Rikki-Tikki-Tavi

1975 ended the Cricket series, but it also launched the three Rudyard Kipling adaptations that Chuck Jones made between 1975 and 1976. These three specials are among the best of Jones’ work, capturing both the darkness of the original stories and providing a template for Jones’ artistry to go wild.

The first of these three specials, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, is twenty-five minutes of sheer excellence from top to bottom. The simplicity of backgrounds and shapes jettisoned here in favor of a more realistic animation style. I never knew traditionally animated cobras could be so frightening, but between the menace of Orson Welles and June Foray’s vocal intonations and their ominous, supple animation, that’s exactly what I thought in these moments.

Even better is the stylistic choices to display Rikki-Tikki-Tavi’s swiftness, as his entire body transforms into elongated lines, stretching and shrinking back to its natural size. It’s a hypnotic effect, and put into great effect during the numerous scenes of tension and danger in which Rikki fights with the snakes antagonizing his adopted family. This body warping effect is also used in moments of mischief and discovery, used for more comedic effect in these moments, but working just as well.

Jones perfectly captures of feeling of Kipling’s work, bringing out both the charm and the danger lurking beneath the surface. Much of Welles’ narration is straight from the text, and Welles’ voice wraps around the lines beautifully. His origins in radio drama makes him a perfect voice actor for animation, and this only makes one wish he did more of it. Jones was smart to bring him in, just as he was smart enough to know when to play the story straight and when to get flashy in his artistic choices.

Introducing the villain, Nag the cobra, as an inky black blob undulating against the bright sun alerts us to the stakes that will unfold as the story progresses. We begin in simplistic, cutesy methods, with Rikki playing cute and sweet and getting more ferocious as we go along. Even better is the shock of colors (red, yellow, and white) that flash across the screen during Nag’s death scene with only the pattern of his hood remaining clearly visible. The tensest moment comes late in the story as Nagaina, the female cobra, threatens to strike against the human child that Rikki has befriended. No flashy animation tricks here, just still human characters, a patient cobra, and Foray’s disturbed voice work that sounds like her chords were sandpapered heavily before she walked into the recording booth.

I remember watching this several times as a child, and it still holds up. It’s one of Chuck Jones’ late-period masterpieces, and one of the best Jungle Book adaptations. As scary as it is enchanting, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi is a wonderful piece of work.