Baloo

Baloo the Bear (full name given as Baloo Bear in TaleSpin) is a popular Disney character from the 1967 film The Jungle Book and its sequel. He is a sloth bear and best friends with Mowgli. Even though he's not the main character of the film, Baloo has become the most popular Disney character from the Jungle Book. He was voiced by Phil Harris, Ed Gilbert (until their deaths), and currently by John Goodman.

Personality
The Disney version of Baloo is very different from the book character on which he's based on. In contrast to the book, where Baloo is a wise old bear who teaches Mowgli the law of the jungle, Disney's Baloo is lazy and laid back. He loves to dance and play games. He hates becoming upset and having to be strict. He also enjoys being around Mowgli. Baloo thinks of Mowgli as his son just as Mowgli thinks of Baloo as his father. Baloo can be strict when he has to be, but doesn't enjoy doing acting such ways. Baloo is very protective of Mowgli and was willing to battle the jungle's most feared resident, Shere Khan to keep him safe.

The Jungle Book
Mowgli meets Baloo after he runs away from Bagherra who was friends with Baloo as a cub. Baloo and Mowgli becomes friends and when Mowgli is kidnapped by King Louie's monkeys, Baloo starts to take action. The friendship of Mowgli and Baloo is threatened when Baloo is forced to take Mowgli to the man village. Mowgli runs away and meets a flock of vultures who become friends with Mowgli. During this, Baloo goes out to find his friend. Baloo finds him right before Shere Khan attempts to kill Mowgli. A battle follows and Baloo is nearly killed by Shere Khan. After Mowgli scares Shere Khan off with fire, Baloo appears to be okay and takes Mowgli to the man village.

The Jungle Book 2
Baloo reappears and is depressed because Mowgli is gone. Baloo sneaks pass Bagherra and goes after Mowgli. He kidnapped him and Mowgli and Baloo are happy to be reunited. Baloo takes Mowgli where he can't be found (King Louie's home). Baloo then tells other animals about how horrible the man village is and it saddens Mowgli. When Mowgli and Shanti are reunited, Baloo scares her off and Mowgli gets angry and runs away from Baloo. Baloo realizes his mistake and goes to the big battle with Shere Khan and saves Mowgli and Shanti from falling to their deaths. Shanti and Rajan becomes good friends with Baloo and Bagherra and enjoys playing with them in the jungle.

TaleSpin
Baloo is the main character in the animated series TaleSpin. In the 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, Minnie Mouse, and Goofy. Here, Baloo lives in Cape Suzette, where he ran his own air-freight shipping company, Baloo's Air Service. Due to his never paying his bills, though, the bank sells his company to a businesswoman named Rebecca Cunningham, who changes its name to Higher For Hire and hires Baloo as the delivery pilot. His best pal is a bearcub 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 Kahn, the Air-Pirate Don Karnage, and Colonel Spigot, among others

Jungle Cubs
Baloo appears as a young cub in the series, in which he was voiced by E.G. Daily in the first season and by Pamela Adlon in the second season. 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, care free 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 alltime best friend is Prince Louie.

House of Mouse
In the animated series, Baloo makes several appearances. Baloo is usually seen with King Louie, Kaa, and Mowgli. Baloo also appeared in Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse.

Disney Parks
Baloo is a common character in Disney theme parks around the world, with the exception of Tokyo Disneyland. He is most commonly seen at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Florida.

The Disney Afternoon Live!: Plane Crazy
One of Baloo's most prominent roles at the parks was in the Plane Crazy stage show that ran at Disneyland as part of Disney Afternoon Avenue in 1991. In the stage show, he is recruited along with Chip 'n' Dale and Launchpad McQuack to recover the X-22 spy jet when it is stolen by Don Karnage and Fat Cat.

Fantasmic!
Baloo appears in the bubble sequence in the nighttime spectacular Fantasmic! Baloo also appears riding either the Mark Twain Riverboat or Steamboat Willie.

In the Tokyo DisneySea version of the show, Baloo appears in the jungle sequence as a large inflatable figure on one of the barges.

It's a Small World
Baloo, along with Mowgli, was recently added to the popular It's A Small World attraction along with many other Disney and Pixar characters.

Songs sung by Baloo

 * The Bare Necessities
 * I Wanna Be Like You (with King Louie)
 * I'm Gone
 * Friends for Life (with King Louie)

Trivia

 * Walt Disney was used as a reference for the dance moves seen when Baloo is introduced in The Jungle Book﻿.