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Original Production Animation Cels of Mowgli and Hathi Jr. from "The Jungle Book," 1967


Original Production Animation Cels of Mowgli and Hathi Jr. (Baby Elephant) from "The Jungle Book," 1967
Original Production Animation Cels of Mowgli and Hathi Jr. (Baby Elephant) from "The Jungle Book," 1967

Original hand painted production animation cels of Mowgli and Hathi Jr. (Baby Elephant) from "The Jungle Book," 1967, Walt Disney Studios; Set on a lithographic background; Size - Mowgli: 5 1/2 x 2", Hathi Jr.: 3 3/4 x 4 3/4", Image 7 1/4 x 7 1/4"; Unframed.


"Sure. Just do what I do, but don't talk in ranks. It's against regulations." - Hathi Jr. (Baby Elephant)


"The Jungle Book," 1967 was the nineteenth animated feature film produced by Walt Disney Productions and inspired by Rudyard Kipling's book of the same name. The film was directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, it was to be the last film that was worked on by Walt Disney, as he passed away during its production. The film follows Mowgli, a feral child raised in the Indian jungle by wolves, as he encounters Bagheera the panther and Baloo the bear; who try and convince him to leave the jungle before the villainous tiger Shere Khan finds him. Voice actors include: Phil Harris, Sebastian Cabot, George Sanders and Louis Prima; as well as Disney regulars such as Sterling Holloway, J. Pat O'Malley, Verna Felton, and the director's son, Bruce Reitherman, as the voice of Mowgli.


Original production animation cel of Mowgli without the background.
Original production animation cel of Mowgli without the background.

Wolfgang Reitherman began working for Walt Disney in 1934, along with future Disney legends Ward Kimball and Milt Kahl. The three worked together on a number of classic Disney shorts, including "The Band Concert," "Music Land," and "Elmer Elephant." Reitherman worked on various Disney feature films produced from 1937 to 1981, including "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (animating the Slave in the Magic Mirror) up to "The Fox and the Hound," where he was the co-producer. Beginning with 1961's "One Hundred and One Dalmatians," "Woolie", as he was called by friends, served as Disney's chief animation director. In addition to "101 Dalmatians," Reitherman directed "The Sword in the Stone" (1963), "The Jungle Book" (1967), "The Aristocats" (1970), "Robin Hood" (1973) and "The Rescuers" (1977).


Original production animation cel of Hathi Jr. (Baby Elephant) without the background.
Original production animation cel of Hathi Jr. (Baby Elephant) without the background.

One of Reitherman's productions, the 1968 short "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day," won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. In addition, all three of Reitherman's sons — Bruce, Richard, and Robert provided voices for Disney characters, including Mowgli in "The Jungle Book," Christopher Robin in "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree," and Wart in "The Sword in the Stone." Not only did Bruce Reitherman provided the voice of Mowgli in "The Jungle Book," but he also acted out certain scenes as live action reference for the animators. The character of Mowgli was animated by quite a few animators, however Milt Kahl set the final design and the majority of Mowgli's scenes were animated by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston.


Hathi Jr. (Baby Elephant) is the son of elephants Colonel Hathi and his wife Winifred. Hathi Jr. was voiced by the actor Clint Howard, who was only eight years old at the time. Some of the Disney filmmakers had to assist Clint with some of the larger words in the script. The Baby Elephant was one of the most loved characters in the film, although his screen time was relatively short.


This is a great full figure image of both Hathi Jr. (Baby Elephant) and of Mowgli; the main character of Walt Disney's contemporary masterpiece "The Jungle Book." A wonderful pair of original hand painted production animation cels and a beautiful piece of animation art history!


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