Now and then throughout your life journey, you will likely come across a person, place, item, or event that reminds you of something from your childhood. These different reminders may happen more than once, but point you to the same memory from your formative years. For me, a few of these reminders harkened back to a jazz piece that has become one of my favorite Disney tunes – and a favorite of many other amateur and professional musicians.
Copyright Disney.wikia.com
Simian Summary
King Louie the orangutan sings I Wanna Be Like You, composed by Sherman brothers Robert and Richard for Disney’s 1967 animated film, which is based on Rudyard Kipling’s novel, The Jungle Book. In the song, Louie laments his lot in life and tries to get kidnapped man-cub Mowgli to tell him how to make fire so he can increase his status from monkey to man, but Mowgli is not aware of such things, having grown up in the jungle. Louie’s monkey minions are his backup singers for the parenthesized lyrics below.
Now, I’m the king of the swingers, oh, the jungle VIP
I’ve reached the top and had to stop and that’s what’s botherin’ me
I wanna be a man, man-cub, and stroll right into town
And be just like the other men, I’m tired of monkeyin’ around
Oh, oobee doo (hoopdeewee), I wanna be like you-hoo-hoo (hapdeedoobydoowop)
I wanna walk like you (cheep), talk like you (cheep), too-oo-oo (weebydeebydeewoo)
You’ll see it’s true (shoobedeedoo), an ape like me-e-e (scoobeedoobeedoobeep)
Can learn to be human too-oo-oo!
Now, don’t try to kid me, man-cub, I made a deal with you
What I desire is man’s red fire to make my dream come true
Now gimme the secret, man-cub, come on, clue me what to do
Give me the power of man’s red flower so I can be like you
(Bagheera the Panther and Baloo the Bear secretly arrive and plan their rescue. Baloo joins the party in disguise and scats alternately with Louie, then they sing in tandem below.)
Yoo-hoo-hoo! (hoopdeeweep), I wanna be like you-oo-oo (hapdeedoobedoobop)
I wanna talk like you (cheep), walk like you (cheep), too-oo-oo (weebadeebadoodop)
You’ll see it’s true-oo-oo (Shoobeedeeboo), someone like me-ee-ee (scoobeedoobeedooweep)
Can learn to be like someone like me
Take me home, daddy!
Can learn to be like someone like you
One more time! Yeah!
Can learn to be like someone like me
Baloo loses his disguise at the end of the song, forcing him and Baggy to step up their rescue. Louie and his lackeys resist. Hijinks ensue as the rescue attempt causes the destruction of Louie’s beloved palace.
As a kid, I first heard the tune on a vinyl record, so for a few years I had no idea of the action that was taking place. I did my best to follow what the characters (and narrator) were saying, and although I was too young to know what jazz was, I knew I liked that tune a lot! The Sherman brothers had done their job well.
Brass Bombshell (The Lesson)
Approximately 15 years later I was playing in a local brass band and was pleasantly surprised to see a swingy arrangement of I Wanna Be Like You in our folders. I was probably still learning about British brass bands at the time, and I guess I had not seen much jazz for that type of ensemble until then. Very cool!
Louie’s Legacy (The Epiphany)
Fast forward about five more years. I bought my first Louie Prima CD. I’d certainly heard of him by then, thanks to my growing familiarity with swing jazz and Benny Goodman’s popular big band arrangement of Louie’s hit Sing Sing Sing, but I’d never really bothered to actually listen to any recordings of Louie singing. His voice sounded strangely familiar, but I didn’t place it until a few years later.
I remember that it hit me like a pan-galactic gargle blaster. Holy crap! He was King Louie! The Disney animators even had those monkeys parading around the palace in a follow-the-leader style as they played, just like Louie Prima used to do with his band!
Sardine Surprise (The Reminder)
Some 20 years later I’m attending a performance of a jazz combo called the Hot Sardines, who were on tour from New York City. Lead singer and founding member Miss Liz was born and raised in France, which means her fans will always hear a handful of tunes in French. During one of their sets, she did exactly that with I Wanna Be Like You. This was a nice reminder that popular tunes, be they Disney inspired or otherwise, are heard all around the globe.
After they rocked the house with her French rendition, she said that she grew up learning Disney tunes just like most other kids, and it was years before she realized that “those animals could sing in English.”
Cover Crooners
In fact, King Louie’s tune is so popular that plenty of other artists have attempted to make it their own:
- Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (1999)
- Smash Mouth (2003)
- Jonas Brothers (2007)
- Los Lobos (2009)
- Katie Waissel (2010)
- Lucy Woodward (2010)
- Robbie Williams (2013)
- Fall Out Boy (2015)
- Raphael Gualazzi (2016)
- Tessa Violet (2016)
- Christopher Walken (2016)
Taking nothing away from Baloo’s feature piece Bear Necessities (another swing tune), I can honestly say that the talented Disney musicians and composers who worked on The Jungle Book expanded my young mind with the assistance of a big, furry ape, and helped make me who I am today.
To quote Baloo: “Well man, what a beat!”
Do you have a favorite song from an animated film?
What song from your childhood has stood the test of time?
Leave a comment below!