Scar (The Lion King) "handle[s] all of the dramatic heavy lifting." Even film critics who generally disliked the film tended to enjoy Scar's characterization and Irons's performance. Terrence Rafferty of "The New Yorker" wrote, "Among the celebrity voices on the soundtrack, two performances stand out," namely, "Jeremy Irons, as the villainous lion Scar" who "does an elegant, funny George Sanders impersonation." (Sanders himself had voiced Shere Khan for Disney in their 1967 version of "The Jungle Book"). Stephen Hunter of "The Baltimore Sun "described Irons's voice as "plummy-rich with rancid irony." Television Without Pitys Ethan Alter admitted to enjoying Scar, praising the character as
The Jungle Book (1967 film) the storyline sessions. He asked them to "find scary places and write fun songs" for their compositions that fit in with the story and advanced the plot instead of being interruptive. "The Jungle Book" was released in October 1967, just 10 months after Walt's death. Some copies were in a double feature with "Charlie, the Lonesome Cougar". Produced on a budget of $4 million, the film was a massive success grossing domestic rentals of $11.5 million by 1968. By 1970, the film had grossed $13 million in domestic rentals becoming the second highest-grossing animated film in the United States and