"Trust in me." - Kaa
This exceptional hand-painted production cel from Walt Disney's The Jungle Book (1967) captures a wonderfully memorable moment between Mowgli and the hypnotic python Kaa during the musical sequence “Trust in Me.” The cel features Mowgli in profile, his eyes closed as he appears to succumb to Kaa's mesmerizing influence, while the enormous snake coils and extends into the composition from above. Kaa's distinctive patterned body and expressive eyes create a dramatic contrast against the lush, hand-painted jungle background. The image is especially striking for its unusual composition, emphasizing Mowgli's vulnerability as Kaa looms overhead and quietly works his hypnotic spell.
“Slowly and surely, your senses will cease to resist... You're snoring.” Kaa sings his hypnotic song to Mowgli in this incredible production cel from The Jungle Book. This particular image can be spotted at approximately the 56:36 mark of the film, where it appears upside-down relative to the cel's display orientation, during the sequence featuring the song “Trust in Me.” The song, also known as “The Python's Song,” was composed by famed Disney songwriters Robert and Richard Sherman and performed by Sterling Holloway, whose wonderfully distinctive voice made Kaa one of Disney animation's most memorable characters. A studio stamp and handwritten notation are also visible in the lower-right area of the cel, adding further visual interest and emphasizing its character as an original piece of animation production artwork.
Released in 1967, The Jungle Book was the nineteenth animated feature film produced by Walt Disney Productions and was inspired by Rudyard Kipling's book of the same name. Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, the film was the last animated feature personally worked on by Walt Disney, who passed away during its production. The story follows Mowgli, a feral child raised by wolves in the Indian jungle, as he encounters such unforgettable characters as Bagheera the panther and Baloo the bear, who attempt to convince him to leave the jungle before the fearsome tiger Shere Khan finds him. The remarkable voice cast included Phil Harris, Sebastian Cabot, George Sanders, and Louis Prima, along with Disney regulars Sterling Holloway, J. Pat O'Malley, and Verna Felton. Reitherman's son, Bruce Reitherman, provided the voice of Mowgli.
Shere Khan, the powerful Bengal tiger, and Kaa, the cunning python, serve as two of the principal antagonists in Disney's adaptation of Kipling's stories. Kaa's scenes are particularly memorable because of his combination of menace and comedy, as well as Sterling Holloway's unmistakable vocal performance. Holloway had previously established another beloved Disney character with his voice work as Winnie-the-Pooh, and it is difficult to imagine another performer bringing quite the same combination of charm, softness, and sly humor to Kaa. Kaa also shares several characteristics with Sir Hiss from Disney's later Robin Hood: both snakes employ hypnosis and both ingratiate themselves with their respective stories' principal villains. Their appearances and personalities differ, however, with Kaa serving as a massive jungle python while Sir Hiss is smaller, differently colored, and famously wears a cape and hat.
The animation of Kaa was divided between two of Disney's greatest animators. Frank Thomas animated Kaa's entrance sequence, when the python first encounters Mowgli and nearly succeeds in eating Bagheera. Later in the film, Kaa was animated by Milt Kahl, whose interpretation of the character may be the more iconic because of the longer sequence featuring “Trust in Me” and Kaa's celebrated encounter with Shere Khan. Kahl's animation gave Kaa an especially expressive and distinctive personality, combining graceful movement with the character's deceptively gentle manner and predatory intentions.
Mowgli himself was brought to life through the work of several artists. Bruce Reitherman not only supplied the character's voice but also acted out scenes as live-action reference for the animators. While numerous animators contributed to Mowgli's performance, Milt Kahl established the character's final design, and much of Mowgli's animation was handled by the legendary team of Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. This remarkable combination of artists helped make Mowgli feel unusually natural and believable, particularly in scenes where the young boy interacts with the jungle's larger-than-life animal inhabitants.
Director Wolfgang “Woolie” Reitherman was one of the most important figures in the history of Disney animation. He began working for Walt Disney in 1934 alongside future Disney legends Ward Kimball and Milt Kahl, and the three contributed to a number of classic animated shorts, including The Band Concert, Music Land, and Elmer Elephant. Reitherman worked on Disney feature films from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs through The Fox and the Hound, where he served as co-producer. Beginning with 1961's One Hundred and One Dalmatians, Reitherman became Disney's chief animation director, directing such beloved features as The Sword in the Stone (1963), The Jungle Book (1967), The Aristocats (1970), Robin Hood (1973), and The Rescuers (1977).
Reitherman's contributions to Disney extended beyond feature films. One of his productions, the 1968 short Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. His three sons—Bruce, Richard, and Robert—also contributed voices to Disney productions. Bruce voiced Mowgli in The Jungle Book, while other members of the family provided voices for such characters as Christopher Robin in Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree and Wart in The Sword in the Stone.
This production cel therefore represents far more than a beautiful image from one of Disney's most beloved animated features. It captures the work of an extraordinary generation of Disney artists and performers, including Wolfgang Reitherman, Milt Kahl, Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, Bruce Reitherman, Sterling Holloway, and the Sherman brothers. With its atmospheric jungle setting, unusual composition, and depiction of Mowgli falling under Kaa's hypnotic spell, the cel preserves a memorable moment from the wonderfully strange and suspenseful “Trust in Me” sequence—a classic example of the artistry, personality, and visual storytelling that made The Jungle Book an enduring Disney masterpiece.
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