in teaching Mowgli the ways of mankind. Jason Flemyng as Lieutenant John Wilkins, a soldier in Brydon's battalion and Boone's close friend. Stefan Kalipha as Buldeo, an outlaw who knows about the ancient ruins. He is also the man responsible for provoking Shere Khan and causing the death of Mowgli's father Nathoo. Ron Donachie as Sergeant Harley, a brutish soldier who sides with Boone in the mutiny. Anirudh Agarwal as Tabaqui, a ruthless jungle guide working for Boone. He shares the same name as a golden jackal in Kipling's stories, who was Shere Khan's henchman. Faran Tahir as Nathoo, Mowgli's father who served as a guide for Colonel Brydon until he was killed by Shere Khan. This was also Tahir's film debut. Trained animals Casey as Baloo, a male black bear who was rescued by Mowgli as a cub and his best friend among the animals. Shadow as Bagheera, a wise male black panther who took Mowgli to be raised by the wolves and watches over him. Shannon as Grey Brother, a male Indian wolf that Mowgli had since childhood and has been his closest companion. Lowell as King Louie, a male orangutan who is the leader of a community of monkeys in the ancient ruins. Bombay as Shere Khan, a male Bengal tiger who is the keeper of the jungle law. Unlike most versions where he is the villain, he is a neutral force of nature in this film. Kaa is portrayed by both a computer-generated and an animatronic python, as well as a trained anaconda. Other trained animals included monkeys, Indian elephants, camels, horses, zebus, and wolves. The sounds used for the monkeys were actually those of chimpanzees and siamangs. KNB FX Group crew member Shannon Shea doubled for Baloo in certain shots in an animatronic bear suit. Production Pre-production Raju Patel, an Indian producer, figured the 100th anniversary of Kipling's "Jungle Book" stories publication should be commemorated with a film adaptation. On June 7, 1993, The Walt Disney Company secured distribution rights for the movie in the United States, the United Kingdom, the Nordics and Benelux; in exchange for providing half of the production budget and funding, estimated between $15 to 20 million. In other countries, MDP Worldwide (Mark Damon's company) was the sales agent for the film rights. Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg saw the potential of adapting the animated classic and assigned Ronald Yonver and Mark