How Disney’s Jungle Book Almost Included The Beatles (And Why It Didn’t)

Disney’s animated The Jungle Book movie almost included The Beatles, but the popular band opted out of the planned song. During the 1960s, Walt Disney Animation began work on an adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s 1894 book of the same name. The movie ultimately became the final one from Disney that Walt Disney personally worked on prior to his death. Once The Jungle Book was released in theaters in 1967, it became a massive success.

The Jungle Book follows the story of a young boy named Mowgli who was raised in the wilderness by a pack of wolves. Once he is a bit older, Mowgli becomes a possible target of the tiger Shere Khan and is forced to leave the jungle behind to keep everyone else safe. With the help of a bear named Baloo and a black panther named Bagheera, Mowgli begins a journey to a nearby man-village before turning back to save the jungle from Shere Khan. The Jungle Book is regarded as one of many Disney animated classics and includes another popular musical number from Disney’s library in “The Bare Necessities.” However, The Jungle Book could’ve included a song from The Beatles.

During the development of The Jungle Book, Robert and Richard Sherman wrote the song “That’s What Friends Are For.” The musical number is given to a quartet of vultures in the story who sing it while trying to make Mowgli believe that they are harmless. Although J. Pat O’Malley, Lord Tim Hudson, Digby Wolfe, and Chad Stuart were the performers who sang “That’s What Friends Are For” in the end, Disney originally approached The Beatles about singing the song. Their version of the song was planned to be more rock and roll.

The possibility of The Beatles performing a song in The Jungle Book would’ve brought together two of the biggest names in entertainment. The Beatles were well-established as the premier name in music at the time and were entering their final years together. The Jungle Book was still wildly popular without The Beatles, but the movie and its soundtrack undoubtedly would’ve been more successful if The Beatles were attached. They wouldn’t have just sung “That’s What Friends Are For” either, as the vultures have small speaking roles in the movie that John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison would have voiced.

Even though The Beatles opted out of doing the song for The Jungle Book (reportedly due to scheduling), the movie didn’t totally ditch their influence. The song was changed to have a barbershop quartet feel to it, but the vultures themselves are quite similar to them. They have the mop-top haircuts The Beatles are known for and have voices that clearly mock the Liverpool accents of the band. All of this would’ve been much more noticeable if The Beatles appeared in The Jungle Book as planned, but it instead becomes a clever reference to the band’s one-time involvement. Jon Favreau even tried to get McCartney and Starr to cameo as a way to reimagine the original idea.

About The Author

Cooper Hood
(5619 Articles Published)

Cooper Hood is a news and feature writer for Screen Rant. He joined Screen Rant in late 2016 following a year-long stint with MCU Exchange, which came after first developing an MCU blog of his own. He graduated college in 2016 with a Bachelor’s degree in Media & Public Communication, with a minor in Media Production. Cooper’s love for movies began by watching Toy Story and Lion King on repeat as a child, but it wasn’t until The Avengers that he took an invested interest in movies and the filmmaking process, leading him to discover the world of film journalism. Every year Cooper looks forward to seeing the latest blockbusters from the likes of Marvel, DC, and Star Wars, but also loves the rush to catch up on Oscar films near the end of the year. When he isn’t writing about or watching new releases, Cooper is a fantasy football obsessive and looking to expand his Blu-Ray collection – because physical media is still king! Follow Cooper on Twitter @MovieCooper.

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