Baloo
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| Baloo | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | The Jungle Book |
| Created by | Rudyard Kipling |
| Voiced by | Phil Harris (The Jungle Book) Ed Gilbert (TaleSpin) |
| Also known as | |
Baloo, the sleepy brown bear who teaches the wolf cubs the Law of the Jungle
the jungle is large and the Cub he is small. Let him think and be still.
—Master Word of Baloo
Baloo is the fictional "sleepy old grey bear" featured in Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book.
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[edit] In Kipling's work
The name Baloo is derived from the Hindi word for "bear": bhālū from Sanskr. bhallūka; this is possibly a dialect form for bhalnū-ka < bharṇū-ka, from a word meaning brown: cf. sw. björn, OHG. bero, bear. The genuine word for bear is nevertheless ṛ́kṣa, like Grk. árktos (cf. arctic), Lat. ursus, Arm. arǰ. Baloo teaches the cubs of the Seeonee wolf pack the Law of the Jungle. His most challenging pupil is the "man-cub" Mowgli; despite Bagheera's objections he sometimes finds it necessary to use corporal punishment against Mowgli, although when called upon to defend the man-cub against the Bandar-log he does not hesitate.
Baloo is one of Mowgli's mentors. He, Bagheera and Kaa sing for Mowgli "The Outsong" of the jungle.
[edit] In Disney productions
A character named Baloo, based on Kipling's creation, has also appeared in various Disney productions, starting with that company's feature-length version of The Jungle Book. In this version, Baloo is an easygoing and fun-loving character who shirks responsibility -- seemingly far removed from the law teacher in Kipling's book. This version of the character has appeared in three animated series, TaleSpin (as a pilot), Jungle Cubs (as a cub) and Disney's House of Mouse (as a guest), as well as a feature-length sequel to the animated movie. He also made a cameo appearance in the Disney on Ice play, Disney Presents Pixar's The Incredibles in a Magic Kingdom Adventure, meeting up with Violet. Disney's Baloo is arguably the most popular character in The Jungle Book.
In the original movie, he is a wandering hedonist who accidentally finds Mowgli while walking in the jungle. Bemused by Mowgli's attempts to punch him, Baloo tells him that he will teach him how to fight like a real bear.
They soon become friends and Baloo tries to take him as his own cub, slowing Bagheera's efforts to take the boy to the village, away from the marauding tiger Shere Khan. Baloo does not listen. When the monkeys catch Mowgli and take him to their King, Louie the orangutan, Baloo dresses up as a female orangutan himself and distracts the orangutan and his subjects in what is perhaps the most famous scene in the movie. It's also very similar to the scene in Robin Hood where Little John dances with Lady Cluck during the song "The Phony King of England".
They rescue Mowgli, but the next morning, Baloo, who has already discussed it with Bagheera, tells Mowgli that he has to go back to the village.
Angry and hurt, Mowgli runs away, and he is almost killed by Shere Khan but Baloo saves him by risking his own life (grabbing Shere Khan by his tail and slowing him down so that the four vultures can rescue Mowgli).
Shere Khan and Baloo then engage in a violent battle, and Baloo is knocked unconscious. Later, when Shere Khan is defeated and runs away, Baloo wakes up with no harm, saying that he was only playing dead to stop Khan from delivering the final blow.
Baloo tries then to take Mowgli to the jungle again, but a girl from the village is enough distraction for Mowgli to leave, and Baloo and Bagheera go back to the jungle with nothing more to worry about, and the two engage a reprise of The Bear Necessities.
Baloo made famous the song The Bare Necessities, sung by Phil Harris, in which he tells Mowgli how a life of leisure can be achieved by living off the land - if you know the tricks. In Spanish, Baloo was dubbed by Germán Valdés "Tin Tan".
Disney's animated Robin Hood featured an identical bear (albeit brown rather than blue-grey) in the role of Little John. As this bear was also voiced by Phil Harris and possessed many of Baloo's key characteristics, it is worth considering this as a "Disney recast" on par with similar uses of Donald Duck, Goofy, and others. The primary distinctions between the two, other than color, are that Baloo possesses longer claws reminiscent of the Indian Sloth Bear on which the character is based, while Little John has a thicker build and overall more anthropomorphic (human-like) shape than The Jungle Book's Baloo; the Talespin incarnation of Baloo, who, like Little John, existed in a world of anthropomorphic animals rather than a natural habitat, took on more human-like qualities than his precursor, including the replacement of his sloth-like claws with fingered hands.
Baloo also appears at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts as a meetable character.
Baloo and Mowgli also make cameo appearances in the Hong Kong Disneyland version of It's a Small World.
[edit] Interpreters
Baloo's voice has been done by
- Phil Harris (The Jungle Book)
- Ed Gilbert (TaleSpin)
- Jim Broadbent (Sir Tod)
- Pamela Adlon (Jungle Cubs)
- John Goodman (The Jungle Book 2)
- A.J. Henderson (English voice in The Jungle Book: Shonen Mogili)
In an unproduced show called B-Players about supporting characters from Disney movies, Baloo was intended to appear as one of the better-off veterans of Disney films. Although the series was never made, it helped re-familiarize the Disney TV animation department with Baloo.[1]
[edit] Other uses
- Baloo Latin for hullabaloo slang.
- Baloo Common name for small pet Chihuaua Dogs, Otherwise knows as Bibis and Mehen.
- Baloo is also the pen name of cartoonist Rex F. May.
- Like all of the main Jungle Book Characters, Baloo is used as a name for an adult leader in many Cub Scout Packs.
- In the Scouting world, BALOO is an acronym for Basic Adult Leader Outdoor Orientation, a BSA course for adult Cub Scout Leaders wherein they learn the fundamental skills for taking Cub Scouts on an overnight campout.
- In Hindi, baloo means bear.
