King Louie

King Louie (full name Louie Lamount in TaleSpin) is a character from 1967 film The Jungle Book and its spin-off television shows TaleSpin, and Jungle Cubs, inspired by Rudyard Kipling's classic novel. Louie did not appear in the book, however, because orangutans are not native to India. The original story for Louie started out quite differently, but he was eventually given the voice and personality of famed jazz trumpeter and vocalist Louis Prima. Milt Kahl, Frank Thomas, and John Lounsbery animated the character. He sings the song "I Wanna Be Like You" after he kidnaps Mowgli, and asks the boy to show him the secret of "red fire" so he and his followers can be like man.

The Jungle Book
King Louie first appears in Disney's 1967 adaption of The Jungle Book story. Louie is the king of all primates in the Indian jungle and craves nothing more than to be a man. He somehow learns that a Man-Cub is in the jungle on his way to the Man Village and wishes to stay. Louie sends his monkey minions to capture the boy. They do so with ease allowing Louie to attempt to live his dream. Using the musical number I Wanna Be Like You, Louie asks Mowgli to reveal the secret to man's "Red Flower". However, Mowgli has no clue how to make fire. Louie believes Mowgli is being coy and continues to ask. Out of nowhere, a female orangutan (Baloo the Bear in a costume) appears and begins to scat and dance with Louie. Eventually, Baloo's outfit falls apart and a comical chase follows. During the chase, a supporter is destroyed, which leads to the kingdom collapsing. Louie is last seen standing in his ruined kingdom while Mowgli escapes with Baloo and Bagheera.

Not much is known of Louie after these events, but in a storybook follow up, Louie and Bagheera tried to help Baloo deal with the fact that Mowgli is living in the Man-Village.

The Jungle Book 2
King Louie did not appear in The Jungle Book 2, but a puppet of him can been seen in Mowgli's puppet show at the beginning of the film and was mentioned by Mowgli and Baloo. His absence was due to Louis Prima's widow suing over the unauthorized use of her late husband's voice and public personal in past Jungle Book spin-off projects, as Jim Cummings's imitation of Prima featured in these was near perfect. This is rumored to have influenced the cancellations of the television spin-offs Tale Spin and Jungle Cubs. Although these rights have recently been dropped and Disney may once again use the character King Louie.

TaleSpin
On the T.V. series TaleSpin, Louie owns "Louie's", an island bar not far from Cape Suzette, where most pilots hang out and refuel their planes, especially Baloo. Baloo is addicted to the various ice cream concoctions Louie serves, and he always charges them against his vast and ever-growing tab. Louie affects slightly dated California-hip talk, words like "bodacious" being a rather self-conscious part of his vocabulary. He enjoys hanging out with Baloo, either partying or treasure hunting (usually partying). But when he and Baloo get together, there tends to be some amount of trouble brewing (something Rebecca Cunningham has had the misfortune of learning). He's almost a genius in the kitchen, he creates many bizarre dishes and drinks (usually called a "Krakatoa Special") that he then unleashes on a poor, unsuspecting crowd. His standard garb is a tropical shirt and straw hat.

Jungle Cubs
Louie appears as a cub, referred to as Prince Louie, who dreams of being King of the apes. Louie also star in the show alongside Baloo, Bagheera, Shere Khan, Hathi and Kaa who were all a group of friends. A fast-talking prankster, he takes the troupe from one madcap adventure to the next. Louie is a genius inventor and natural-born leader. This verbose orangutan always has something brewing, and is one of the founding members of the band "5 Bananas." His scats deliver positive messages, proving that he is more than just a goof-off and has the potential to someday be king.

In the Jungle Cubs: Born to Be Wild DVD, Louie, as an adult, served as the narrator, telling the story of Mowgli and Baloo's journey to the Man Village.

House of Mouse
King Louie made several cameos in the animated series House of Mouse, usually sitting alongside Mowgli. In the episode "King Larry Swings In", there is a King Louie look-alike orangutan who is referred to as King "Larry", and is said to be Louie's identical twin brother. It was to star King Louie, but had to be changed to Larry so as not to violate their agreement with Gia Prima.

Disney Universe
King Louie reappears as a playable costume character in The Jungle Book Pack along with other characters from the film.

Disney Parks


King Louie, along with Baloo, is a meetable character in the Disney Parks. He is mostly seen at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Wishes
On the Disney Fantasy cruise ship, Louie is the second Disney character Brandon, Nicole, Kayla encounter on their journey through Disneyland. During their meeting, Louie attempts to learn the secret to man's red flower from the trio much as he tried with Mowgli.

Fantasmic!
In the Disneyland version of the show, King Louie along with several monkey dance on the floating barges as Kaa snakes around the stage. In Disney's Hollywood Studios' version, King Louie is briefly seen during the bubble montage.

In the Tokyo DisneySea, Louie is seen on the barges with his monkeys much like the Disneyland version.

Mickey's Jingle Jungle Parade
Louie can be seen walking aside Baloo's float in the Christmas parade held at Disney's Animal Kingdom. In this parade, Louie can be seen with a tropical outfit.

Mickey's Soundsational Parade
Louie is seen in the recent parade Mickey's Soundsational Parade. Louie joins Terk from Tarzan and Simba from The Lion King in the jungle section of the parade.

One Man's Dream II: The Magic Lives On!
King Louie hosts the jungle segment of the show in Tokyo Disneyland alongside Terk. Here, King Louie and Terk are showcased having a wild party at Louie's upbeat club.

Trivia

 * King Louie is an original character from Disney, as orangutans are not native to India.
 * Another reason why he never appears in the book is because it is stated in the book that the Bandar-log has no king.
 * King Louie calls Mowgli "cousin" because orangutans are apes as well as humans.