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Baloo is the fictional bear featured in Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book from 1894 and The Second Jungle Book from 1895. Baloo and Bagheera, the panther, save Mowgli from Shere Khan the tiger, and endeavor to teach Mowgli the Law of the Jungle in many of the stories of the Jungle Book.

He is described in Kipling's work as "the sleepy brown bear". Robert Armitage Sterndale, from whom Kipling derived most of his knowledge of Indian fauna, used the Hindi word "Bhalu" for several bear species, though Daniel Karlin, who edited the Penguin reissue of The Jungle Book in 1989, states that, with the exception of colour, Kipling's descriptions of Baloo are consistent with the sloth bear, as brown bear and Asian black bear do not occur in the Seoni area where the novel takes place. Also, the name sloth can be used in the context of sleepiness. Karlin states, however, that Baloo's diet of "... only roots and nuts and honey" is a trait more common to the Asian black bear than to the sloth bear.

Baloo, based on Kipling's creation, has appeared in various Disney productions, starting with that company's feature-length version of The Jungle Book. In this version, Baloo is an easygoing and fun-loving character who shirks responsibility—seemingly far removed from the law teacher in Kipling's book. Baloo is one of Mowgli's mentors and friends. This version of the character has appeared in three animated series, TaleSpin (as a pilot), Jungle Cubs (as a cub) and Disney's House of Mouse (as a guest), as well as a feature-length sequel to the animated movie. Disney's Robin Hood, interpreting the traditional characters as anthropomorphic animals, features a version of Little John (also voiced by the late Phil Harris) that strongly resembles Baloo. He also meets up with Violet in a cameo appearance in the Disney on Ice play Disney Presents Pixar's The Incredibles in a Magic Kingdom Adventure.

Disney's Baloo is arguably the most popular character in the filmed version of The Jungle Book. He was made famous by the song "The Bare Necessities", sung by Phil Harris, in which he tells Mowgli how, if you know the tricks, you can live off the land and still have a life of leisure.

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