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.

SPOILERS To be honest, actually, I am kind of nervous commenting on Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. Maybe it is because I have not seen this television movie in a long time, two years to be exact. Luckily this tale is memorable. You will not forget a film like this for the rest of your life when you see this. The plot is also pretty simplistic. This is also quite close to the facts. I mean, despite the fact that mongooses and cobras do not talk, mongooses do have some sort of grudge against cobras, and they do indeed kill them. I also can not believe that Orson Welles narrated this. First War of the Worlds, now this.Here is the plot of this "tale." When a family moves to India they find a mongoose that has almost drowned. They nurse it back to health. They then keep it as a pet. They name it Rikki. After a battle with a snake the family discovers that Rikki can protect them against snakes, which is a good thing since two dangerous cobras named Nag and Nagaina want to kill the family. In the family's bathroom one night Rikki catches Nag and the father of the family kills him. Nagaina is not too happy with that. She threatens the family. Rikki finds out a way to kill Nagaina. He does kill her, but they do not show it. He and the family live happily ever after.Overall, this is a fantastic tale of a mongoose and a family and a cobra. This is also quite dark in some sort of way. I mean, two cobras want to kill a little mongoose and a little boy and a family. I also like the climax with Rikki and Nagaina. They have a fight in a hole. You do not see the fight, and it is very suspenseful. You are worrying if Rikki will come out of the hole alive. You also have to wait for about ten seconds. Anyway, this is a great television show that you must watch. It is a great film for the whole family.9/10Recommended Films: The Jungle Book.

Technically, yes, this is a dark tale. And it can be a little frightful to some children. But I wouldn't worry. There is a happy ending. I remember watching this when I was a child. Not in 75, more like '90 or '91. Sorry, just wanted to make that clear. :D But I loved this cartoon. It was so interesting to me. Sometimes it scared me a little. But even when I was a kid, I loved scary stories. So, I would highly recommend for adults and kids. But if the kids scare easy, you might want to warn them. But also read the book. Yes, even though I am adult now, I still enjoy these classic cartoons. It's a great one.10/10

I remember being so excited when I would learn this was going to be on. This and the White Seal were two of my favorites. I feel sorry for kids now days who don't have this sort of anticipation. Now they have them on video and can watch them whenever they like. Part of loving x-mas was that Frosty and Rudolph and the Grinch were going to be on. I haven't seen this in a long time, but since this was created for children I will rate this as I would as a child. It was scary and the snakes posed a real threat. It was incredible that such a sweet fluffy animal would be so deadly. I love this film as I love most things Chuck Jones has done.