Movies - TV
The Jungle Book Emergency That Forced Disney To Recast Mowgli
By SANDY SCHAEFER
In Disney's animated "The Jungle Book," the role of Mowgli was to be played by David Alan Bailey, who had roles "Dennis the Menace," "Bewitched," and "The Andy Griffith Show."
Unfortunately for Bailey, he was struck by that all too common enemy of child actors everywhere: puberty. The role was recast with Bruce Reitherman.
Reitherman explained to The Guardian in 2013 that his dad, Wolfgang Reitherman, was the director. He realized his 11-year-old son was the solution to a quick replacement.
"The makers wanted someone who sounded very innocent to play Mowgli, to soften the parts where [...] he might come across as a petulant teenager,” Reitherman said.
It took four years to make an animated film in the ‘60s, and a child actor would become an adolescent before completion. After his voice changed, Bailey had to be replaced.