SHERE KHAN
FROM "THE JUNGLE BOOK"
AND
SCAR
FROM "THE LION KING"
I really couldn't choose who I liked better between these two. While they both have very different motivations, as well as different methods of carrying out their goal, they to me always seemed kind of similar to each other since they're both wild animals from the feline family that both carry a personality that's classy and deadly, as they rule a part of Africa; whether it's under the title King, or based around fear and reputation. Plus these deadly felines are both voiced by British actors! It can't get anymore similar then that! To make things fair, just like what I did when tied up villains like Don Barzini and Hyman Roth from "The Godfather Saga", and both Max Cady's from the original and remake of "Cape Fear" on my list of "Top 20 Favorite Villains"; I'm going to give each of these two villains their own separate post, and start out with the villain that came first. So with my reasons and the rules regarding these two tied villains being laid out, let's start with the feline who was the first to spread fear and rule the jungles of Africa...
SHERE KHAN
WARNING: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS!
I previously mentioned Shere Khan as being one of those Disney's villains that's not in the film long, but still leaves this everlasting impression on you, when I talked about Oogie Boogie being my 24th Favorite Disney villain. And as much as Shere Khan still has the same exact screen-time as Oogie does (Not counting the appearances of Oogie's shadow), the film has actually been building up to him since the beginning, instead of him being suddenly built-up in the middle of the film, or the beginning of the third act (Like the Queen Of Hearts, for example). We never caught so much as a glimpse of him before his first on-screen appearance, but the way the characters fearfully speak about Shere Khan's hatred towards man and how he will mercilessly kill any man he sees no matter how small and helpless they are, you find yourself just as intimidated by him as the characters are! Just read some of these lines!
"Shere Khan will surely kill the boy, and all who try to protect him."
"Even the strength of the (Wolf) pack is no match for the tiger."
"He hates man. And Shere Khan is not going to allow you to grow up to become a man... just another hunter with a gun."
"No one explains anything to Shere Khan"
"He hates man with a vengeance."
"He'll get Mowgli while he's young and helpless. Just one swipe--"
He sounds like a brutal force to be reckoned with who will kill any human being he meets with extreme prejudice from the moment he has a chance!
When we finally do see him after hearing all this talk about how deadly and vicious he is, his overall on-screen presence doesn't disappoint our expectations. The first time we ever see Shere Khan on-screen is when he's sneaking around in the tall grass, as he's getting ready to pounce on his victim...Bambi's Mother (no seriously, I'm NOT making this up; that's really Bambi's Mother!). Even though he doesn't say so much as a word when we first meet him, you know just by looking at his cold heartless stare, and his stealthy movements with that eerie music playing in the background, that he's as dangerously cold blooded as the characters have build him up to be. And despite that Bambi's Mother does get away (mainly because she's not supposed to DIE in this movie), I still to this day find myself sighing with relief after all the tension that this scene creates. But as happy as I am to see Bambi's Mother live another day (by the way, what was she doing in the jungle anyway? Ahhh never mind) thanks to the Elephant patrol; Shere Khan soon learns that the man-cub Mowgli is loose in the jungle, by joyfully listening in to the patrol's conversation with Bagheera as he can't wait to tear the lost man-cub to shreds.
Voicing this deadly tiger that seeks vengeance upon man is Oscar Winning Actor George Sanders. And rather than playing his character out to be as mean and nasty as you would expect him to be based on the build-up and his silent introduction (Until the Elephant Patrol scare away his prey); he's very sophisticated, who speaks in a polite soft-spoken voice with a friendly smile that comes across as charming and welcoming, while still maintaining his intimidating and deadly approach! He's the type of villain who is so confident of how much of a threat he is to the animals that fear him in the jungle that he has no fear or limitations for when he goes out hunting for his prey. Even when he finally encounters the man-cub that he's been hunting for (after interrupting the Vultures song to Mowgli by closing the song with his powerful deep singing voice provided by Thurl Ravenscroft, and applauding the Vultures for their "Extraordinary performance") he shows no signs of fear towards Mowgli nor any signs of anger and hate when he greets him. He instead politely introduces himself to the man-cub, comments on his bravery for acknowledging who he is and not running away from him when he could easily be sliced up within a second, and awards Mowgli a 10 second head start for his courage! But while still coming across as elegant, his polite words and mannerisms still come off as patronizing, as his bloodthirsty motivation to kill the man-cub still remains since he has the man-cub right where he wants him with nowhere to run too, no place to hide, and no one with physical strength that can out match him! It's the confidence that the villain has about himself that makes him so interesting and fun to watch.
My favorite scene in the move that perfectly combines both of his traits of being a savage beast hunting for vengeance, and being a high-class subtly taunting feline, is when he asks Kaa the Snake for answers. He gets Kaa's attention by pulling his tail as if he's ringing a door-bell (which comes complete with a door-bell sound effect), and humbly announces himself to Kaa, as well as apologizing if he's interrupted anything. He obviously suspects that Kaa has the lost man-cub in his coils as opposed to making a friendly visit, but rather than asking Kaa straight out if he has the man-cub or not, he instead nicely asks if Kaa is singing to someone trapped in his coils, to eventually bringing up about the lost man-cub that he's heard about in a casual way, to suddenly talking Kaa into showing him his coils to make sure that he doesn't have the man-cub in his possession (which Kaa successfully fools him into believing so). What's great about Shere Khan's interrogation with Kaa is, while he successfully maintains his friendly approach, he still finds ways to threaten Kaa by making him nervous in hopes for him to spill the beans, such as choking him, poking and scratching his claws (that pop out like a pair of switchblade knives) around Kaa's face and neck, and even avoids Kaa's attempt to hypnotize him by quickly using his large paws to slam Kaa's face to the ground. And the nervous reactions that Kaa has on his face throughout the whole scene while he desperately tries to keep the man-cub hidden as Shere Khan smiles menacingly at him, as comical as they are, they’re still filled with so much fear and terror of Shere Khan's presence, knowing that the minute when Shere Khan finds out that he's been lied too, he'll suddenly kill him without hesitation. And given that Shere Khan already sense's a lot of bull in Kaa's excuses due to the way he nervously reacts when he responds to his simple questions, he too seems ready to stick his claws right through Kaa's neck at any time. It's a great scene involving these two merciless villains, that's suspenseful, but still has more than enough comedy to prevent it from being too dark thanks to the comical delivery from the actor voicing Kaa Sterling Holloway.
After all this screen-time of Shere Khan taunting, threatening, and interrogating animals as he hunts for the man-cub, as much as we get a perfect sense of how dangerous he is, we never see him viciously attack anybody in the process. But once we get to the climax after Shere Khan rushes Mowgli's 10 second head start for trying his patience, that's when he loses all his charm and grace as he completely launches into the wild and dangerous man killing animal that he is, with his ferocious roar, razor sharp claws and teeth, and quick and slick movements. And have it not been for Baloo to grab Shere Khan's tail at the right moment, Mowgli would have FOR SURE been dead. And despite that Mowgli doesn't get a scratch on him when he encounters Shere Khan during the battle, Baloo (for helping Mowgli) consequently gets a taste of Shere Khan's claws and teeth instead, which looks and sounds incredibly painful, as well as nearly killing Baloo if it weren't for Mowgli's actions of tying Shere Khan's tail to a branch full of burning flames, which is one of the things that he fears the most!
Aaaaand if there is one down side to this villain; it’s hands down his defeat. Even though it's been developed that he hates man's fire, the concept of tying a flaming branch to a villain as strong and ferocious as Shere Khan is a very anti-climatic way for him to go. It just seems more like something you would do to either weaken him, or distract him, before giving him the final blow. It never felt like that it should have been his overall defeat. It even begins to rain when he's out of sight; obviously he didn't burn to death given the short of amount of time it took for the rain pour down after he vanished. Why didn't he just turn around and finish the job? Is he really too much of a wimp to simply go back and face Mowgli again, knowing this time that he doesn't have fire or his bear friend protecting him? I just don’t buy it! In the film's sequel as terrible and 100% pointless as it is, if there was one thing that it did better than the first film it would be how Shere Khan gets defeated. He becomes trapped inside a statue's mouth in a collapsing temple where he now finds himself stranded on a large stone in the middle of a boiling lake of lava! That's how you defeat a dignified villain like Shere Khan! It's clear that the Disney animation studios at the time didn't have a budget for a defeat like that (I mean look at the many times the film recycles its own animation, as well as animation from other Disney films), but could they at least have a burning tree fall on him or something. I just have a hard time accepting the defeat that the studio went with (even as a kid). Originally there was going to be a hunter (that was taken from the novel that the film was loosely based on) who forces Mowgli to take him to a lost city full of gold, who would in the end be killed by Shere Khan, as Mowgli would then kill Shere Khan with the gun that the hunter carries. But Walt Disney abandoned the idea since it was considered to be too heavy for a Disney animated flick. Now I'm not saying that I blame Walt for removing that ending for being too violent and heavy for a comical family film, but personally I would have taken that dark ending over this embarrassing demise of a great villain!
However, as much as I find Shere Khan's defeat to be incredibly weak (especially when compared to the many other great defeats that Disney villains have suffered before this film was made), Shere Khan was the first famous feline in the family of Disney Animal villains to have ever roamed and ruled the jungles of Africa! The talk's about him that build-up to his presence are suspenseful. His design is intimidating. His skills to fight against animal and man are deadly! And his overall balance of being calm and yet so sinister along with his confidence of how lethal he is to everyone around him, are all what helped gain this fearless feline his power and respect in the jungle, as well as gaining a spot on my list.
"Everyone runs from Shere Khan"
-Shere Khan
TUNE IN SOON FOR PART 2
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