As a kid, I liked watching The Jungle Book because it was a production where the main character Mowgli would interact with animals typically found in the jungle. It was fun and entertaining but I didn’t find a hint of racism (not that I knew what is was back then) when I watched it.

There’s this particular scene where King Louie, who has met with Mowgli, is singing the jazz song “I wan’na be like you.” As he is singing the lyrics of the song, he also sings “Doo-Doot-Doot-Doo-Doot-Deel.” But in jazz music, this type of singing has a term: Scat Singing. Scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables and nonsense syllables. Jazz music is an African-American classical music genre. Has the writer done this on purpose considering that King Louie is an ape? I believe there’s a subliminal association made between African Americans and apes.

In the subsequent scene, King Louie offers and gives Mowgli two bananas while displaying three fingers on his left hand. I wonder if this was also done on purpose to deliver the notion that African-Americans are ignorant or uneducated.

Throughout the clip, there are a few more scenes that appear to be racist but are hidden within the acceptable norms of society. King Louie sings “I wan’na be like you” maybe because he wants to be looked as a man; as someone normal, and not someone who is sub-human.

Wolfgang Reitherman, Walt Disney. “The Jungle Book.” Walt Disney Productions. October 18, 1967.