Assimilation. That is the essence of author Rudyard Kipling's brilliantly epic The Jungle Book which tells the story of a human raised among the animals in the jungles on India. Kipling himself was caught between two cultures, British and Indian, and in stories such as Gunda Din and The Man Who Would Be King, his cross culture views are front and center. However, it is in the pure innocence of The Jungle Book, which now and forever is associated with the 1967 Disney film, that Kipling harnesses the simple (yet complex) notion of belonging.
The Goodman Theatre, in association with Disney Theatrical Productions (and our friend Thomas Schumacher) has in many ways gone back to basics in Kipling's book. Under the magical eye of the incomparable Mary Zimmerman, The Jungle Book, with the familiar Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman score, takes its place as one of the greatest adaptations of a Disney animated film since Julie Taymor's groundbreaking The Lion King (and yes, comparisons are necessary and inevitable). In many ways, Ms. Zimmerman and Ms. Taymor view their projects in a similar fashion, which is why there is more of an emotional investment in their properties then some of the others (ie: Tarzan and The Little Mermaid).