TaleSpin is a half-hour American animated television series spin-off of The Jungle Book that first aired as part of The Disney Afternoon.

 The name of the show is a play on "tailspin", defined as "the rapid descent of an aircraft in a steep spiral". The "Tale" in the name originally referred to the series DuckTales, because Launchpad McQuack from that show was originally going to be the star of TaleSpin, but was replaced by Baloo

After a preview of The Disney Afternoon that aired on the Disney Channel in May 1990, the series began its run in September of the same year. The original concept was embodied in the introductory television movie Plunder and Lightning which was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (Prime Time for Programming One Hour or More) in 1991 and was later re-edited into four half-hour episodes for reruns. The show was often seen either on its own as a half-hour show, or as part of the two-hour syndicated series The Disney Afternoon. TaleSpin ended on its 65th episode which ran in 1994, later nomimated for another Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (Entire Series) in the same year. However, reruns continued to be shown on The Disney Afternoon through 1994. Afterwards, it was moved into Disney Channel and later into Toon Disney.

Several of the characters are loosely based on characters from Disney's animated film version of The Jungle Book: in particular Baloo, the hot-shot pilot hero of the series; Louie, the owner of Baloo's favorite bar; and Shere Khan, a business tycoon who appears in many episodes. Kit seems to be a stand-in for Mowgli, since Baloo calls him by the same nicknames his Jungle Book counterpart called Mowgli, like "Little Britches" and "Baby Bear".

Also, many of the series concepts seem to be based on the 1982 ABC series Tales of the Gold Monkey, including the main concept of a cocky flying boat cargo pilot and his rocky relationship with his girlfriend, his scatterbrained mechanic sidekick, the era and designs of the aircraft and costumes, the Pacific Islands setting, the secondary character relationships, even the visual appearance of the lagoon. Also, the protagonists of both series fly planes named for waterfowl (Cutter's Goose and Sea Duck) and are regular denizens of taverns named "Louie's".

The series was largely developed by writers Jymn Magon and Mark Zaslove, who were also the Supervising Producers on the series as well as Story Editors. There were four production teams, each one headed by a Producer/Director: Robert Taylor, Larry Latham, Jamie Mitchell and Ed Ghertner.

TaleSpin is set in the fictional city-state of Cape Suzette (a pun on the pancake dish, Crêpe Suzette), a harbor town protected by giant cliffs through which only a small opening exists. The opening in the cliffs is guarded by anti-aircraft artillery, preventing flying rabblerousers or air pirates from entering the city. Characters in the world of TaleSpin are anthropomorphic animals. The timeframe of the series is never specifically addressed, but appears to be in the mid to late 1930s; the helicopter and jet engine are experimental devices and most architecture is reminiscent of the art deco style of that period. "The Great War" ended "nearly 20 years ago", and radio is the primary mass medium.

The series centered on the adventures of bush pilot Baloo the bear, whose air cargo freight business is bought out by Rebecca Cunningham, and renamed "Higher for Hire". An orphan boy and former air pirate, the ambitious Kit Cloudkicker, attaches to Baloo and becomes his navigator. He sometimes calls him "Papa Bear". Together, they are the crew of Higher for Hire's only aircraft, a modified Conwing L-16 named the Sea Duck. From there, the series follows the ups and downs of Higher for Hire and its staff, sometimes in the vein of old action-adventure film serials of the 1930s and '40s like Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Their adventures often involve encounters with a gang of air pirates led by the histrionic Don Karnage, with representatives of Thembria, a parody of the Stalinist Soviet Union inhabited by anthropomorphic warthogs, or other, often even stranger obstacles.

The relationship between Baloo and Rebecca owes something to the screwball comedy films of the 1930s. It is even more closely patterned after the later years of the television sitcom Cheers—in both shows, a buttoned-down businesswoman named Rebecca takes the reins of a struggling company, then hires its previous owner (a fun-loving but irresponsible slacker) to do most of the work for her.

A video game by Capcom was also released on the NES and Game Boy. Sega produced a different version for the Sega Genesis and Sega Game Gear. A third incarnation was produced by Hudson Soft for the TurboGrafx-16.

Famed Uncle Scrooge comic writer and artist Don Rosa contributed to episode 6 "It Came From Beneath the Sea Duck" and episode 9 "I Only Have Ice for You".