Rikki-Tikki-Tavi

Rikki-Tikki-Tavi (1975) starring Orson Welles, June Foray

Rikki-Tikki-Tavi – a wonderful cartoon, telling Rudyardd Kipling’s tale of the mongoose saving his adopted human family. By the great Chuck Jones.

[opening narration]
Narrator: This is the story of the great war that Rikki-Tikki-Tavi fought single-handed through the bathrooms of the big bungalow in Sugauli cantonment in India. Darzee, the tailorbird, helped him. And Chuchundra, the muskrat, who never comes out in the middle of the floor but always creeps around by the wall, gave him advice. But Rikki did the real fighting. 

[first lines] Teddy: Here’s a dead mongoose. Let’s have a funeral! 

Rikki-Tikki-Tavi is an absolutely wonderful cartoon. With beautiful animation, and a great cast of voice actors, it faithfully tells the story of a small mongoose named Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. After nearly being drowned, he’s rescued by an English family, living in India. He “adopts” the family, and becomes their protector against a pair of very deadly cobras.

His fight against the male cobra, Nag, is both exciting and nail biting. And then, the cobra’s mate decides upon revenge …

I won’t say more, except to say that the story is well done, and faithful to Rudyard Kipling’s original story. It’s an absolutely delightful cartoon, and I recommend it highly.

[last lines] Teddy’s Mother: He saved our lives and Teddy’s life. He saved all our lives. 

[closing narration]

Narrator: Rikki had a right to be proud of himself. But he did not grow too proud. And he kept that garden as a mongoose should keep it, with tooth and jump and spring and bite till never a cobra dared showed its head inside the wall. 

Cast of characters

• Orson Welles (The Stranger, The Third Man) … Narrator / Nag / Chuchundra (voice)
• June Foray (Mulan, Who Framed Roger Rabbit) … Nagaina the Cobra, Wife of Nag / Teddy’s Mother / Darzee’s Wife (voice)
• Les Tremayne (The Monolith Monsters, The Angry Red Planet) … Father (voice)
• Michael LeClair (The Executioner’s Song) … Teddy (voice)
• Shepard Menken (This is America Charlie Brown) … Rikki-Tikki-Tavi the Mongoose / Nag / Chuchundra (voice)
• Lennie Weinrib (H. R. Puffnstuff) … Darzee the Tailorbird (voice)