The bear from The Jungle Book who teaches Mowgli the “Bare Necessities” is Baloo.
Baloo is Mowgli’s bear mentor and friend in Disney’s The Jungle Book, particularly the famous 1967 animated film. Phil Harris voiced Baloo in that version, while Bruce Reitherman voiced Mowgli. Together they perform “The Bare Necessities,” a relaxed jazz-influenced song about enjoying life’s simple needs and living off the land.
The song was written by Terry Gilkyson and had originally been created for an earlier version of the film that was never produced. It was retained when the movie was revised, becoming the only song from that earlier draft to survive into the finished film. The song later received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song.
A common mix-up is to treat Baloo as purely a Disney creation. The character originated in Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book stories, first published in 1894, where he is a strict teacher of the wolf-pack cubs and helps teach Mowgli the Law of the Jungle. Disney changed him into a more easygoing, comic and affectionate companion.