Baloo, the true star of "The Jungle Book".
The Encyclopedia of Walt Disney's Animated Characters: From Mickey Mouse to Hercules by
John Grant
Walt Disney Character Description of Baloo from "The Jungle Book" (1967)
It had been originally planned that Baloo should have no more than a cameo role, but the animators (Ollie Johnston was largely responsible for him) found Phill Harris's vocalization fascinating to work with and so in due course Baloo became one of the movie's major stars. Indeed, in terms of popularity and screen presence, he is the main star of The Jungle Book, eclipsing even Bagheera, whose role is much more fundamental to...
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