The Jungle Book (1995 VHS)

Release Date:
May 19, 1995

List Price:
$22.99, $39.99 (Letterbox Edition)

Running Time: 1 Hour 51 Minutes

Print date: May 3, 1995

Synopsis
Disney scrapped the songs and talking animals for its second version of Rudyard Kipling's classic novel, an old-fashioned boy's adventure that more resembles the classic Korda brothers' lush original than Disney's own animated musical. In this live-action version, Jason Scott Lee (the hunky star of Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story) is the grown Mowgli, a boy raised by wolves and taught the ways of the jungle by Baloo the bear and Bagheera the panther. Fascinated by Englishwoman Lena Heady, whom he spots marching through the jungle on a safari, he follows her to the city. She teaches him the ways of polite society while a greedy British soldier (a sneering Cary Elwes) plots to discover the fabled lost city, where a fabulous fortune awaits. At this point the film becomes more Tarzan than Kipling. Lee's rippling form, back in the freedom of a loin cloth, is on display running through the jungle, swinging on vines, and going mano a mano with snooty Englisher Elwes. His charm and sex appeal has made this film a favorite of many adult women, but it is a family adventure, after all, with colorful locations, grand sets, and plenty of fun-loving animal moments. Sam Neill is his usual figure of moral strength as Heady's explorer father, and John Cleese imparts a little deadpan humor as the safari's absent-minded professor.

VHS Supplements
The earlier copies did not have the previews for Toy Story and Muppet Classic Theater.

1995 VHS

 * 1) Squanto: A Warrior's Tale (1995 VHS) (June 20, 1995)
 * 2) Man of the House (VHS) (August 8, 1995)
 * 3) Heavyweights (VHS) (August 15, 1995)
 * 4) Tall Tale (VHS) (August 15, 1995)

1997

 * 1) Fun and Fancy Free (1997 VHS) (July 15, 1997)
 * 2) Jungle 2 Jungle (1997 VHS) (July 29, 1997)
 * 3) That Darn Cat! (1997 VHS) (August 5, 1997)
 * 4) Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin (1997 VHS) (August 5, 1997)
 * 5) Mary Poppins (1997 VHS) (August 26, 1997)
 * 6) Sleeping Beauty (1997 VHS) (September 16, 1997)

1998

 * 1) Toothless (1998 VHS) (May 19, 1998)
 * 2) Angels in the Endzone (1998 VHS) (May 19, 1998)
 * 3) The Garbage Picking Field Goal Kicking Philadelphia Phenomenon (1998 VHS) (May 19, 1998)
 * 4) Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World (1998 VHS) (August 4, 1998)

1999

 * 1) The Rescuers (1999 VHS) (January 5, 1999, March 23, 1999)