Rudyard Kipling’s tale of how the elephant got its trunk has always delighted with its playful use of language. Never has there been a more satisfying rendering of this “Just So” story, which explains what the world was like “in the beginning of years when the world was new and all…”. Illustrated by Tim Raglin.
Director: Mark Sottnick.
Writers: Rudyard Kipling, Mark Sottnick (adaptation), Joel Tuber (adaptation).
Stars: Jack Nicholson (narrator).
Wow, Jack really gives ol’ Sterling Holloway a run for his money here — although frankly I might still ultimately prefer Holloway’s rendering & the Disney illustrations , maybe just because I grew up with the book & record & had the book pictures taped up on my childhood bedroom walls! … People love to rip on Kipling nowadays, but you can’t say the guy didn’t know how to tell a good (if fatuous) tale … Deserved the Nobel Prize for that if you ask me!