Treasures of Soviet Animation Vol. 4: Roman Davydov’s The Adventures of Mowgli (Limited Edition) [Blu-ray] [US]

The 4th installment in our series of newly restored gems from the Soyuzmultfilm studio features one of the most visually stunning animated films ever made in Russia, or anywhere.  Director Roman Davydov’s utterly glorious adaptation of Kipling’s The Jungle Book was originally released as 5 separate short films between 1967 – 1971 titled “Raksha,” “The Kidnapping,” “Akela’s Last Hunt,” “The Fight” and “Return To Mankind,” and then combined into a single feature.  Frankly, this puts the better-known Disney version to shame with its phenomenal colors and highly stylized designs:  enormous ebony-black elephants thunder in the darkness, monkeys chitter with glowing green eyes at a row of stunning death's-head cobras, and a splendid, bejeweled peacock spreads its feathers like an emerald and ruby crown.  (Episode 1 of MOWGLI was actually released in 1967 just before Disney’s feature version.)  There are numerous other differences as well:  here, Bagheera is a lithe female panther (voiced by famed Russian actress Lyudmila Kasatkina); Baloo, an Asiatic black bear (voiced by Stepan Bubnov); Tabaqui, the cowardly minion to tiger Shere Khan (voiced by Anatoliy Papanov) is a golden jackal as in the original story.  The astonishing climax with Mowgli and his wolf pack facing off in a ferocious battle against a horde of wild dogs, is one of the viscerally thrilling animated sequences ever put on film.  Newly restored by Craig Rogers for Deaf Crocodile.  In Russian with English subtitles.

Special Features

• New cover artwork by Haleigh Buck
• 60-pg. Illustrated booklet
• New essay by film critic Walter Chaw
• New essay by film historian Jennifer Barker
• New audio commentary by filmmaker & animator Dorian Saisse
• New visual essay by film historian Evan Chester
• New video interview with Soviet animation historian Maria Tereschenko
• New artwork and graphic design by Beth Morris
• Blu-ray authoring by Vital Passenger

Feature Film © Soyuzmultfilm / TwelveP Animation FZ LLC, under license to Deaf Crocodile Films 2025.  Bonus Features © Deaf Crocodile Films 2026.