King Louie facts for kids
Quick facts for kids King Louie |
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| The Jungle Book character | |
King Louie singing "I Wan'na Be Like You".
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| First appearance | The Jungle Book |
| Created by | Milt Kahl, Frank Thomas, John Lounsbery, and Walt Disney |
| Voiced by | Louis Prima (The Jungle Book) Jim Cummings (TaleSpin, The Jungle Book Groove Party) Jason Marsden (Jungle Cubs season 1) Cree Summer (Jungle Cubs season 2) Christopher Walken (2016 live-action film) |
| Information | |
| Species | Bornean orangutan Gigantopithecus (2016 film) |
| Gender | Male |
King Louie is a fun and memorable character from Walt Disney's 1967 animated movie, The Jungle Book. He is an orangutan who leads a group of other monkeys in the jungle. King Louie wants to learn how to make fire, hoping it will make him more like a human. He tries to get this secret from Mowgli, the "man-cub."
Unlike many characters in the film, King Louie was not in Rudyard Kipling's original The Jungle Book stories. He was voiced by the famous musician Louis Prima in the 1967 movie. Later, Christopher Walken voiced King Louie in the 2016 live-action The Jungle Book film.
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Creating King Louie
Even though Disney's The Jungle Book is based on Kipling's stories, King Louie does not appear in the original books. This is because orangutans, the type of ape King Louie is, do not naturally live in India, where the stories take place.
The popular jazz and swing performer Louis Prima was chosen to be the voice of King Louie. When Prima auditioned in 1966, his lively performance with his band gave the animators many ideas. Three of Disney's main animators, Milt Kahl, Frank Thomas, and John Lounsbery, also helped give King Louie his unique personality. They animated his funny interactions with Mowgli and his famous song and dance scenes.
King Louie in TaleSpin
King Louie also appears in the Disney animated TV show TaleSpin. In this series, he is a fun-loving orangutan who wears a Hawaiian shirt and a straw hat. He owns a nightclub, restaurant, and hotel called "Louie's Place." This spot is located near the city of Cape Suzette and is also a place where pilots can refuel their planes. Louie is a good friend to Baloo, another character from The Jungle Book, though they sometimes like to compete with each other.
King Louie in Jungle Cubs
In the Disney animated TV show Jungle Cubs, Louie is shown as a young orangutan. He is Baloo's best friend in this series too. Louie is very active and loves to spend his time in trees, often eating bananas. In the show, he is sometimes called Prince Louie because he dreams of becoming the king of the jungle one day. He gets very excited whenever he finds any objects made by humans.
King Louie in the 1994 Live-Action Film
A slightly different version of King Louie appeared in Disney's 1994 live-action film. In this movie, he is still an orangutan and leads a group of monkeys. They live in an old, abandoned human city. At first, he acts like a rival to Mowgli. However, he later becomes friendly after seeing Mowgli defeat Kaa, the python.
Louie is also seen cheering for Mowgli during a big fight between Mowgli and Captain William Boone. After Mowgli wins, Louie happily claps for him, showing his approval.
King Louie in the 2016 Live-Action Film
Christopher Walken voiced King Louie in Disney's 2016 live-action film. This version of Louie is shown as much more serious and even a bit scary compared to the original. In this movie, he is a Gigantopithecus, which was a very large, extinct species of ape. This change was made because orangutans are not native to India.
In the film, Louie offers Mowgli protection from Shere Khan, the tiger. In return, he demands to know the secret of how to make fire. Louie and his group of monkeys, called the Bandar-log, plan to use fire to take over the jungle. While he seems friendly at first, Louie quickly becomes mean and impatient. He refuses to believe Mowgli when Mowgli says he doesn't know how to make fire.
