It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

I felt compelled to comment on a little film I found lurking around youtube because, aside from it's ludicrously lame material, it oozes potential as something that could be brilliant incorporated into a future full length film. Rikki-Tikki-Tavi is an admittedly inspired adaptation of a pretty silly and insensate fable from The Jungle Book by master animator Chuck Jones. It follows the story of a mongoose who gets rescued by a family of rich European colonists and gets named the short animated film's title. Just the family's luck in timing, they acquire the animal that's known for being successful at defeating venomous snakes right at the same moment some cobras, for no logical reason other then maybe not adopting Rikki's fruit-a-vore diet even though nature suggests otherwise, start causing trouble. When Rikki isn't busy attempting to eliminate India's indigenous snake population, he's talking to birds and muskrats (instead of eating them), snuggling by his master the young boy who discovered him, and being consistently successful in deterring the deadly evil snakes. He of course gets constant praise, and the film's tone never changes. He fights he wins, he fights he wins, he fights and, wait for it...he wins. The message ends up being: snakes are evil, and animals that are naturally capable of killing them are heroes. Appropriately Rikki has an annoying voice that makes him sound like some buff superhero. The characterization's of protagonists and antagonists seem to be dictated on the general consensus of how cute and warm blooded the animals are, and killing solves everyone's problems. Okay, the real problem with the film is it's core idea of sympathizing with British imperialism, but that's not enough reason to write the film off; because you don't agree with it's ideology. However, the film's simple-mindedness messes with it's impact and makes it empty. It's a quickie short without a heart, and has no appeal except for it's oddness and nostalgia; it's better off left in the books. I'm one of the lucky ones to not have encountered this cynical little tale in my childhood.

Based on Rudyard Kipling's classic tale, this 1975 version of Riki-Tikki-Tavi is one I remember with great fondness from my childhood. You can't go wrong with a Chuck Jones cartoon narrated by Orson Welles. It's a well crafted tale exploring the meaning of friendship set in turn-of-the-century British Colonial India. At only one half hour long, the story moves quickly.I recently had the opportunity to watch it again and was just as entranced as I was as a child, although I had remembered the "scary" and "sad" portions as being much longer and more tension filled than they turned out to be this time around. It's enough to make you want to go live in India just for the chance to have a house mongoose of your very own.

I remember watching this in the early '90s as a little girl. It would occasionally appear on Nickelodeon.I had completely forgotten about it until several years ago, when I received The Jungle Book for Christmas.With the book, I became reacquainted with "Rikki Tikki", as well as "The White Seal".This was my first exposure to Rudyard Kipling, although I didn't know it at the time.Because of this cartoon, and others, I became quite a fan of Kipling and still am to this day.Wonderful movie that brings out the four-year-old in me.

This movie makes a great children's movie for any home or educational setting. The great narration, character voices, and music lend itself to an entertaining and informative video that all kids truly enjoy. The minimization of violence and the accuracy of what happens in nature promote fine discussions on bravery, fantasy, foreign culture, etc, etc, etc.