Mowgli Extends a Helping Hand in The Jungle Book: A Friend for Life

One of the most menacing Disney villains is Shere Khan, the slick, sophisticated tiger who has it in for Mowgli in The Jungle Book. Given his terrifying experience with that dangerous jungle cat, one might presume that Mowgli would be scared off tigers for life. However, in A Friend for Life, the sixth book in Disney’s Storytime Treasures Library, Mowgli’s kindness overcomes his fear when he encounters an injured tigress and her three cubs.

This story, written by Lisa Ann Marsoli and illustrated by Peter Emslie and David Scott Smith, takes place a mere month after Mowgli’s return to the Man-village at the edge of the jungle. He enjoys his life there and loves regaling the other children with tales of his unconventional upbringing, but he misses his former home. Hence, after clearing it with the village chief, Mowgli sets out to pay his old friends a visit. What he doesn’t expect is that he will make a new friend in the process.

Mowgli must first win over Sheba, the distrustful tigress who was injured in a fall while hunting. Her experience with people causes her to take a dim view of them, but the boy’s gentleness and concern gradually wear her down. However, if he is going to help her, he’s going to need the help of jovial bear Baloo and cautious panther Bagheera. Will they be able to put aside their traumatic experiences with Shere Khan, or is Sheba just too inherently dangerous?

This is a nice story somewhat in the vein of David Kirk’s Miss Spider’s Tea Party. Mowgli and Sheba have compelling reasons not to trust each other, but this is a story that encourages us to look at everyone individually instead of judging them based upon the group to which they belong. It’s a tale about breaking down prejudices and building up friendships. The narration and dialogue are nothing fancy but are well done, particularly the brief banter of Baloo and Bagheera. I also like the eight-line verse after the story that sums up its moral, concluding with this compelling thought: “Like many so-called enemies, they shared more than they knew.”

The illustrations are full of bright colors, with the blazing orange of the tigers’ fur particularly standing out. The characters are all recognizably the ones from the movie, and while the backgrounds are a bit flatter than in the film, they are still done well. Those who have seen the movie should have little trouble immersing themselves in this world once again, and that’s a good thing because in this book, the jungle is a very friendly place to be.

A Bengali Family Struggles to Maintain Traditions in The Namesake

A young Indian man named Ashoke is traveling by train, perusing a book by his favorite author, Nikolai Gogol, when an accident occurs. The last thing he hears before the train wreck that kills most of the other passengers is the advice of an older man seated nearby. “Pack a pillow and blanket. See the world,” he tells him. “You will never regret it.” After a rehabilitation process, Ashoke does just that, eventually settling in New York, the bustling city to which he will bring his new bride, Ashima, a woman he barely knows.

This is the situation that sets the stage for The Namesake, the 2006 film directed by Mira Nair and adapted from Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel by Sooni Taraporevala. The movie, at least so the description had me believe, is not about these two characters but about their son Gogol, a young man named for that author and struggling to find his way in a world where he is torn between the traditions of his parents and the lure of contemporary America. Kal Penn, as perpetual fish out of water Gogol, is the film’s star, and certainly his character develops over the course of the film as he tries to figure out just who he is. To me, though, the movie is more about the parents.

Irrfan Khan gives a marvelous, understated performance as Ashoke, who is quiet, studious and gentle. He is the character I felt most drawn to, a true compassionate soul although he finds it difficult to express his feelings openly. Despite his reserve, we see through many small actions what a good man he is; even when his new life with Ashima gets off to a shaky start, it’s clear that he will be a kind and attentive husband. Tabu is also excellent as Ashima, and I would argue that more than any other character, this is her story. She, too, is on the quiet side, but we understand her excitement and apprehension at starting a new life so far from her home and extended family, and during moments of anguish, we truly feel her turmoil.

Gogol’s story is about being a first-generation American, born with one foot in two different cultures. For Ashima, it’s about learning to embrace an entirely different way of life while retaining as much of her own culture as she can. It’s also a love story, with Ashoke and Ashima reminding me of Tevye and Golde in Fiddler on the Roof. Their personalities are not so in opposition, and they have more of a say in their marriage than the central couple in that classic musical. Still, the circumstances of their matrimony seem pretty strange to a modern American audience. Could you move halfway around the world to start a new life with a man you didn’t know existed a couple days earlier? But Ashima does, and later in the movie, she and Ashoke share a conversation much like Do You Love Me?, the song in which Tevye questions Golde about her feelings toward him after all these years together. Their relationship really works.

Gogol is not interested in seeking out marriage the way his parents did. He rejects his mother’s attempts to introduce him to a nice Bengali girl, especially since she turns out to be obnoxious. (This young woman, incidentally, is played by Zuleikha Robinson, who portrayed Ilana, one of my favorite characters in LOST’s final season, though I found her role disappointingly underdeveloped.) Instead, he embraces the dating scene like any typical college student and forms a close bond with Maxine (Jacinda Barrett), a sweet girl whose family adores him. But incidents in his own family cause him to question whether he can turn away from his upbringing so completely.

The Namesake is a low-key but compelling film about family and culture clashes in modern America. While Gogol’s story is engaging, I found myself more drawn to Ashoke and Ashima, but whichever generation holds the greater appeal, I recommend this movie as a compelling examination of the struggles inherent in trying to juggle two worlds.

My Top Ten Movies of the '60s

A grand decade for Disney, the 1960s included some of my all-time favorite movies, as well as a lot of flicks that are highly watchable once, with limited replay value.  All of my top ten are ones I'd be happy to sit through multiple times.  And have.

Peter Pan (1960) - Though I'm not a fan of the Disney version of the J. M. Barrie classic about a boy who stays forever young on a magical isle called Never-Neverland, I love this version, a television adaptation of the musical starring Mary Martin. She is endearingly spunky, and I never seem to mind much that she's a girl. Perhaps that softens Peter's bravado; even when he's bragging up a storm with I Gotta Crow, I don't find him nearly as obnoxious as the animated Disney imp. I love the songs throughout the film, and the performance of Cyril Ritchard as sinister but silly Captain Hook / ineffective Mr. Darling is the most entertaining aspect of the whole movie.

Swiss Family Robinson (1960) - Two words: ostrich races. Not to mention the treehouse of my dreams and what may have been the beginning of my love affair with stories about folks shipwrecked on seemingly uninhabited islands.

The Sword in the Stone (1963) - I can trace my love of King Arthur back to this Disney cartoon, in which he is a scrawny kid known as "the Wart" living under the thumb of his corpulent uncle and brutish cousin. Merlin serves as a wise but comical mentor, with some help from the requisite animal sidekick, Archimedes, who bears a strong resemblance to the owl from Bambi. Sticking with the fairly light-hearted portion of T. H. White's The Once and Future King, heightening the slapstick and doing a lot of simplifying, it's among the funniest animated Disney films, even if it was less successful than most.

Mary Poppins (1964) - A real contender for my all-time favorite movie. The songs showcase the Sherman Brothers at their best, from peppy classics like Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious to my personal favorite, the compassionate, religiously loaded Feed the Birds. The cast is wonderful, especially Julie Andrews as eccentric but exceptional Mary and Dick Van Dyke as irrepressibly jolly Bert. An engrossing tale of magic, imagination and parents and children coming to appreciate each other, it's also the movie that made me fall in love with London.

Cinderella (1965) - I've seen many versions of this story, but this television adaptation of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, starring Leslie Anne Warren, will always be my favorite. She makes such a perfect Cinderella, sweet and starry-eyed, dutifully doing her chores amid abuses by her absurd step-mother and step-sisters but taking time to imagine better things. The prince is dreamy, with loads more personality than the Disney version, and Cinderella's step-family is hilarious. The step-sisters even evoke some sympathy, as the lady of the house is scarcely any kinder to her own daughters. It's all very low-frills, with scarcely any props at all, but the story and the fantastic songs more than make up for it. This is my second-favorite Rodgers and Hammerstein musical.

The Sound of Music (1965) - This, naturally, tops the list. Rodgers and Hammerstein's crowning achievement, it's another movie starring Julie Andrews as an unusual nanny who swoops in to repair a family with unruly children and a distant father. But in this case, she plays an aspiring nun who hadn't bargained on falling in love with the dashing captain so excellently portrayed by Christopher Plummer. The sweeping cinematography, the iconic songs, the historical backdrop, the religious overtones, the humor, the romance... It all blends perfectly for a movie I can watch over and over again with rapt enjoyment.

The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming (1966) - Quite possibly the funniest movie of the decade. Of course, by the time I saw this, Russians no longer seems a great threat, so I never had much reason to see Alan Arkin's merry band of accidental invaders as antagonists. I just reveled in the relentless slapstick and silly one-liners. But I've also come to think of it as an inspiring tale underneath all that comedy, one that dares to hope that people who are supposedly enemies can be united by a common goal and can overcome suspicions to form unlikely friendships.

The Graduate (1967) - It took a couple of viewings for me to really appreciate this movie, which stars a hilariously awkward Dustin Hoffman as confused young college graduate Benjamin, who is lured into an affair with the wife of a family friend. But now that I've been in Benjamin's shoes - as an aimless college grad, that is, not someone who channeled that aimlessness in such an unhealthy direction - the film seems very apt. And what kind of Simon and Garfunkel fan would I be if I left this off the list?

The Jungle Book (1967) - Another triumph for the Sherman Brothers, this story of a boy raised by wolves features an intriguing array of creatures, each with a distinct personality. No-nonsense panther Bagheera, sibilant snake Kaa, haughty elephant Colonel Hathi, lackadaisical bear Baloo, ambitious orangutan King Louie, sinister tiger Shere Khan and a hapless quartet of vultures all make an impact on Mowgli's journey. With the exception of the cats, they all have a song, too, each in a different style. Kaa has a hypnotic lullaby, Hathi a crisp march, Louie a jazzy scatfest, the vultures a Beatles-esque harmonious ode. Baloo, of course, gets one of the bounciest numbers in Disney history. A simple story magnificently told, with lush animation every step of the way.

The Love Bug (1969) - I just love WV bugs, and this is why. Herbie, the little white beetle with the number 53 on his side, is more lovable than any car ought to be. He doesn't talk; he simply uses a series of mechanical noises to communicate emotion, and he maintains control over his own steering. This is the first of his adventures. Though Dean Jones, David Tomlinson and especially Buddy Hackett make terrific co-stars, this little automobile is clearly the star.

Don't Lose An Evening With Finding Preet

In the course of my Christmas travels, I can usually count on seeing a movie or two, even if it's just the traditional viewing of The Princess Bride with my dad's side of the family in Buffalo. Perhaps it was a bad omen that we never got around to watching that classic; the first movie I did watch during my out-of-town wanderings turned out to be a complete dud. I might have had a hunch when my uncle informed me that he'd never heard of anyone in the movie, but I was more interested in getting in some quality time with my uncle than heeding the dire warnings garnered from The Dogwalker. We settled in to watch Finding Preet, and while we did pass an enjoyable couple of hours, it wasn't because the movie was good.

The movie, directed by Adrian Fulle, stars Priti Chowdhury, who also wrote the screenplay and whose parents and brother play the parents and brother of the protagonist, whose name also happens to be Priti. This film from last year is her only credit, and I have a hunch it may stay that way. No doubt her intentions were sincere, but everything about this story of a divorced Indian doctor in her mid-thirties looking for a new start in her career and love life comes across as stilted, unnatural and just plain dull.

The film is littered with scenes in which characters speak to one another in muffled tones; it's hard to understand what they're saying and often even harder to figure out what relevance it has to the plot. The scenes in which she chatters with her fellow hospital workers are uniformly irritating and give off the impression that no one is ever paying attention while performing surgery, which is not very encouraging. Another aspect of the film involving the overzealous attempts of Priti's mother to find her an acceptable Indian husband are highly reminiscent of Bride and Prejudice, which had its flaws but was vastly more entertaining.

Many of the cast members are first-timers, and few have more than a handful of credits to their names. It shows. The acting is often painful; sometimes the actors seem like they're reading off of cue cards. Their attempts to put a little feeling into it are misplaced, resulting in over-the-top displays, particularly from Kanti Chowdhury, Priti's mom. It doesn't help that we know exactly where the story is going from the beginning; that's not terribly unusual in romantic comedies, but if there's enough charm, talent and chemistry among the leads and the script is witty and natural, predictability isn't necessarily a huge detriment. Since this movie lacks any of that, though, an hour and a half seems too long a time to get to an inevitable conclusion.

Everything about this movie screams low-budget, from the poor sound quality to the grating performances to the fact that it could almost be a compilation of the Chowdhurys' home videos - especially since we actually see her dad toting around a big video camera and documenting everything. There's also a television in the family room which, like Ugly Betty, features a phony gossip program with an annoying VJ and a culturally specific melodrama, though in this case it's a rip-off of Austin Powers, and the quality on the TV is laughably grainy.

I shouldn't be so hard on the freshman effort of a fledgling writer/actress, especially when the work is autobiographical, making me feel as though I am criticizing her life. But while there was little about the movie that offended me, there was also little that made any kind of impression upon me at all. I only found myself engaged when Priti's gorgeous golden retriever was on the screen, and he had practically nothing to do with the movie. There's nothing particularly pretty about Priti's series of misadventures, and while she may have been Finding Preet, she lost me almost before I got started.