Bagheera
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This article does not cite any references or sources. (December 2007) |
| Bagheera | |
|---|---|
| The Jungle Book character | |
 Bagheera and Mowgli, as shown in the 1895 edition of The Two Jungle Books |
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| First appearance | "Mowgli's Brothers" |
| Last appearance | "Letting in the Jungle"? |
| Created by | Rudyard Kipling |
| Information | |
| Nickname(s) | Baggy |
| Species | Panther (Indian Leopard) |
| Gender | Male |
Everybody knew Bagheera, and nobody dared to cross his path; for he was as cunning as Tabaqui, as bold as the wild buffalo, and as reckless as the wounded elephant. But he had a voice as soft as wild honey dripping from a tree, and a skin softer than down.
Bagheera is a black panther (black Indian leopard) who is a fictional character in Rudyard Kipling's Mowgli stories in The Jungle Book (coll. 1894) and The Second Jungle Book (coll. 1895). The word Bagh (बाघ) means tiger in Hindi.
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Character history [edit]
Born in captivity in the menagerie of the Rajah of Oodeypore, India, Bagheera begins to plan for his freedom after his mother dies. Once he is mature and strong enough he breaks the lock on his cage and escapes into the jungle, where his ferocity and cunning win him the respect of all its other inhabitants, except Shere Khan the tiger (likely out of his arrogance). Bagheera reveals all this to Mowgli later. None but Mowgli ever learn that Bagheera once wore a collar and chain, explaining the cat's special insight concerning Men.
When Father Wolf and Mother Wolf of the Seeonee (Seoni) wolf pack adopt the human "cub" Mowgli and the pack demands that the new cub should be spoken for, Bagheera buys Mowgli's life with a freshly killed bull and helps to raise him as one of the pack. Because his life has been bought by a bull, Mowgli is forbidden to eat cattle (coincidentally, just as the Hindu villagers of the region are also forbidden).
Bagheera shares in many of Mowgli's adventures as he grows, but eventually the time comes when the man-cub becomes a man and has to return to human society. Bagheera frees Mowgli of his debt to the wolf pack by killing another bull, and Mowgli returns to his adopted human mother Messua.
Bagheera is one of Mowgli's mentors and best friends. He, Baloo and Kaa sing for Mowgli "The Outsong" of the jungle.
Media portrayals [edit]
In the animated Russian version Adventures of Mowgli Bagheera is portrayed as female. This may be related to the fact that the Russian word for "panther" is a feminine noun, and a name ending with 'a' is considered to be a female name in the Russian language (a male panther would have been named Bagheer). An episode shows she has three cubs, one black and two yellow with rosette patterns. Bagheera is portrayed as friendly, loyal, trustworthy, protective, and cunning, yet somewhat tricky.
In Disney's adaptation, Bagheera the panther was, as in the book, male, and voiced by Sebastian Cabot in English. The Panther was portrayed as a clever, serious and responsible character, quite similar to the Bagheera in the novel, except that in the novel Bagheera spoiled Mowgli more. In the film, it is Bagheera and not the wolves who first finds Mowgli, a young village child and he is the one who takes him back to the village. During the movie, Bagheera often argues with Baloo, for he knows that as long as Shere Khan is in the jungle, the jungle is not safe for Mowgli despite all Baloo's attempts to protect him. Bagheera is also the narrator of the movie's story.
Bagheera is also one of the major characters left out of the TaleSpin series which used several Jungle Book characters. However, many of Shere Khan's soldiers and pilots are black panthers very similar in style to Bagheera.
In the prequel cartoon series, he was the youngest member, and is often made fun of by his friends, especially the bully Shere Khan. He was also called "Baggy". Like Shere Khan, he too had British accent in the 1967 film, but ended up having American accent in this series.
In the second film, he reappears as the serious Bagheera. He, with the help of Colonel Hathi's troops tries to prevent Baloo from reaching the man village. When the villagers try to find Mowgli, he suspects that Baloo has brought him back (he was right). Baloo hides Mowgli from him, making Bagheera believe that he was not with him. After Shere Khan was trapped, Mowgli meets him again. Near the end of the film, Ranjan was shown playing with Baggy's tail. At first Bagheera was scared, but later enjoyed playing with him, while Mowgli and Baloo sing the reprise of The Bare Necessities.
In some Disney comics drawn in Italy, Bagheera is depicted as a female non-anthropomorphic animal movie star, loosely based on her animated movie appearance. Originally all black, she has white body parts. She enjoys signing autographs to her fans and eating pistachio-flavored pet food, being vegetarian.
In the song "Bagheera" by Blues Traveler, he is depicted with blood stained fur drinking at the bar, counseling a young man-cub about his choice to live as man or as a free creature. He remembers when he was in the midst of his decision to live with the world of Man or to return to the jungle and be free. The line says "some say if you could have seen him then, you would have noticed a tear fall from his majestic eye.
In the comic book series Fables, Bagheera appears as one of the characters living in exile on the Farm in upstate New York. He participates in the farm uprising and, along with the other "Kipling" fables, he assists Goldilocks in tracking down Reynard the Fox. Bagheera actually succeeds in tracking down Reynard, though the Fox manages to escape from him. It is implied Bagheera's primary motivation for capturing the Fox was to show up Shere Khan after Khan arrogantly rejects Bagheera's offer of help. After the uprising is defeated, a remorseful Bagheera agrees to imprisonment rather than forced labor. However, as he reveals to Mowgli, he has the memory of urinating on the deceased Shere Khan's grave to amuse himself.
A Swedish play version of The Jungle Book spoofed the confusion of Bagheera's sex in the media by portraying him as a transvestite.
Voices of Bagheera [edit]
- Sebastian Cabot (The Jungle Book)
- Dana Delany (Adventures of Mowgli)
- Arthur Grosser (Jungle Book Shōnen Mowgli)
- Bob Joles (The Jungle Book 2, The Jungle Book Groove Party)
- Jim Cummings (The Jungle Cubs: Born to Be Wild, singing voice in The Jungle Book Groove Party)
- Elizabeth Daily and Dee Bradley Baker (Jungle Cubs)
See also [edit]
External links [edit]
Media related to Bagheera at Wikimedia Commons
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