Baloo the Segregationist
Baloo the bear is used to show Kipling’s imperialistic views on Indian natives. Baloo, Mowgli’s mentor, describes “monkey people” as leaderless and disorderly:
“I have taught thee [Mowgli] all the Law of the Jungle for all the peoples of the jungle–except the Monkey-Folk who live in the trees. They have no law. They are outcasts. They have no speech of their own, but use the stolen words, which they overhear when they listen, and peep, and wait up above in the branches. Their way is not our way. They are without leaders. They have no remembrance. They boast and chatter and pretend that they are a great people about to do great affairs in the jungle, but the falling of a nut turns their minds to laughter and all is forgotten. We of the jungle have no dealings with them. We do not drink where the monkeys drink; we do not go where the monkeys go; we do not hunt where they hunt; we do not die where they die.”
King Louie from 1967’s Jungle Book
The character King Louie did not originate from the pages of Kipling’s original book. The ape in the 1967 animated film had bad language skills. The character created in the 1960s reinforced negative stereotypes of Black inferiority in regards to intelligence and speech. The character sang “I Wanna Be Like You” to the orphaned human boy Mowgli.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F9hVU35d70&nohtml5=False
