Square, White Negro and the Beatles, or Whom Mowgli Met on Route to the Village
Abstract
The creators of the film The Jungle Book (dir. Wolfgang Reitherman, 1967), creating the image of the film ape, modelled it on the character of Louis Armstrong, to whom the character owes his name and nick name of the King of Swing (the idea of engaging the jazzman for the role of King Louie was abandoned in fear of protests of the NAACP). In turn the film vultures were inspired by The Beatles. The mentioned characters are identified with musical trends (jazz and rock) that are associated with counterculture (beatniks and hippies). Given other references to the American culture present in the film and its clearly conservative character, one has to ask whether the story about Mowgli is not the story of the contemporary dilemmas of young viewers. The author discusses the allusions present in The Jungle Book to the culture of the period, analyses the work in the context of social changes of the 1960s in America, and describes the way black people were portrayed in American animation of the time, which adds to the argument dealing with the controversy surrounding the character of King Louie.
Keywords:
Wolfgang Reitherman, animation, Louis Armstrong, The Beatles, raceReferences
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Authors
Kamil Kościelskikwartalnik.filmowy@ispan.pl
University of Wrocław Poland
Absolwent filmoznawstwa na Uniwersytecie im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu. Obecnie doktorant Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego. Autor książki „Cóż za wspaniały dzień na egzorcyzm.”. Amerykańskie kino grozy przełomu lat 60. i 70. oraz artykułów opublikowanych w „Journal of Scandinavian Cinema”, „Kwartalniku Filmowym” i „Przestrzeniach Teorii”.
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