U.A. Four… out Geyer Springs way… That's where it all started. I'd say I was 4 or 5… probably 4. First time to the theater. It was a big day! Already a Disney fan from watching The Wonderful World of Disney every Sunday night, and today: The Jungle Book! A typical Saturday, Mom needs to run errands, so she drops us off at the afternoon matinee. Sounds crazy now, but back in the mid-70s that was just how it worked. :)
The minute that kid came on to screen kicking those rocks… I was hooked. The animation that felt like it was improvising along with the music. "The Bare Necessities" bouncing through the theater. King Louie tearing the temple apart. And then that fight with Shere Khan and Baloo taking blow after blow to protect Mowgli, going down, and not getting up.
I cried. Like a blithering idiot. I'm only a child for crying out loud. Right through Bagheera's eulogy for the best friend a man-cub ever had. And then, because The Jungle Book is the kind of movie that loves you back, Baloo's eyes pop open, he starts critiquing his own funeral, and by the time he's beboppin' back through the jungle at the end, I was crying all over again.
That was the door. Years later I'd land behind the counter at Movieland, where a little commune of us pop culture obsessives each staked out our own genre kingdoms — a story I've already told in It Came From Movieland. But Movieland is where the obsession grew up. *The Jungle Book* is where it was born. Everything since traces back to a bear who wouldn't stay down and that crazy King of swing.
The Set
So yeah, this one's personal. The Jungle Book Funko Pop Set of 4 brings the whole
- Baloo (#1474) — the big gray heart of the movie, exactly as easygoing as you remember
- Bagheera with Basket (#1475) — the long-suffering panther who did all the worrying so Baloo didn't have to, basket and man-cub cargo included
- Hathi Jr. (#1476) — the littlest member of the Dawn Patrol, all ears and enthusiasm
- King Louie on Throne (Deluxe, #1491) — the King of the Swingers himself, holding court from his crumbling temple throne
That deluxe Louie is the anchor piece and the other three arrange around him like the movie arranged itself around that temple number.
Protected Like They Matter
Every figure in this set ships in a Blue Salamander Emporium protector case. The ones we designed ourselves, because the flimsy stuff wasn't good enough for the collections we care about. Crystal-clear, sturdy, and made to keep that box crisp whether these live on your shelf for the next decade or get tucked away as an investment.
Because here's the thing about a set like this: it's not really four vinyl figures. It's a Saturday afternoon in a theater seat you were too small for. It deserves better than shelf dust and dinged corners.
Bring the Jungle Home
If The Jungle Book was your first movie too, you already know. And if it wasn't… well, look for the bare necessities. The simple bare necessities. This set's one of them.
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