| Maugli | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | Roman Davydov |
| Written by | Leonid Belokurov Rudyard Kipling (story) |
| Starring | Sergei Martinson L. Lyubetskiy Lyusyena Ovchinnikova Stepan Bubnov Anatoliy Papanov Lyudmilla Kasatkina A. Nazarov Klara Rumyanova |
| Music by | Sofya Gubaydulina |
| Editing by | Lyubov Georgiyeva |
| Release date(s) | 1967-1971 (USSR) 1973 (combined) (USSR) |
| Running time | 20 min x 5 96 min 92 min (USA) |
| Country | USSR |
| Language | Russian |
| IMDb profile | |
Maugli (Russian: Маугли) is an animated feature-length story originally released as five animated shorts of about 20 minutes each between 1967 and 1971 in the Soviet Union. They were directed by Roman Davydov. In 1973, the five films were combined into a single 96-minute feature film. The Russian DVD release of the restored footage, distributed by "Krupnyy Plan" and "Lizard", separates the animation into the original five parts. An English-language version made by Films by Jove was released direct-to-video in 1996 under the name Adventures of Mowgli. Maugli is the Russian transcription for Mowgli. In the English language Charlton Heston is the Narrator. This is the second film adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's work released in 1967. Even though the movie was not conceived as a reaction to the Disney adaptation, it proves an interesting contrast, being far truer to the primal and violent content of Kipling's original work.
Contents |
Plot
Episode 1 - "Raksha"
A young child, Maugli, wanders into a wolf cave in the jungle. The tiger Shere Khan (accompanied by his servant Tabaqui) appears at the entrance and demands that the wolves give him his prey, but the wolf mother Raksha refuses. He taunts them and says that the wolf pack will decide. Meanwhile, Tabaqui runs around the whole jungle and tells all the animals that a wolf pack has adopted a human. The elders of the wolf pack watch a performance of the wolf cubs and Maugli, with Maugli matching the cubs' every step. The elders are evenly split about whether or not they should allow him to stay until they see Maugli pinch the nose of Tabaqui, who came up to taunt him. At this point, however, Shere Khan appears and demands that he be given his prey. Raksha and Baloo (the bear who instructs the young wolf cubs) come to his defence, but Shere Khan is undeterred until the panther Bagheera also appears and offers the wolf pack a freshly-killed bull in return for keeping Maugli alive. Shere Khan is forced to admit defeat, but vows that he will still eat Maugli one day.
Episode 2 - "The Kidnapping"
Maugli and Raksha's cubs are being taught to hunt by Baloo, who also teaches them the call of the jungle: "Me and you are of the same blood". Then Bagheera appears and teaches Maugli to climb and jump between trees. The Bandar-logs in the trees watch Maugli perform and decide that he's just like them but without a tail. A short while later, they kidnap him while he's sleeping and take him to their city. Baloo and Bagheera run after him but decide that they need the help of the python Kaa. They don't know where to look until Chil the Kite, flying above them, tells them that he saw him being taken to the abandoned city; Maugli had used the call of the jungle as he was being carried away and asked him to help. Baloo and Bagheera arrive first and are both overwhelmed by the monkeys. Once Kaa arrives, the monkeys go still and sit quietly on the city ruins around him. Kaa begins a hypnotizing dance, and every so often tells the monkeys to come one step closer. Bagheera and Baloo are nearly caught in the trap as well until they are pulled away by Maugli, after which they leave the scene.
Episode 3 - "Akela's Last Hunt"
Episode 4 - "The Fight"
Episode 5 - "Return to Mankind"
Crew
Note: Crew information for episodes 4 and 5 is incomplete.
| English | Russian | |
|---|---|---|
| Director | Roman Davydov | Роман Давыдов |
| Scenario | Leonid Belokurov | Леонид Белокуров |
| Art Directors | Pyotr Repkin Aleksandr Vinokurov |
Пётр Репкин Александр Винокуров |
| Animators | Pyotr Korobayev (1, 2, 3) Boris Butakov (1) Aleksandr Davydov (1) Vladimir Zarubin (1, 2) Viktor Lihachyov (1, 2, 3) Viktor Arsentyev (1, 2) S. Zhutovskaya (1) Vladimir Krumin (1, 2) Valeriy Uragov (1) Oleg Komarov (1, 2) Vyacheslav Kotyonochkin (2) Roman Davydov (2, 3) Oleg Safronov (3) Lyudmila Kasatkina (3) Vitaliy Bobrov (3) Nikolai Fyodorov (3) |
Пётр Коробаев Борис Бутаков Александр Давыдов Владимир Зарубин Виктор Лихачёв Виктор Арсентьев С. Жутовская Владимир Крумин Валерий Угаров Олег Комаров Вячеслав Котёночкин Роман Давыдов Олег Сафронов Людмила Касаткина Виталий Бобров Николай Фёдоров |
| Camera Operator | Yelena Petrova | Елена Петрова |
| Executive Producer | A. Zorina (1, 2) Lyubov Butyrina (3) |
А. Зорина Любовь Бутырина |
| Composer | Sofya Gubaydulina | Софья Губайдулина |
| Sound Operator | Georgiy Martynyuk | Георгий Мартынюк |
| Script Editor | Arkadiy Snesarev | Аркадий Снесарев |
| Editor | Lyubov Georgiyeva | Любовь Георгиева |
| Voice Actors | Sergei Martinson (1, 2, 3, 5) L. Lyubetskiy (1, 5) Lyusyena Ovchinnikova (1) Stepan Bubnov (1, 2, 3) Anatoliy Papanov (1, 3, 5) Lyudmila Kasatkina (1, 2, 3, 5) A. Nazarov (1, 5) V. Ushakov (2, 3) Maria Vinogradova (2, 3) V. Bubnov (2, 3) Yuriy Khrzhanovskiy (2, 3) T. Dmitriyeva (2, 3) Klara Rumyanova (2, 3) L. Lyubetskiy (3) A. Shabarin (3) Lyusyena Ovchinnikova (5) |
Сергей Мартинсон Л. Любецкий Люсьена Овчинникова Степан Бубнов Анатолий Папанов Людмила Касаткина А. Назаров В. Ушаков Мария Виноградова В. Бубнов Юрий Хржановский Т. Дмитриева Клара Румянова Л. Любецкий А. Шабарин Люсьена Овчинникова |
| English Voice Actors | Ian James Corlett Sam Elliott (Kaa) |
See also
- History of Russian animation
- List of animated feature-length films
- List of Russian films
- The Cat Who Walked by Herself, a later Soviet feature film based on a Kipling story
