Jungle Book or Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book is a 1942 independent Technicolor action-adventure film by the Korda brothers, loosely adapted from Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book (1894). The story centers on Mowgli, a feral youth who is kidnapped by villagers who are cruel to the jungle animals as they attempt to steal a dead king's cursed treasure. The film was directed by Zoltán Korda and produced by his brother Alexander, with the art direction by their younger brother Vincent. The screenplay was written by Laurence Stallings. The film stars Indian-born actor Sabu as Mowgli. Although the film is in the public domain, the master 35mm elements are with ITV Studios Global Entertainment. An official video release is currently available via The Criterion Collection.
The cinematography was by Lee Garmes and W. Howard Greene and the music was by Miklós Rózsa. Because of World War II, the Korda brothers moved their filmmaking to Hollywood in 1940, and Jungle Book is one of the films they produced during that Hollywood period. The film was a commercial success at the box office.
