- “Nice sidekick, Shere Khan. A hyena who laughs at his own bad jokes.”
- ―Bagheera to Shere Khan about Tabaqui
Tabaqui is a jackal, who was to be a minor antagonist in an early draft of the 1967 film The Jungle Book; he was cut from the film, although he did appear as the secondary antagonist of the 1998 film The Jungle Book: Mowgli's Story as a spotted hyena.
While he also doesn't appear in the 1994 live-action adaptation, his name is given to one of the minor antagonist's men.
Appearances[]
The Jungle Book: Mowgli's Story[]
Tabaqui is first seen arriving at the watering hole alongside his loyal master Shere Khan just as Shere Khan plans to eat any of the animals near the area much to Hathi's rule about hunting. During the meeting, he insults Baloo's conversation with Shere Khan about living in harmony with the other animals which Baloo and Bagheera warn him and Tabaqui that they will be watching him and his sidekick. Later as Shere Khan plans to find food at a nearby village, Tabaqui then laughs at Shere Khan's devious plan while stalking the villagers and avoiding the villagers armed with weapons. He then enters Akela's den where Akela and Raksha confront the hyena just as Akela wards him off the den in anger.
Tabaqui follows Shere Khan during a meeting with Akela while Shere Khan plans for a revenge against Mowgli, telling the wolves that humans are a threat to all animals, only for Baloo and Bagheera to confront the two preparing to attack Mowgli, causing the two to retreat. Later, Tabaqui and Shere Khan spy on Mowgli falling on a lake just as Shere Khan plans to take revenge against Mowgli in a plan to separate him from his family.
Tabaqui then encounters Shere Khan again, apologizing for his tardiness, telling his master that he recruited a trio of chimpanzees to be his minions devising a plan to get Baloo's honey after they lure Mowgli away from Baloo and Bagheera while Shere Khan warns Tabaqui to be serious. The next day, one of the chimps tells Shere Khan that he and the other chimps trapped him into another territory known as "Monkey Town" which Tabaqui hears the conversation between him and Shere Khan just as Tabaqui plans to follow Shere Khan to help him find Mowgli. Tabaqui then follows Shere Khan into a hut in a territory known as "Monkey Town" to find Mowgli only to find out that Mowgli escaped. Soon as one of the chimps stares at Shere Khan who is planning to find something to eat, he insults one of the chimps for calling him a drink named after him, scaring away all the chimps and monkeys out of Monkey Town.
That night, Shere Khan tells Tabaqui that it has been a few days planning to kill Mowgli after killing his wolf mother Raksha, planning to find Mowgli and finish him which Mowgli arrives and faces the tiger and his hyena henchman which he plans to banish Shere Khan from the jungle. He then attempts to assist Shere Khan in battle, only to be confronted by Baloo, Bagheera, Hathi, and the Seeonee pack. When Mowgli ignites a circle of roots to start a wildfire, Shere Khan asks Tabaqui to help him which Tabaqui is unable to, due to the fire blocking the path and as he taunts Mowgli, he snarls at Tabaqui, scaring the hyena away.
Trivia[]
- Like several Jungle Book characters (e.g. Colonel Hathi, Baloo, etc.), Tabaqui was intended to be altered into a comic relief character and voiced by actor Bill Thompson.
- In some movie adaptations of the original Jungle Book, Tabaqui is a striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena), instead of a golden jackal (Canis aureus).
- A possible reason why Tabaqui was deleted from The Jungle Book because the idea of a wild wolf failing to eat a protagonist was already used in a previous Disney film, The Sword in the Stone.
- Ironically, in the Japanese anime series Jungle Book Shonen Mowgli seen in Episode 4, Tabaqui tried eat to Mowgli. This idea of a villain failing to eat a protagonist was retained, but with Kaa in the role.
- He was supposed to be a parody of Wile E. Coyote (ironically, as a side note, when Chuck Jones did Mowgli's Brothers, Tabaqui looked very much like Wile E. Coyote).
- Tabaqui being represented as a spotted hyena is a mistake because the spotted hyenas live in Africa and not in India where The Jungle Book takes place.
- Tabaqui was originally going to make his appearance in The Jungle Book 2, after Mowgli meets up with Baloo near the beginning of the film. Tabaqui attempted to eat Mowgli, but faces many accidents and injuries as he pursues them. Mowgli and Baloo remain unaware of Tabaqui's presence, and the two walk away. Unfortunately, he was deleted from the final film and his role was given to Kaa instead.
