Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) was a British author best known for a series of works set in colonial India or with related themes. These include the novel Kim, the poem "Gunga Din" (later loosely adapted for film), the stories collected in The Jungle Book, and more. Following his foray into conversational animal prose with Jungle Book, Kipling authored Just So Stories, which presented tales of how animals, their traits, or other entities originated (including the alphabet).

For Disney's 2016 live-action/CGI version of The Jungle Book, Jim Henson's Creature Shop provided puppet versions of the animal characters as reference for compositing their CGI animated counterparts into the final film.

References

• In an At the Dance segment from the first season Muppet Show episode episode 109, one dancer asks their partner if they like Kipling. The reply: "I dunno, I never Kippled."

• The fifth season Fraggle Rock episode "The Gorg Who Would Be King" references Kipling's 1888 story The Man Who Would Be King.

• The fifth season Muppet Babies episode "The Pig Who Would be Queen" is another reference.

• The stories in the Sesame Street book Grover's Just So-So Stories are patterned on Just So Stories (i.e. "How the Camel Got His Hump.") Grover's stories are "How the Monster Got His Fur" and "How the Honker Got His Honk."

• In a Sesame Street sketch featuring Kermit the Frog, Smart Person, Kermit describes a beast called The Great Grey-Green Greasy Wubba Wubba Monster. This refers to the Just So Stories tale "The Elephant's Child" which features the great grey-green greasy Limpopo River.

• In the Farscape episode "Jeremiah Crichton," John Crichton calls Rygel the "slug who would be king."

Connections

• For connections related to the Mowgli stories, see The Jungle Book

• Michael Caine played Peachy Carnehan in The Man Who Would Be King(1975 film)
• Uwe Friedrichsen played Karl Bergen on Elephant Boy (1972, TV series)
• John Gibbs animated on Rikki-Tikki-Tavi and The White Seal (both 1975, TV)
• Mickey Rooney played Dan in Captains Courageous (1937 film)
• Fritz Weaver played Harvey Cheyne, Sr. in Captains Courageous (1977, TV movie)
• Orson Welles narrated Rikki-Tikki-Tavi (1975, TV)