Bagheera even though Baloo defends Mowgli while the protective black panther shelters the boy. No scars are visible on the cartoon Disney drawings of Bagheera to hint at his captive past either. Bagheera is also one of the major characters left out of the "TaleSpin" series which used several "Jungle Book" characters. However, many of Shere Khan's employees and military personnel are black panthers very similar in appearance to Bagheera. In the prequel cartoon series "Jungle Cubs", Bagheera was voiced by Elizabeth Daily and Dee Bradley Baker, and was often made fun of by his friends, especially the bully Shere Khan.
The Jungle Book (2016 film) use of a shadowy jungle figure in "Apocalypse Now" (1979). The cast was announced between March and August 2014, with Idris Elba being announced to voice Shere Khan during early stages and Bill Murray eventually confirmed as the voice of Baloo in August 2014. Between then, Scarlett Johansson, Ben Kingsley, and Christopher Walken were confirmed to play Kaa, Bagheera, and King Louie. Favreau decided to cast Johansson to play Kaa, originally a male character, as he felt the original film was "a little too male-oriented." Favreau and Marks noticed the lack of female characters in the 1967 film version and