Adventures of Mowgli

Adventures of Mowgli
Akela, Baloo, Mowgli and Bagheera in a scene from the movie on a Russian postal stamp.
Directed by	Roman Davydov
Written by	Leonid Belokurov Rudyard Kipling (story)
Starring	Sergei Martinson L. Lyubetskiy Lyusyena Ovchinnikova Stepan Bubnov Anatoli Papanov Lyudmila Kasatkina A. Nazarov Klara Rumyanova
Music by	Sofia Gubaidulina
Edited by	Lyubov Georgiyeva
Release date	1967-1971 (USSR) 1973 (combined) (USSR)
Running time	20 min x 5 96 min 92 min (United States) 98 min (Japan, Taiwan, Philippines, India, Thailand) 100 min (Poland, Italy, Spain, Germany)
Country	USSR
Language	Russian

Adventures of Mowgli (Russian: Маугли; also spelled Maugli) is an animated feature-length story originally released as five animated shorts of about 20 minutes each between 1967 and 1971 in the Soviet Union. They were directed by Roman Davydov and made by Soyuzmultfilm studio. In 1973, the five films were combined into a single 96-minute feature film. The Russian DVD release of the restored footage, distributed by "Krupnyy Plan" and "Lizard", separates the animation into the original five parts.

An English-language version made by Films by Jove was released direct-to-video in 1996 under the name Adventures of Mowgli. Charlton Heston is the narrator in the English version.

This is the second film adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's work released in 1967. Even though the movie was not conceived as a reaction to the Disney adaptation, it proves an interesting contrast, being more faithful to the epic and primal content of Kipling's original work. The Soyuzmultfilm's adaptation appeared more adult and in spirit is closer to Kipling's book. There are scenes of mass fights and duels, blood and death are shown, there is charged atmosphere, suspense. Subjects of life and death, debt and feelings, heroism of the soldier and human essence arise.

The story starts with a golden jackal named Tabaqui walking towards his master, the dreaded tiger known as Shere Khan, who stretches himself, and then walks to the spot of a camp with Tabaqui guiding him. Out of cruelty and hatred, Shere Khan leaps towards the campsite. Whilst doing so, he accidentally burns his right forepaw, forcing a young child, Mowgli, to wander into a wolf cave in the jungle. At that point, Shere Khan (accompanied by his servant Tabaqui) appears at the entrance and demands that the wolves give him his prey, but the wolf mother Raksha refuses. He taunts them and says that the wolf pack will decide. Meanwhile, Tabaqui runs around the whole jungle and tells all the animals that a wolf pack has adopted a human.