- “Oh, no! The Dawn Patrol again.”
- ―Bagheera[src]
The Jungle Patrol (sometimes referred as The Dawn Patrol by Bagheera) is the name for a herd of elephants led by Colonel Hathi. They appear in Disney's 1967 animated feature film The Jungle Book and its 2003 sequel.
Background[]
The jungle patrol is run similarly to a military unit, with Colonel Hathi as commanding office. The herd consists mostly of male elephants, along with Hathi's wife, Winifred, and his young son Hathi, Jr. One nameless elephant, distinguished by his military-style haircut, appears to be Hathi's 2nd-in-command, as Hathi addresses the elephant as Lieutenant and plans strategy with him. Another elephant, the "slob elephant", is a very unintelligent and sloppy elephant who is constantly chewing leaves in his mouth even when he is not supposed to.
As the name implies, the Jungle Patrol's main duties involve cross-country marches led by Hathi, with occasional stops for drill practices and inspections. The herd is extremely noisy during these drills and marches and can be seen trampling trees and brush in their path. The Patrol's theme song is Colonel Hathi's March, which is heard during their appearances in the first film.
Appearances[]
The Jungle Book[]
While Bagheera and Mowgli were asleep, the tree started rattling rhythmically, which wakes Mowgli up and gets a closer look. The herd is on one of their marches when they first meet Mowgli. Several members quietly express their dislike for the constant marching and make comments when Hathi begins recounting a war story. After attempting to leave, the group ends up in a large pile, due to Hathi forgetting to tell the herd to halt.
In their second appearance in the first film, the entire herd is forcibly volunteered to take part in a search party to find Mowgli. One elephant addressed as the Bugler, is instructed to sound his trumpet when Mowgli is spotted. Then, he approaches his Lieutenant and begins planning strategy, which seems to revolve around the element of surprise. However, the herd's plans are overheard by Shere Khan, who realizes that Mowgli is alone. The Jungle Patrol is not seen after this point.
The Jungle Book 2[]
The Jungle Patrol play a minor role in the sequel. They are enlisted in aiding Bagheera in his mission to stop Baloo from entering the Man Village to see Mowgli. The team later make an appearance in the middle of the film going into hiding as they learn man is in the jungle searching for Mowgli.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The elephants are similar to the same elephants seen in the classic short Goliath II. This is especially noticeable when they all crash into each other.
- Apart from Hathi, Jr., there appear to be no baby elephants. This seems ironic as the army is not a place for children to be.
- Winifred is the only female in the herd who has lines.
- In real life, elephant herds that contain calves (baby elephants) are led by females (cows) instead of males (bulls); a similar treatment also occurs in Goliath II, although bulls do join the female herds briefly for mating only similar to how to Goliath I, but not permanently. Dumbo was more accurate having all cows and a calf in heard. In the sequel, the Jungle Patrol itself became more of a bachelor herd (herd of all bull elephants), with the inaccuracy of Hathi Jr. still being a part of it and that bachelor herds are only seasonal.
- In a few book adaptations of the first Jungle Book film, Mowgli appears to have met and occasionally marched with the elephants while living with the wolves and is apparently even on friendlier terms with Hathi.
