In 1886, during the
British Raj in
India, Mowgli (Sean Naegeli) is the 5-year-old son of the widowed Nathoo, whose wife
died in childbirth. Nathoo works as a tour guide. On one of his tours, he is leading Colonel Geoffrey Brydon (
Sam Neill) and his men as well as Brydon's 5-year-old daughter Katherine (
Joanna Wolff). That night, the deadly tiger
Shere Khan attacks the encampment, intent on killing a trio of soldiers who had been shooting several animals for fun in the jungle earlier, which had enraged him. He kills the first two hunters, but when he tries to kill the third hunter, Buldeo, Nathoo defends Buldeo, who ungratefully leaves him to be mauled to death by the tiger. In the confusion, Mowgli is lost in the jungle with his pet wolf cub,
Grey Brother. Brydon and his men believe Mowgli has been killed too. Mowgli is taken by
Bagheera, a gentle black panther, to the wolf pack. Mowgli also befriends a bear cub named
Baloo.
Twenty years later, Mowgli, now a young man, discovers Monkey City, a legendary ancient city filled with treasure belonging to
King Louie the
Orangutan, who has his treasure guarded by
Kaa the python. Forced to fight for his life, Mowgli succeeds in wounding the snake with a golden dagger that he retrieves from the treasure horde. Winning King Louie's respect, Mowgli keeps the dagger as a trophy. Elsewhere, Katherine and her father are still stationed in India. She and Mowgli meet again, but neither recognize the other. Katherine is also in a relationship with one of Brydon's soldiers, William Boone. Mowgli enters the village in search of Katherine. Boone and his men manage to capture him and find the golden dagger from Monkey City in his possession. Katherine discovers an old bracelet of her mother's; one she gave to Mowgli when they were children, and instantly realizes who Mowgli is. She and Dr. Julius Plumford (a good friend of Brydon's) decide that they must re-introduce Mowgli to civilization. In doing so, Mowgli and Katherine fall in love, much to Boone's displeasure. Eventually, Boone convinces Mowgli to tell him of Monkey City and the treasure hoard that it holds, but refrains from revealing its location to him upon realizing his lack of respect for the jungle. Boone later proposes to Katherine and she accepts. Around this time, Mowgli returns to the jungle as he does not feel at home in the village. After Boone's cruel treatment of Mowgli, Katherine realizes she cannot marry Boone, so she decides to go back to England to get away from him.
Meanwhile, Boone and his friends (Lieutenant Wilkins and Sergeant Harley) team up with Buldeo and his confederate Tabaqui. The men gather some bandits to capture Mowgli in order to find out where the treasure is. Wilkins and Boone shoot Baloo when he comes to Mowgli's defense, much to Mowgli's distress. Buldeo, Tabaqui, and the bandits then ambush Katherine and her father (who is shot and wounded in the process). Even though Mowgli, along with Bagheera, Grey Brother, and the rest of the wolves, attack and kill most of the bandits, Tabaqui and Buldeo manage to capture Katherine and her father and hand them over to Boone, Wilkins, and Harley who plan to use them as blackmail: if Mowgli leads them to the treasure, Katherine and her father shall live. That night, the group learns that Shere Khan has returned to the area and is following them.
The next morning, Harley catches Mowgli escaping (with the aid of Bagheera) and gives chase, only to fall into
quicksandand drown, despite Wilkins' attempts to save him. Mowgli then has an elephant to take the injured Brydon back to the village, promising to rescue Katherine. As the day progresses, Tabaqui attacks Mowgli on top of a cliff, but falls to his death when Mowgli causes him to lose his precarious balance. As the group reaches the outside of Monkey City, Shere Khan's roar causes them to split up out of fear. Wilkins accidentally shoots and wounds Buldeo in a panic and tries to run off, but is chased and mauled to death by Shere Khan. Eventually, the remaining group enter Monkey City, where Buldeo inadvertently entombs himself in a trap while trying to kill Mowgli. Only Mowgli, Katherine, and Boone reach the treasure room, where Mowgli and Boone engage in a fierce fight until Mowgli injures the soldier with another dagger. Mowgli then escapes with Katherine, while Boone begins greedily pocketing treasure, only for Kaa to attack and kill him.
As they escape from Monkey City, Mowgli and Katherine are confronted by Shere Khan. However, Mowgli shows no fear and stands up by roaring back at the tiger, who then sees him as a creature of the jungle and accepts him. As a result, Khan allows Mowgli and Katherine to leave peacefully. Mowgli and Katherine meet both the Colonel and Baloo, both of whom have recovered from their injuries under Plumford's care. Mowgli becomes the new lord of the jungle and begins a relationship with Katherine.
