That's What Friends Are For (The Vulture Song) facts for kids
That's What Friends Are For (The Vulture Song) is a fun song from the 1967 Walt Disney movie, The Jungle Book. A group of four "mop top" vultures sing it to Mowgli, who is the main character in the film.
The song was written by famous Disney songwriters, Robert and Richard Sherman. The main singers were J. Pat O'Malley, Lord Tim Hudson, Digby Wolfe, and Chad Stuart. You can also hear Bruce Reitherman as Mowgli and Thurl Ravenscroft as Shere Khan the tiger in parts of the song.
How the Song Was Made
Walt Disney asked the Sherman Brothers to work on The Jungle Book. He thought the movie was a bit too serious, like Rudyard Kipling's original book. So, he wanted them to add lighter, more cheerful songs.
"That's What Friends Are For" is a good example of this. The vultures sing in a barbershop quartet style. This makes their song sound friendly to Mowgli. But if you listen closely, the lyrics have hidden meanings about how vultures eat other animals!
From Rock to Barbershop
Did you know this song was first planned as a rock and roll song? The vultures were even designed to look like The Beatles. They had "moptop" haircuts and spoke with mock-Liverpool accents. The idea was for The Beatles to voice the vultures, but it didn't happen because of their busy schedules.
Later, Walt Disney decided that a 1960s rock song might sound old-fashioned in the future. So, the song was changed to the barbershop quartet style you hear in the movie today.
