"Look behind you, chum."
- The vultures try to cheer up Mowgli with a barbershop quartet song that's just really okay, until Shere Khan gets into the action with a terrifying bass voice at the end of it.
- The vultures themselves get a moment of awesome in the climatic battle. They not only successfully get Mowgli to safety, but they also attack and successfully distract Shere Khan long enough for Mowgli to tie a burning branch to his tail, despite being afraid of him earlier on.
- Just Shere Khan. An effective villain, and he doesn't even show up onscreen until about 47 minutes into an 80-minute movie. The voice is not only perfectly terrifying when he finishes counting to ten, but the tiger sounds like a bored gentleman of high society. While making life hell for the heroes.
- Baloo gets an awesome moment himself. Despite being terrified of Shere Khan, he's willing to face him down to protect Mowgli and refuses to let go of his tail. Even getting his rump bitten, he still refuses to let go of Shere Khan! And even when it looks like he's been clawed to death by Shere Khan, it turns out he was only knocked unconscious. Three cheers for Papa Bear!
- Baloo and King Louie's Scatting duet: Phil Harris and Louis Prima really ramp it up and the result is fantastic.
- "Look behind you, chum."
- Colonel Hathi's wife Winifred, who is somewhat awesome for a minor character in her own right, has her own Moment of Awesome. When Bagheera tries to convince Hathi to help search for Mowgli, Hathi at first refuses, but then Winifred breaks ranks and stands up to her "pompous old windbag!" husband in order to convince him to assist in the search, even threatening to take over command of the herd if he refuses to do so.Winifred: This has gone far enough! Far enough! Now just a minute, you pompous old windbag!
Hathi: Winifred! What're you doing out of ranks?
Winifred: Never mind! How would you like to have our boy lost and alone in the jungle?
Hathi: Our son? Lost and alone...? But, Winifred, old girl, that's an entirely different matter!
Winifred: Hmph!
Hathi: Different. Entirely.
Winifred: That little boy is no different than our own son. Now you help find him or I'm taking over command!- Truth in Television: Elephant herds are matriarchal. Winifred isn't just threatening to take over; she's actually in charge, just letting her husband lead. She's not going to take control if he doesn't help; she's going to take control back.
- Bagheera slapping Kaa moments before he eats Mowgli. Even better is that it's clear Bagheera knows that Kaa's a force not to be taken lightly but still slapped him nonetheless.
- Kaa tries to hypnotize Shere Khan, who simply slaps a choke-hold on the python.Shere Khan: (completely unfazed) I can't be bothered with that, I have no time for that sort of nonsense.
- Shere Khan's scene with Kaa in general is an Awesome moment. Kaa is the most direct and active threat against Mowgli at that point, whereas all we've heard of Khan is rumors. Then Khan starts basically running mental loops around Kaa, putting full Sugary Malice on display, and Kaa becomes an anxious mess that only barely keeps his head long enough to hide Mowgli away until Khan leaves. The game of one-upping each other basically ends in a stalemate, where Shere Khan isn't able to get any useful information out of Kaa but Kaa is clearly thrown off his guard and out of sync. This is the moment where you realize the threat discussed for the previous two-thirds of the movie was no joke, and Shere Khan doesn't even raise his voice during the whole scene.
- Just the fact that Louie nearly saved his temple from falling apart is pretty impressive, on top of being hilarious: it was leaning completely over to one side after he and Baloo accidentally destroyed one of the pillars holding it up. He gets under it and lifts the whole temple back into position by himself!
- In the development of Shanti's scene, Ken Anderson and the Sherman Brothers developed their takes on the scene independently. One day after lunch, Ken invited Bob and Dick to his office and presented the storyboards of the scene. To the brothers, this was a magnificent case of Contrived Coincidence as the storyboards matched up with their song "My Own Home," with the same thing happening to Ken. When they played it to Walt while presenting the storyboards, Walt was impressed and simply said "Let's do it."
- One of the most understated but powerful moments of the film is Bagheera and Baloo's conversation in which the former finally convinces the latter of the severity of the situation. Even before this, we get this exchange:Baloo: Oh, stop worryin', Baggy. Stop worryin'. I'll take care of him.Bagheera: Yes, like you did when the monkeys kidnapped him, huh?Baloo: Can't a guy make one mistake?Bagheera: Not in the jungle!
- The moment Bagheera mentions Shere Khan, Baloo quits messing around completely and immediately snaps to attention. When Bagheera says Shere Khan hates man's fire and gun, Baloo desperately says that Mowgli doesn't have such weapons, but Bagheera plainly states that Shere Khan won't give Mowgli a chance to get them. Bagheera also tells Baloo that just one swipe from Shere Khan will kill Mowgli which thoroughly unsettles Baloo, who begins fearing for his own life as well as Mowgli's. He's immediately on board with whatever Bagheera says is best for Mowgli, and sadly realizes what it means. The scene is only a few minutes long but it's a powerful moment of development for Baloo and maybe even audience members sympathetic to Mowgli's desire to stay in the jungle - if Baloo is responsible enough to realize Mowgli must go, then he really must go.Baloo: Wh-what are we gonna do?
Bagheera: We'll do what's best for the boy.
Baloo: You better believe it. You name it and I'll do it.
Bagheera: Good! Then make Mowgli go to the man village.
Baloo: Are ya outta your mind?! I promised him that he could stay here in the jungle with me!
Bagheera: W-well, that's just the point! As long as he remains with you, he's in danger! So it's up to you.
Baloo: Why me?!
Bagheera: B-b-because he won't listen to me!
Baloo: [sniffing] I love that kid. I love him like he was my own cub.
Bagheera: Then think of what's best for Mowgli and not yourself!
- The moment Bagheera mentions Shere Khan, Baloo quits messing around completely and immediately snaps to attention. When Bagheera says Shere Khan hates man's fire and gun, Baloo desperately says that Mowgli doesn't have such weapons, but Bagheera plainly states that Shere Khan won't give Mowgli a chance to get them. Bagheera also tells Baloo that just one swipe from Shere Khan will kill Mowgli which thoroughly unsettles Baloo, who begins fearing for his own life as well as Mowgli's. He's immediately on board with whatever Bagheera says is best for Mowgli, and sadly realizes what it means. The scene is only a few minutes long but it's a powerful moment of development for Baloo and maybe even audience members sympathetic to Mowgli's desire to stay in the jungle - if Baloo is responsible enough to realize Mowgli must go, then he really must go.
