Mowgli's Brothers (1976 TV Special)
Mowgli's Brothers is a 1976 television animated special directed by legendary animator Chuck Jones. It is based from the first chapter of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book. The special was narrated by Roddy McDowall who also performs the voices of all the male characters in the film. June Foray was the voice of Raksha, the Mother Wolf. It originally aired on CBS on February 11, 1976. The special was released on VHS by Family Home Entertainment in 1985, and released on VHS in 1999 and on DVD in 2002 by Lionsgate.
Plot
Father Wolf and Raksha the Mother Wolf, while raising their family of cubs, are furious to learn that Shere Khan, the lame tiger, is hunting in their part of the jungle, because he might kill men and bring human retribution upon all the jungle's inhabitants. Tabaqui the jackal is known to be the tiger's ally and sidekick. Father Wolf hears something approaching their den, but it turns out not to be the tiger, but a naked human baby. Mother Wolf decides to adopt the hairless "man-cub". Her determination is only strengthened by the arrival of Shere Khan, who demands the cub for his meal. The wolves drive off the tiger and Raksha names him Mowgli, the word for "frog" in the language of the forest, because of his hairlessness and refusal to sit still.
At the wolf pack's meeting at Council Rock, Baloo the bear speaks for the man-cub, and Bagheera the panther buys his life with a freshly killed bull. Baloo and Bagheera undertake the task of educating Mowgli as he grows up. Meanwhile, Shere Khan plans to take revenge on the wolf pack by persuading the younger wolves to depose of their leader Akela, who has protected Mowgli.
When Mowgli is about 11 or 12, Bagheera tells him of Shere Khan's plan. Mowgli, being human, is the only creature in the jungle that does not fear fire, so he steals a pot of burning coals from a nearby village in order to use it against Shere Khan.
The young wolves, while hunting, witness Akela fail to catch his prey, which, by the Law of the Jungle, means he can no longer be Pack Leader, and at that night's meeting, Shere Khan and Tabaqui demand Akela to be killed, and the man-cub given to them. Mowgli, naked and seemingly vulnerable, attacks Shere Khan with a burning branch and drives him and his allies away, but then realizes to his sorrow that he must now leave the pack and return to live among the humans.
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