Coming to the World

The Jungle Book/Talespin and more people:

Baloo (Ed Gilbert), based primarily on the sloth bear from Disney's The Jungle Book, but with a flight cap and a yellow shirt (and four-fingered hands instead of his Jungle Book counterpart's claws). Although lazy, slobbish, unreliable and always broke, he is also an excellent pilot capable of the most daring maneuvers in the air (and the courage to do them) and can selflessly come to the aid of those in need of help. He also has a penchant for getting into schemes that require him to dress up in drag to suit the situation, such as when he became Rebecca's "female" co-pilot Tan-Margaret (a play on Ann-Margret) in "Feminine Air". Some of his mannerisms survive from The Jungle Book, including his nickname of "Papa Bear" by Kit, which Mowgli had given to him. In Tale Spin, it is revealed that Baloo comes from a prominent noble family, (being Baloo, Baron von Bruinwald XIII) though he himself had been initially unaware; raising the possability that he was adopted in the episode The Balooest Of The Bluebloods he inherited 500 million dollars in the form of an extravagant estate, which was taken from him to settle the matter of his family's impressively long history of owing back taxes, thus restoring the status quo. He also calls Kit "Li'l Britches," as he did with Mowgli. His name comes from the Hindi word for bear: bhālū (Hindi: भालू /bʰɑːluː/).

Allida Frollo-Wildy is an American singer and the wife of Disney Character Baloo Wildy.

Dream Frollo is an American singer, is the daughter of Baloo and Allida and is 16 years old.

Rebecca Cunningham (Sally Struthers), a petite brown bear with long brunette hair styled in a cross between a medieval and 1930's-40's hairdo, usually wears a white turtleneck sweater, and a purple-red jacket and matching slacks. Nicknamed "Becky" and/or "Beckers" by Baloo which she highly resented being called that at first, but soon grew accustomed to with affection (in return, she calls him "Fly Boy" on occasion). A shrewd businesswoman with a MBA, she buys 'Baloo's Air Service' and his plane, creating the air cargo company 'Higher For Hire'. Bright and unassumingly attractive, her ambitions and penchant for recklessness has caused trouble for the company at times, such as in "A Touch of Glass" when she cashed in the Sea Duck's insurance policy to pay for expensive ads targeted at affluent clientele, and in "The Bigger They Are, The Louder They Oink" when she went into the truffle-gathering business. Although she originally relegated herself to the administrative and sales functions of the business, the series shows she eventually learns to be a capable would-be pilot in her own right. Her desire to get in the cockpit was sparked by the events of "I Only Have Ice for You" where Baloo temporarily had his pilot's license suspended and had to take over for a major shipping run to deliver an iceberg for the eccentric Prince Neverhasbeenbroke before running into the Air Pirates; and in "Feminine Air", in which Higher for Hire lost some business due to the chauvinistic machinations of a male pilot named Cool Hands Luke who made fun of Baloo for flying for a "skirt". She can also have quite a temper, stubbornly competitive, a nasty jealous streak, be a hopeless romantic ("Her Chance to Dream", "Molly Coddled") and judgmental at times; usually it is Baloo's laziness and carefree attitude towards his responsibilities that sets it off. Rebecca lives with her daughter Molly in an apartment in an upscale part of Cape Suzette, one which incorporates a waterfall in its design. Rebecca's personality and unsuccessful drive for success with a local business are very reminiscent of Cheers character Rebecca Howe.

Molly Cunningham (Janna Michaels), Rebecca's yellow-furred, preschool-aged daughter. An adventurous child who even at four years old, is not afraid to speak her mind just like her mother. Molly has a thing for her favourite ice cream brand "Frosty Pep;" sometimes pretends she is 'Danger Woman' (the action/adventure heroine of a popular kids radio program) while seeking adventure along with Kit and Baloo; can be clever on her feet when it comes to outwitting the bad guys (in episodes "Molly Coddled" and "Flight of The Snow Duck"). Her middle name is Elizabeth, the only character in the series to actually have one (revealed in "Mommy For A Day") and mainly totes around her favourite doll, Lucy. No mention was ever made of Molly's father as series' creator Jymn Magon reportedly said that Rebecca is a widow, although at a 1998 U.S. fan convention Q&A online chat he did state in roundabout tones that she's actually divorced as originally written in the first Tale Spin press release.

Francisco Martinez is the main student in Highland Park Senior High School, is an American singer and is the father of Emily, Anisha and Roger.

Shere Khan is a fictional tiger, sometimes depicted as an Asiatic Lion, of the Indian jungle, named after a Pashtun Prince (Sher Khan Nasher) Kipling encountered on his trips to Afghanistan. Shere Khan is the chief enemy in two of Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book stories featuring Mowgli.

Mary Esther Wells (May 13, 1943 – July 26, 1992) was an American soul, R&B, and pop singer. Most famous for her 1964 hit "My Guy", she was one of the signature voices of Motown and their first big star.

Soraya Raquel Lamilla Cuevas (March 11, 1969 – May 10, 2006) was a Colombian-American singer/songwriter, guitarist, arranger and record producer. She was a successful Latin music star who had two number-one songs on Billboard's Latin Pop Airplay charts. She won a 2004 Latin Grammy Award for the self titled album "Soraya" as "Best Album by Songwriter", which she produced, and a 2005 Latin Grammy Awards nomination for "Female Pop Vocal Album" for her album El Otro Lado de Mi. She was the opening act for the 2005 Billboard Latin Music Awards. Her career spanned ten years, and she recorded five albums.


Akua Dixon, jazz cellist, composer, conductor, and vocalist, is the leader of the Akua Dixon Swing Quartet and Quartette Indigo. A Carnegie Hall "Musical Ambassador," Akua is on the roster of Carnegie Hall Education. In 2003, ADSQ was part of Lincoln Center's "Jazz-in-the-Schools Tour." Akua was a Founding Member and original cellist of the Max Roach Double Quartet and Uptown String Quartet. She was also a Founding Member of The String Reunion, as well as TSR's Director of New Music.
Akua has toured with such noted jazz luminaries as Archie Shepp, Henry Threadgill, Max Roach and Steve Turre. As a leader, she has displayed a talent for assembling great string ensembles -- many of the leading jazz string players have performed in Akua's groups.

Athena is Ariel's mother in the Disney movie called The Little Mermaid and is the grandmother of Melody. She is the son in law of Prince Eric.

Gayle Dixon: She was among a group of 30 Black string players who founded The String Reunion in 1976, at violinist Noel Pointer's initiative, "to develop a repertoire of music by Black composers. We held workshops and presented concerts. Ulysses Kirksey was conductor and director of our classical music program," Dixon recalls. "Akua was the Director of New Music -- her compositions were the foundation of our jazz repertoire. We were hired to do concerts and recordings by Carmen McRae, Phyllis Hyman, Onaje Allen Gumbs, Norman Connors, Jean Lucien and many others." "The most gratifying work I've done musically has been string quartets, and some of the most demanding has been as a string player in a jazz environment. The first time I played string quartet with jazz ensemble was a concert for McCoy Tyner at Town Hall about 1970. Akua put together a jazz string quartet to play at the Village Gate in 1972. I did lots of interesting projects with Jazzmobile, with the Collective Black Artists, with Charles Tolliver and Stanley Cowell for Strata East Records, and for The New Muse (the Community Museum of Brooklyn), where Reggie Workman was director."


Judith Insell, a New York native, has been an active member of the New York jazz scene since the mid nineties. Ms. Insell is on a personal mission: spreading the word that “the Viola can play any style of music!” Lee Konitz, Greg Osby, Steve Coleman, Antonio Hart, and Miguel Zenon are just a few of the many jazz greats with whom Ms. Insell has had the pleasure of performing and recording. She has recently been performing throughout the eastern United States with the chamber jazz string group “Sojourner.” As a founding member of “Sojourner,” Ms. Insell has not only explored self expression through improvisation, she has also ventured into the realm of composition with the title track of the group’s new CD “Journey” and arranging such standards as Thelonious Monk’s “I Mean You.”


About Sharon Leal
I'm a singer/songwriter and actress who has had the fortune to pursue the things i have dreamed of since i was a child. It's been a long road to discovering who i really am and to finding peace in the ways in which the human spirit evolves......keep it moving, keep growing, keep believing.......passion and peace.