As they make clear, fire in the jungle is an ultimate power for whoever's using it. Yes, with Walken at the helm he's still very much the kook in general, but his desire stems not just from becoming like humans, but wanting to use Mowgli to create fire.
King Louie isn't just a kooky obstacle in this version. Mowgli using his "tricks" to save the baby elephant from the mud pit. Mowgli luring Shere Kahn into the burning forest. The fights also illustrate how adaptable Shere Khan is in his fighting style, by facing Fragile Speedsters (the wolves), a Mighty Glacier (Baloo) and something in between (Bagheera) It becomes quite obvious why the jungle lives in fear of him. After all, he defeats all his opponents, and while he took a few hits he isn't seriously injured. Shere Khan himself deserves a mention. You can even see the tiger howl in pain once. Which leads to a Big Damn Heroes moment for Raksha, when she flings herself at the tigers neck to save Bagheera, and seconds later the rest of the pack follows and they proceed to dogpile him, biting any bit of him they can reach, in a completely different tactical approach. Note, in this whole fight, Bagheera is the only one Shere Khan actively tries to kill (since his bite to Baloo's neck was only to put him out cold). Though he loses again, Bagheera's determination to protect Mowgli at all costs shines at that moment. He even kicks Shere Khan's face with his hindlegs, when buried under him. At one point the tiger started to continue his pursuit of Mowgli, leaving a seemingly defeated Bagheera behind, only for the panther to grab him again. Then Bagheera runs the tiger down and is a good deal more vicious this time than in his previous approach. Since Shere Khan is a Lightning Bruiser they don't succeed, but it shows them to be combat tacticians. They corner him and attack him from different angles, trying to catch him off-guard. Next the wolf pack takes on the tiger in a more tactical manner. For a good while, it looks like the fight would be just between the two of them, Baloo poised such a serious challenge to Khan. And he did manage to pin down Shere Khan, though only briefly, and land a few good hits at the tiger. Though he goes down as quick as Bagheera did in his second fight against the tiger, the fact that Baloo held his own against the most feared and powerful predator in the whole jungle for as long as he did is pretty badass. What's also unique about this fight, is that Baloo's the only character whose physical strength matches Shere Khan's, which is a sight to behold. Especially awesome in comparison to the one-sided beatdown of the '67 version. All of them fight the tiger in a different manner, matching their species. Each of those fights deserve a mention, since all of them are willing to go toe on toe with the most feared predator in the jungle. In the climax a bear, a panther and a pack of wolves fight Shere Khan. In a World where everyone has claws, wings or a tough hide, how does a puny human child survive? By being smart - exactly how real humans got to the top of the food chain. 
Mowgli escaping from Shere Khan by hitching a ride on one of the stampeding buffalo.
The sheer size of King Louie and the threat he poses to Mowgli.It's one moment where he's significantly more badass than in the novel, where the panther was desperately fighting for his life, whereas here it didn't look as though he's about to give up anytime soon. He also stood his ground against legions of Louie's monkeys.And in the final fight he actually runs down the freaking tiger, to give Mowgli more time. He's also very strong by leopard-standards, jumping at an attacking tiger and hitting him with enough momentum to send them both flying a few feet away from Mowgli. In his first fight with Shere Khan he makes good use of his agility and speed to evade the tigers claws and lands a few blows on him.The fact that he faced off Shere Khan twice and still lives to tell the tale about it shows that his reputation is well earned. Bagheera, while often being Overshadowed by Awesome (courtesy of Shere Khan), is one badass panther.This actually scares the piss out of the monkey army for a minute. In particular, Baloo standing on his hind legs and roaring at the monkeys advancing towards him. The monkeys swarming Baloo and Bagheera and the fight that follows.
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