Sloth Bear

[brotherbear]

In the actual books, Rudyard Kipling made it clear that Baloo is a brown bear. We must remember that Mr. Kipling was a story teller and not a naturalist. While there are brown bears in India, they live in the Himalayan Mountains and not in the jungle. For this reason, it is the opinion of many that Baloo should be considered a sloth bear even though he was not a sloth bear in the classic books. 
Walt Disney decided on making him a sloth bear in what was to be Mr. Disney's last animated movie project. So, we are left with the Disney version and the original from the novels. Quotes from the novel include: "Then the only other creature who is allowed at the Pack Council - Baloo, the sleepy brown bear who teaches the wolf cubs the Law of the Jungle" ...  It was in the days when Baloo was teaching him the Law of the Jungle. The big, serious, old brown bear was delighted to have so quick a pupil...  "Fool that I am! Oh, fat, brown, root-digging fool that I am," 
http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Baloo  ( quote ): Baloo appeares in the live-action 2016 film, voiced by Bill Murray. In this version, he is depicted as a Himalayan Brown Bear (though in the film he is clearly stated to be a Sloth Bear by Bagheera).   
 
This last quote is of the 2016 movie. The words of Bagheera were obviously sarcasm. Sloth is a word meaning "lazy" and it was perhaps a sly reference to Disney's animated version. However, why would Jon Favreau use a Himalayan brown bear as the model for Baloo if the bear was supposed to be a sloth bear? That would be like using a lion as the model for Shere Khan.  Reply