That python was the size of an anaconda.

To be fair Kaa in the books was even larger. He (a male in the books) was large enough to smash through temple walls. He was also a good guy (sort of, obviously being a snake he's not warm and cuddly) who saved Mowgli from the monkeys.

You are correct about Baloo. The movie states that he is a sloth bear (mainly to get in the joke that he's lazy) but he lacks the sloth bear chest markings and is too large. India does have black and brown bears but they live up in the foothills of the Himalayas and not down in the jungles.

I believe I read somewhere that Kaa is suppose to be a titanoboa. Yes they were extinct long before this film is suppose to take place, but it's a movie. Regardless that is a super creepy scene and Scarlett Jo does a great voice over.

As a previous poster said- I think Kaa was supposed to be a Titanoboa. ALSO, King Louie was of huge size and was actually an animal that was extinct- Gigantopithecus,

Also Anacondas do not get THAT big, alos they are the heaviest snakes, not the longest.

To be fair to the movie, in the 1967 version, the animals were all of normal size EXCEPT Kaa, who must have been nearly 100 feet long in some scenes!

He'd look like a strand of spaghetti. 😁

I'm much more annoyed at the pointless presence of Kaa overall. The character felt like she was only there for a cameo for Scarlett and because everyone was expecting a giant snake named Kaa to show up at some point.

Khan or Bagheera could have given the backstory info dump at any time, since they had actually been on the scene, and Baloo could've just plucked Mowgli from the river while the boy was knocked out and made up some phony story about saving him from a thousand red dogs or whatnot. It would've fit Baloo's nature better than him suddenly choosing to fight a giant python over a boy he didn't even know.