​Review; Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book: The Mowgli Stories

Review by Paul Fiander

Written by: Rudyard Kipling
Narrated by: Bill Bailey, Richard E. Grant, Colin Salmon, Tim McInnerny, Bernard Cribbins, Celia Imrie, Martin Shaw
Length: 2 hrs and 32 mins 
Performance
Publisher: Audible Studios

There is something to be said for the Disneyfication of Fairy and Folk tales. The exposure of some wonderful stories to a new audience at times is simply a treat. However this at times comes at a cost and one of the best examples of this is The Jungle Book. The story of an orphaned boy raised by Wolves brings with it a nostalgia for the Bare Necessities among a host of other catchy tunes. The trouble is a lot of the social commentary that makes Kipling's book such a worthwhile read have been left out. In essence the Jungle Book is a look at the human condition and shines a light on the very idea of civilisation.

From the opening of the Audiobook you will hardly notice a change as we meet Mowgli and get embedded into his life in the Jungle. Admittedly the comedy is non-existent in comparison but this is not meant as a comedic tale. Instead we get lessons from Baloo about living a harmonious life within the ecosystem of the Jungle. The big brother relationship is still a prominent part of the story and Bill Bailey playing the good natured Brown Bear does a wonderful job of endearing the listener to his character.

Bailey is not the only standout performance as a star studded cast were brought together to create this Audible performance. There full cast list is below and the casting of Richard E Grant as Kaa was inspired as he lends his rather unique voice to creating a very serpentine performance. It's hard to not mention every performer but I have always loved the character of Mother Wolf (it more than likely comes from my early life as a cub scout) and Celia Imrie plays the part with the mix of love (for her cubs) and hostility (to Martin Shaw’s Shere Khan) perfectly.

Things change in the second half of the book with the introduction of Man to the story. This is the aftermath of the scene where we see Mowgli entering the village at the end of the Disney film and this is where Kipling’s book moves from a very good book to a great book. Though more adult ideas looked at it is still accessible to kids (though an age of above 8 is recommended) and in this format it becomes a brilliant way to open people up to the real tale.

Audible productions are always a high quality and although this multicast performance is only 2 and a half hours it is still a brilliant experience and I wholeheartedly agree with its winning both the Excellence in Production and Best Audio Drama Awards at the 2016 Audies.