We have several Disney versions of the story. Thet're cute, colorful, and fun to read. Rudyard's original tale is not cute or fun to read. The dialogue has been over the girls' heads so often I'll have to explain it and reread it even for myself to grasp. The subject matter is also a little hard, as life in the wild usually involves prey and pedator, life and death and suffering.
What got me was the ending. I didn't realize it was such a short story, as it is actually a collection of jungle stories. Disney had me thinking Mowgli still had to dance with the monkeys, when the story stoppied so abruptly on a very emotional note. How emotional? I was bawling, trying to read the last page. The girls stared at me as I wiped away tears and tried to read through them. Evie comforted me, hugging me and saying, "That's ok mom, sometimes movies make me cry."
What Disney fails to tell is the meat of the story. True love. Real rejection. Heartbreak. Real life. I appreciate the actual story now that it's read. Life is not all sunsets and roses. People really do love and get rejected in real life. Sometimes doing what is right hurts. As Mowgli cried the first tears in his life I joined in - the story just begs for empathy on this little boy's plot in life.
This also made me think about children's Bible stories. How they water down the real events so children are, in a sense, protected from the harshness of life. Lately we've been going through first and second Samuel at church. Words used to describe the most recent stories od David and his son Absolom are: plot, murder, intrigue, anguish, sorrow.
In my cush american life with the Disney stories and children's Bibles, it is refreshing to read the Real Story. Real love sacrifices, real love hurts, but in the end it is real love that saves us and someday we will see our True Love once again.
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