Baloo

Baloo is a Big Grey Bear From The Jungle Book.

The Jungle Book (1967 film)
Baloo is first seen eating and taking a stroll in the jungle when all of a sudden, he sees the strangest thing. Baloo takes a closer look at this "thing" and the boy slaps him in the nose. He tells Baloo to go away, eventually starting to punch and kick, although Baloo cannot even feel it. He does the boy a favor and begins teaching him how to fight. Eventually, the boy and Baloo become friends, and the boy's name is revealed to be Mowgli. Bagheera, who is watching Mowgli, is ready to take him back to the Man Village. Baloo offers Mowgli the opportunity to stay with him, which he accepts gladly, but Bagheera does not. Baloo then begins to teach Mowgli about "The Bare Necessities". Baloo teaches Mowgli about eating ants and relaxing. He tells him to never work hard and to not waste time looking around for something he may want but cannot be found.

During a nice swim down the river, Mowgli is kidnapped by monkeys. Baloo tries to fight them off to save his "bear cub", but they taunt him and escape, taking Mowgli with them. Baloo shouts for Bagheera. The two know exactly who is responsible for this, and they head off. The plan was from none other than King Louie, king of all primates. Louie desires the power of Man, and wants to create Man's "Red Flower". He asks Mowgli, who he tries to convince by singing "I Wanna Be Like You". Mowgli claims he does not know, but Louie refuses to believe. Baloo and Bagheera devise a plan; while Baloo distracts the monkeys, Bagheera will rescue Mowgli. Baloo dresses as a female orangutan and dances with Louie. They are discovered after Baloo's costume falls apart, and a chase begins. The ruins begin to collapse just as Baloo, Bagheera and Mowgli make their exit, leaving Louie at his destroyed kingdom.

That night, Baloo and the others rest. Bagheera takes the time to explain why Baloo cannot adopt Mowgli as his son. Baloo is reluctant to listen until the mention of Shere Khan, the tiger who seeks to kill Mowgli only because he is a human. Baloo sadly agrees to take Mowgli, knowing it will save his life. In the morning, Baloo and Mowgli begin to travel to the village, although Mowgli does not know where they are going. Baloo tries to break the news gently but becomes angry when Mowgli speaks ill of Bagheera. Mowgli then runs away heartbroken and bitter, and Baloo and Bagheera separate to find him. Baloo then regrets at what he done and he never forgives himself if something happened to Mowgli.

Baloo searches in the wasteland home of the vultures, and just in time, as Shere Khan and Mowgli are about to battle. Baloo grabs Khan's tail, holding him back a bit. The tiger spins in circles with Baloo holding on until they wrap around a tree where Shere Khan faces Baloo's behind and, in a fit of anger, takes a massive bite into Baloo's rump, causing him to yelp loudly in pain. Soon, Shere Khan starts clawing him to death. Mowgli scares Khan away with fire, and when all seems well, darkness falls on Mowgli as Baloo lies unconscious and presumed dead. Just as Bagheera and Mowgli depart, Baloo awakens, revealing he is alive and reunites with Mowgli. During their trip back into the jungle, Mowgli becomes enchanted by a beautiful girl from the Man Village and follows the pretty maiden to the village. Baloo, initially imploring Mowgli to come back to him, eventually lets him go, and he and Bagheera return to the jungle, singing "The Bare Necessities" together.

The Jungle Book 2
Some time after the events of the first film, Baloo is seen in the jungle creating a dummy version of Mowgli. He attempts to sing with it but begins to realize, Mowgli is gone. Depressed, and anxious to see Mowgli, Baloo sneaks towards the Man-Village, only to be confronted by Bagheera and Colonel Hathi. They attempt to stop Baloo from going any farther, but the bear makes an escape with the help of Hathi's son.

That night, Baloo sneaks into the village and reunites with Mowgli. Unfortunately, Mowgli's sweetheart Shanti begins to panic at the sight of Baloo, a wild animal. The villagers rush to the scene, while Baloo and Mowgli escape to the jungle. Once in the safety of the jungle, Baloo is informed of the "tortured" life of the villagers. To steer away from the village life, Mowgli and Baloo reprise "The Bare Necessities". The next morning, Baloo is informed by Bagheera that the villagers are in the jungle searching for Mowgli. After Bagheera departs, Baloo and Mowgli head to King Louie's Palace, which to the jungle animals is a popular hot spot, to hide.

There, Baloo tells the animals of the "horrid" village. Mowgli begins to feel sorrow, showing that he misses his village and his girlfriend. At the mere mention of Shanti, Mowgli leaves the palace and heads into the jungle. Baloo goes out looking for him, and spots Mowgli reuniting with Shanti, accompanied by Mowgli's adoptive brother Ranjan. Earlier that day, Baloo and Mowgli had advised a plan to scare Shanti off if she happens to find them. Following the plan, Baloo proceeds to scare Shanti. She learns that Mowgli planned the scare and storms off.

Feeling angry and regretful for what Baloo had done, Mowgli rushes off the find Shanti and Ranjan. He finds them, but also finds Shere Khan. Mowgli and Shanti are pursued by the tiger while Ranjan hides. Ranjan runs into Baloo and alerts him of Shere Khan. Baloo and Shanti later put aside their differences and rush to the rescue, where they find themselves in the ancient ruins. Together, Baloo, Mowgli, and Shanti attempt to confuse Khan by banging on gongs, until Shanti's collapses. Khan heartens to kill Shanti unless Mowgli reveals himself. He follows Khan's orders, and a chase follows. Baloo tries to stop Khan to no avail, and the chase leads to an open lava pit. Khan, Mowgli, and Shanti begin to fall, but Baloo grabs Mowgli and Shanti while Khan falls into the pit, before Baloo bids a heartfelt farewell to Mowgli as he rejoins the village. The next day, however, it shows that Mowgli, Shanti, and Ranjan visit Baloo and Bagheera every day in the jungle. They dance off singing "The Bare Necessities".

TaleSpin
Baloo is the protagonist of the TV series, along with being the pilot.

In this series, Baloo and other characters are in a world where animals wear clothing and live in large cities, much like the world of Mickey Mouse & Friends.

Baloo lives in Cape Suzette, where he ran his own air-freight shipping company, Baloo's Air Service. However, his business did not make many profits, and when it did, Baloo was often too forgetful to pay his bills or the mortgage. As a result, the bank foreclosed on Baloo's mortgage and repossessed his business. It was eventually purchased by a businesswoman named Rebecca Cunningham, who changes its name to Higher for Hire. However, she had a hard time finding a pilot until she saw the unemployed Baloo, and rehired him as the main pilot in his former business.

Baloo's best pal and foster son is a bear cub named Kit Cloudkicker, a former air pirate who used to work for Don Karnage and now serves as his co-pilot on the cargo plane, the Sea Duck. His strange, but incredibly ingenious, mechanic Wildcat takes care of all the equipment maintenance for Higher for Hire.

Baloo enjoys the good life and can often be found hanging out in his pal Louie's tropical cabana night club. Baloo is constantly troubled by the business tycoon Shere Khan, the air pirate Don Karnage and the crazed military hog Colonel Spigot, among others.

Although he still has claws on his toes like before, he has none on his fingers in the series.

Jungle Cubs
Baloo appears as a young cub in the series voiced by Pamela Adlon. In the series, Baloo is best friends with Shere Khan, Kaa, Bagheera, King Louie, and Hathi. Like his older self, Baloo is lazy, laid back, carefree and always looking for a good scratch. Baloo is often the leader of the group, although Shere Khan often tries to take the role instead. In the series, Baloo's all-time best friend is Prince Louie. Here, he has also light gray prints on his foot soles, which in his adult counterpart hasn't. During the second season, he becomes slightly taller with a darker, bluish fur and, while still having the same voice actor, speaks in a slightly deeper, raspier voice.

The origin of Baloo's favorite philosophy; "The Bare Necessities", was also revealed in the series's final episode "Sleepless in the Jungle". After a long day of worrying and pondering, Baloo was encouraged by his friends to relax and unwind for a bit, leading Baloo and the animals to sing his trademark number and revert to his laid-back self.

In the Jungle Cubs: Born to Be Wild DVD, Baloo, as an adult, Mowgli and Bagheera are making their way back to the Man Village. Like in the film, Baloo tried to convince Bagheera to let Mowgli stay; however, Bagheera denies because of the danger of Khan. Along the way, they meet up with the old gang and reminisce about their past adventures. Ed Gilbert reprises his role from TaleSpin.

House of Mouse
Baloo makes several, non-speaking appearances in the animated series. In the opening, he is seen talking with Little John.

In "Jiminy Cricket", he is seen sitting at a table with Kaa, Shere Khan, Mowgli, and Bagheera.

In "The Stolen Cartoons", he is temporarily seen in the background.

In "Not So Goofy", after Baloo was finished with his banana, he tossed it on the ground and Goofy nearly tripped over it.

In "Goofy's Menu Magic", Baloo is one of the many guests to openly enjoy Goofy's magical soup. Later after a mishap with it, however, Baloo and the other guests demand Goofy never to make the soup again.

In Mickey's House of Villains, Baloo was one of the many heroes trapped in the kitchen when the Disney Villains took over the House of Mouse on Halloween. In the end, he and everyone else cheered for Mickey after he defeated Jafar and the other villains. Baloo also appeared in Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse.

Voices

 * Phil Harris (Original Film)
 * Ed Gilbert
 * Pamela Adlon
 * John Goodman (2000-2003)
 * Joel McCrary (2002–present)