Banksy - Save or Delete Jungle Book - 2002-2002

Rare and superb lithograph by the famous British artist Banksy “Save or Delete - Jungle Book”

Banksy x Greenpeace
Save or Delete - Jungle Book
Offset lithograph
42cm x 59cm approx
Limited edition
Signed on the plate
New and never exhibited
Careful shipping, tracking, and insured
Frame not included

An opportunity to acquire a collectible object by Banksy whose market value continues to rise.

Created in 2001, “Save or Delete Jungle Book” is one of Banksy’s earliest collaborations with an international humanitarian organization. Commissioned by Greenpeace for its “Save or Delete” campaign against illegal logging and tropical deforestation, this work testifies to the extraordinary ability of the artist to couple instantly recognizable popular imagery with a powerful political message.

Banksy takes ownership of the iconic characters from Disney’s Jungle Book, placing Mowgli, Baloo, King Louie, and Shere Khan, eyes blindfolded and bound, before a public executioner in the midst of stumps in a devastated forest. Stripped of their carefree innocence, these childhood icons become silent victims of environmental destruction, transforming one of the world’s most famous animated films into a powerful allegory of extinction.

The genius of this composition lies in its troubling reversal of expectations. The Jungle Book has long celebrated the richness and harmony of the natural world, yet Banksy imagines its protagonists after the forest has disappeared. No lush vegetation, no adventure, no sanctuary: only bare tree stumps and an executioner waiting.

The eye-band banners are particularly poignant. Neither the animals nor Mowgli can see what awaits them, reflecting humanity’s tendency to ignore the long-term consequences of environmental degradation until it becomes irreversible. Banksy suggests that deforestation does not merely destroy trees; it erases entire ecosystems, cultures, and stories that have shaped our collective imagination.

The original painting was intended to be paired with a photograph of a devastated tropical forest for Greenpeace’s “Save or Delete” campaign. Posters, postcards, and billboards were produced, but the campaign was never released to the general public, Disney having opposed the unauthorized use of its copyrighted characters.

This unexpected censorship has become an integral part of the artwork’s history. Ironically, a campaign meant to defend threatened forests became a victim of competing legal and commercial interests. This episode illustrates one of Banksy’s recurring concerns: the complex relationship between political activism, corporate power, and freedom of expression.

Although created at the very beginning of Banksy’s career, “Save or Delete Jungle Book” anticipates many themes that would later become central in his work. His appropriation of Disney imagery foreshadows famous works such as “Napalm” and the dystopian vision of “Dismaland,” while his environmental message resonates with later projects such as “Season’s Greetings,” “Show Me the Monet,” and numerous murals addressing climate change and ecological collapse. This work is also one of the earliest examples of Banksy using universally recognizable cultural icons to communicate complex political ideas, a strategy that would become one of his most enduring artistic signatures.

“Save or Delete the Jungle Book” perfectly illustrates Banksy’s ability to transform nostalgia into political awareness. By placing some of the world’s most beloved fictional characters in a deserted landscape, it reminds us that environmental destruction is not an abstract ecological problem but a human tragedy that threatens the stories, symbols, and natural world we all share. More than twenty years after its creation, this work remains one of Banksy’s most impactful environmental manifestos—a rare youth masterpiece where satire yields to a contained urgency, and where childhood innocence becomes the most powerful plea for a planet in peril.

Undoubtedly the world’s most controversial street artist. Banksy’s art can impact any place at any time. His identity remains unknown, even after more than 20 years on the graffiti scene. His work includes not only numerous powerful and often controversial images, but they can also be found on the Internet in the form of viral imagery. Banksy began his graffiti art by admiring Blek le Rat’s works, often recycling his old ideas. Banksy comes from the same wave of urban artists as JonOne, Kaws, Seen, JR, M.Chat, Imbue, Pantone, Basquiat, Banksy, Arsham, Keith Haring, Damien Hirst, Obey, Invader Futura, Jeff Koons, Dface.

Probably born in 1975 in Great Britain, he truly began his graffiti work within the Bristol-based DrybreadZ Crew (DBZ). A revolutionary and subversive artist, Banksy uses his art as a real means of communication to proclaim his dismay, his discontent, his sadness, or his revolt. Each of the artist’s visits to a city is a genuine event and stirs media frenzy. Banksy uses stencils to create his works, each meticulously crafted and detailed to give his creations depth and an inner life known only to him. The artist wishes to remain anonymous, like graffiti which is a hidden art, practiced in secret and not discovered until dawn.
Tag
Street Art, Pop Art, Urban Art, Contemporary Art, JonOne, Cope2, M.Chat, Shepard Fairey, Obey, Invader, C215, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, André Saraiva, Mr A, Chanoir, Angel 41, Vhils, Bearbrick, Kidrobot, Karl Lagasse, JR, Blek Le Rat, Swoon, Faile, D*Face, Dface, Retna, Mr Brainwash, Jef Aérosol, Ernest Pignon-Ernest, Dran, Seth, Miss Tic, Speedy Graphito, L’Atlas, Rero, Zepha, Combo, Takashi Murakami, Yoshitomo Nara, Damien Hirst, Yayoi Kusama, Jeff Koons, Richard Orlinski, Cleon Peterson, KAWS, Daniel Arsham, Futura 2000, Kenny Scharf, Hush, Okuda, Felipe Pantone, Bordalo II.