Lady Bagheera
16 August 2025 03:42 pmApparently Soviet Bagheera is female :-)
I hadn't realised this, as the character doesn't actually speak in the various comparison clips I'd seen... and yes, the Soviet version is not only, as advertised, much closer to Kipling -- Kaa is a dangerous ally, not an ineffectual enemy -- but a greater deal darker as a result.
Although to be fair, Disney apparently did originally plan to make a much more 'realistic' version of "The Jungle Book" (at one point I had a tape that included some of the music written for it before the project was abandoned), and made a conscious choice to go for a comedy take on the story that has a lot of charm and good songs in its own right. And it has George Sanders, of course :-)
I hadn't realised this, as the character doesn't actually speak in the various comparison clips I'd seen... and yes, the Soviet version is not only, as advertised, much closer to Kipling -- Kaa is a dangerous ally, not an ineffectual enemy -- but a greater deal darker as a result.
Although to be fair, Disney apparently did originally plan to make a much more 'realistic' version of "The Jungle Book" (at one point I had a tape that included some of the music written for it before the project was abandoned), and made a conscious choice to go for a comedy take on the story that has a lot of charm and good songs in its own right. And it has George Sanders, of course :-)
no subject
Date: 2025-09-11 10:50 pm (UTC)Ah, if she was a White Russian, it might explain it. It makes sense for them to be out of loop regarding the use of Russian language in the Soviet Union.