When most people sit down to a classic children's story tale, they usually do not look for any hidden meanings. They simply want to relax and enjoy themselves with a warm, often make-believe, fictional narrative. However, if readers were to take a closer look into the pages of some of 1907 Nobel Prize winner Rudyard Kipling's literary works, they might find themes that reflect imperialism, the practice of extending policies of political and economic dominion over foreign countries.
Rudyard Kipling was introduced to these policies by the imperial British Empire. He was born December 30, 1865 in Bombay, India, which at the time was a British colony. At the age of six, he was sent to school in England under the care of a foster family. Throughout
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While both Rudyard Kipling and Walt Disney's versions reflect imperialism, they do so in different ways. Kipling tells the story of British colonialism, while Disney shows American imperialism. Although Kipling's original message is still obscured by the fact that it was written as a children's book, his promotion of imperialism is directed more at a particular British “possession” in line with Britain's open approval of colonization. Disney, however, remains discrete and subtle as it covertly supports political imperialism of a more general nature. In fact, in my opinion, Disney disguised their internal intents so well that, initially I believed that Disney's animated version of The Jungle Book incorporated fewer imperial themes than Kipling's. However, in reality, Disney simply masks the imperialist themes by ignoring a specific locale of its stories and characters, advocating the spread of democracy during the time period of the U.S.'s involvement in world affairs. By remaking Kipling's classic tale into their own, Disney is able to present America's new broader version of global imperialism, with hopes of gaining approval and support from its audiences