"Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" gets new life with animated web series, live-action movie

The only reason we knew what the heck a mongoose was in our formative years was because of the animated TV special, "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi." The 1975 cartoon, narrated by Orson Welles and based on Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Books," was a fixture on network television for quite a few years. This author watched it faithfully every time it aired, always newly enthralled by the heroic mongoose who dispatched two evil, plotting cobras with such skill -- and a fervent love for his adopted family.

So imagine our delight when we happened upon a table for Rikki-Tikki-Tavi at the Baltimore Comic Con a week or so ago. Yes, this is a seemingly forgotten property that is now being revisited. There will be a new animated web series in the next year or two, along with a live-action movie. Rikki-Tikki-Tavi in live action!??? Yes, we said it. Look for our interview with the mongoose's PR rep on an upcoming episode of the Washington, D.C.-based "Fantastic Forum" TV show.

And hop over to Rikki-Tikki-Tavi-tm.com for more info. You can download an app on GooglePlay or the Apple App Store and see the premiere video.

Now this is a classic worth revising -- we can't wait! Meantime, catch the original below. June Foray provided voices, and Les Tremayne of our beloved "Shazam!" and "The Dukes of Hazzard" voiced the father!