At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

I never saw this until today. I remember reading the book & enjoying it greatly. Like another viewer, I felt sorry for the mamma snake, she just wanted to protect her babies. But, She also wanted to kill the whole family. I sort of got a view of it in real life. My cat, Orbs, brought home a baby rattlesnake & was playing Rikki-Tikki-Tavi with IT. I managed to grab her & my dad killed it & buried it. I felt sorry for that one too. He was just minding his own business when my crazy cat abducted him.

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.

As a fan of cartoons, I hold "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" to a high regard. When I saw this working in day care last summer, I instantly remembered this classic cartoon, even though I hadn't seen it in over ten years.Chuck Jones, the genius behind "Cricket in Times Squae" and "Looney Tunes" capitalizes on the popular story by Rudyard Kipling. A mongoose named Rikki-Tikki-Tavi lives with his British family in India in the 1800s, and protects his young master from two deadly cobras, who slither into the family's home in the middle of the night.The animation, though corny, is delightful, mainly because I was young during a time when cartoons didn't need to be one in 3D on a computer to amuse me. Simple animation has always been in good taste to me. This is one of those gems that kids today may or may not appreciate, because of the recent successes of films like "Shrek" and "Toy Story 1 and 2," which rely on computer animation. Don't get me wrong, I love these computer animation-based flicks, but I also love the simple classics too.My favorite part is when Rikki-Tikki-Tavi fights off the cobras. I loved how the cobras talked, stressing their s-es. ("And we'll attack while he's s-s-s-sleeping.")This is a GREAT film for an educational setting, because it teaches students about culture, plus it is too much fun to watch, plus it is cute. Take it from this 19-year old, see "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi," and get to know a great animator's work. Chuck Jones may be gone, but his legacy lives on in his animated classics. This is one of them!

This was a cartoon I would absolutely fear watching as a child, but I still watched it with fascination and awe every year during its brief network run. An excellent adaption of the Kipling classic, and a fine example of animation as storytelling. Well worth the purchase, though the snakes are remarkably frightening--again, courtesy of Chuck Jones' genius--so, it may be a little too 'tense' for some children.