Rikki-Tikki-Tavi

It starts around 3:38. The deadly cobras are whispering to each other "... when the bungalow is empty, we will again be King and Queen of the Garden..." Rikki-Tikki-Tavi the brave mongoose will have to stop them.

I saw this when I was a kid and the image of that cobra wrapping himself around the basket and hiding in the bathroom has stayed in my brain for, oh I don't know, probably the last 20 years. I believe the story takes place in India. The bungalow, with its outdoor garden, gazebo and tiled floor was my first introduction to life in hot climates. The exotic vases, the latticework, the sitar in the soundtrack, all of it has stuck in my mind after all of these years. I love the story by Rudyard Kipling, the animation by Chuck Jones, and the fact that someone thought this would be a good cartoon. And the soundtrack, full of ominous beeps, tones and echoes, is both fitting and unexpected. But I think the voiceover, by Orson Welles, is the coup de grace that puts Rikki-Tikki-Tavi on my list of brilliant works.