (Jungle Book Theme)" | Sherman, Sherman | Darlene Carr | 3:32 |
| 16. | "The Bare Necessities (Reprise)" | Gilkyson | Phil Harris and Sebastian Cabot | 0:54 |
| 17. | "Interview with the Sherman Brothers" | Spoken interview with Robert E. and Richard Sherman | 12:26 | |
| 18. | "Baloo's Blues" | Sherman, Sherman | Phil Harris | 3:02 |
| 19. | "It's a Kick" | Sherman, Sherman | Phil Harris | 1:42 |
| 20. | "Brother's All" (Demo Recording) | Gilkyson | Gilkyson | 3:41 |
| 21. | "The Song of the Seeonee" (Demo Recording) | Gilkyson | Gilkyson | 2:27 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| France | — | 100,000[14] |
| Germany | — | 100,000[15] |
| Netherlands | — | 30,000[14] |
| Sweden (GLF)[16] | Diamond | 200,000[16] |
| United Kingdom Original release | — | 200,000[14] |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[17] 1989 release | Gold | 100,000^ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[18] 2006 release | Gold | 100,000‡ |
| United States (RIAA)[19] | Gold | 500,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
In 1993, a medley of "I Wan'na Be like You" and "The Bare Necessities" called "The Jungle Book Groove" was released by Disney's Hollywood record label. Credited by the Official Charts Company as being by the artist Jungle Book, the record charted at number 14 on the UK Singles Chart and spent 8 weeks in the UK top 75. The song was credited as "Disney Cast" on German compilation albums.[20][21][22][23]
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