Rabbit Ears Productions proved one year previously that they could adapt Rudyard Kipling's 'Just So Stories' extremely well. With one of their best 'The Elephant's Child'. Hearing that they had adapted here two more of the book's stories 'How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin' and 'How the Camel Got His Skin', also great stories once you get past the at first slightly disturbing punishments the animals go through and that it had the same animator, composer and Jack Nicholson narrating again, there was no doubt in my mind that this would be another winner.
Found myself being proved correct. While not quite as good, 'How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin' and 'How the Camel Got His Hump' are excellently adapted. It would have been better if it was two separate adaptations and not two in one, but on the whole it is every bit as good as 'The Elephant's Child' and has almost everything that made that adaptation so brilliant. It is not quite as adventurous or as exciting and that adaptation had a slightly lighter tone, but both do great justice to Kipling's work and are fine examples of how it should be adapted.
The only not so good thing here is the slightly rushed pace at times from adapting two stories in one adaptation when they easily have been adapted separately. Or at least that's the format that is familiar to me in.
Animation is simple but very effective and extremely charming, the use of still imagery being moved throughout scenes not being gimmicky or abused. The use of colour is striking. The music is always harmonious with what is going on and enhances the story even, it is also very appealing on its own with its whimsy and in keeping one in a good mood.
On the writing front, this is a triumph. A huge part of the 'Just So Stories' charm is the masterfully playful use of language that translates with ease into the adaptation and never in a going through the motions just getting the job done way, a lot of fun was clearly had here. The story is incredibly charming and is adapted in an accessible way for both children and adults. Any moralising too doesn't resort to preaching and never comes over as too disturbing.
While there are more relatable (am quite big on this as one can tell in my other reviews, as that is one of the things that helps me get invested into a story) characters in other Rabbit Ears Productions' outings, the characters are still very well written and have lost none of the characteristics that they have in the original story. Jack Nicholson's narration is silky and enthusiastic, he doesn't overdo it and he approaches the story and prose exactly as they should be approached. Meaning in a bedtime story and no-nonsense way, considering that is how the story and the rest of the 'Just So Stories' began and were always intended by Kipling.
Concluding, not as good but still great. Kipling would have been proud. 9/10
