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The Jungle Book 2

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This article is about the 2003 animated film. For the Kipling book, see The Second Jungle Book. For the 1997 live-action film, see The Second Jungle Book: Mowgli & Baloo.

The Jungle Book 2
Junglebook2 movieposter.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySteve Trenbirth
Written by
Produced by
  • Christopher Chase
  • Mary Thorne
Starring
Edited by
  • Christopher K. Gee
  • Peter Lonsdale
Music byJoel McNeely
Production
companies
DisneyToon Studios[1]
Walt Disney Pictures[1]
Distributed byBuena Vista Pictures
Release date
  • February 14, 2003 (2003-02-14)
Running time
72 minutes[2]
CountriesUnited States
Australia
LanguageEnglish
Budget$20 million[2]
Box office$135.7 million[2]

The Jungle Book 2 is a 2003 animated adventure film[3] produced by the Australian office at DisneyToon Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution. The theatrical version of the film was released in France on February 5, 2003, and released in the United States on February 14, 2003. The film is a sequel to Walt Disney's 1967 film The Jungle Book, and stars Haley Joel Osment as the voice of Mowgli and John Goodman as the voice of Baloo.

The film was originally produced as a direct-to-video film, but was released theatrically first, similar to the Peter Pan sequel Return to Never Land. It is the fourth animated Disney sequel to have a theatrical release rather than going direct-to-video after The Rescuers Down Under in 1990, Fantasia 2000 in 1999, and Return to Never Land in 2002. The film is not based on The Second Jungle Book. However, they do have several characters in common.

The film received negative reviews directed towards the animation and similarity in plotline to the first film. However, it was a box office success, grossing $135.7 million against a $20 million budget.

Plot

Mowgli resides in the "Man-Village" with the girl who lured him in, Shanti, his adopted brother Ranjan, and Ranjan's parents. However, wanting to return to the exciting life of the jungle, he nearly leads the other children in the village into the jungle, and his adopted father punishes him for disobeying what he told Mowgli about not leaving the village and putting them in danger.

Meanwhile, in the jungle, Shere Khan has returned to Baloo and Bagheera's part of the jungle, seeking revenge on Mowgli for defeating him. Baloo enters the Man-Village and takes Mowgli back into the jungle; however, unbeknownst to them, Shere Khan had also enter the village, only to be attacked by the villagers. In the ensuing chase, Shanti and Ranjan sneak into the jungle to rescue Mowgli, believing that Baloo is a rabid animal who has kidnapped him.

Bagheera learns of Mowgli's escape from the village when the humans search the jungle for him, and immediately suspects Baloo. Mowgli instructs Baloo to scare off Shanti should she appear, and bemoans about his minutiae life in the Man-Village. Baloo and Mowgli journey to King Louie's old temple (King Louie is mentioned to have moved out), for a party. However, when the jungle animals mock Shanti and other aspects of Mowgli's life in the Man-Village, Mowgli angrily leaves. He finds Shanti and Ranjan, but Baloo scares Shanti. When the truth comes out that Mowgli ordered Baloo to scare her, Shanti and Ranjan run away, abandoning Mowgli.

Baloo realizes that Mowgli misses his village life, but when Mowgli tries to make amends with his human friends, they are cornered by Shere Khan. The tiger chases Mowgli and Shanti to an abandoned temple built above a lake of lava. Baloo instructs Bagheera to protect Ranjan while he goes to save Mowgli and Shanti. After confusing Shere Khan by banging several different gongs, Shanti's presence is revealed to Shere Khan. Baloo tackles Shere Khan to the ground, allowing Mowgli and Shanti enough time to escape, but the tiger chases them to a statue across a pit of lava. Shere Khan is trapped within the statue's mouth, and it plummets onto a large stone in the lava below.

With his nemesis finally thwarted, Mowgli returns to the Man-Village with Shanti and Ranjan. Ranjan's father apologizes to Mowgli for failing to understand that the jungle was part of his identity. The children return daily to visit Baloo and Bagheera in the jungle.

Voice cast

  • Haley Joel Osment as Mowgli, a young boy raised in the jungle, who wants to return there. He was voiced by Bruce Reitherman in the original film, who in turn replaced David Bailey.
  • John Goodman as Baloo, a fun-loving bear and Mowgli's best friend. He was voiced by Phil Harris in the original film.
  • Mae Whitman as Shanti, a young girl who is Mowgli's love interest. Darleen Carr provided her singing voice at the end of the original film, and she was also unnamed.
  • Bob Joles as Bagheera, a panther and Mowgli's friend, who is determined to stop Baloo from getting Mowgli out of his village. He was voiced by Sebastian Cabot in the original film.
  • Tony Jay as Shere Khan, a man-eating tiger who wants revenge on Mowgli. He was voiced by George Sanders in the original film. Having previously voiced the role numerous times in the 1990s, this was Jay’s final reprisal as the character before his death three years after the release of this film.
  • Phil Collins as Lucky, a slow-witted vulture who mocks Shere Khan.[4]
  • John Rhys-Davies as Ranjan's father
  • Jim Cummings as Kaa / Colonel Hathi / M.C. Monkey. In the original film, Kaa was voiced by Sterling Holloway, Hathi was voiced by J. Pat O'Malley and M.C. Monkey was voiced by Leo De Lyon and known as Flunkey. Cummings reprises his role as Kaa from the TV series, Jungle Cubs.
  • Jimmy Bennett as Hathi Jr. He was voiced by Clint Howard in the original film.
  • Connor Funk as Ranjan
  • Jeff Glen Bennett as Buzzie. Hathi's voice actor in the original film, O'Malley, voiced Buzzie in the original film as well.
  • Brian Cummings as Flaps. He was voiced by in the original film.
  • Jess Harnell as Dizzy and Ziggy. In the original film, Lord Tim Hudson voiced Dizzy, while Digby Wolfe voiced Ziggy.

Additional voices provided by Jeff Bennett, Baron Davis, Jess Harnell, Devika Parikh, Veena Bidasha, Brian Cummings, and an uncredited J. Grant Albrecht.

Cameos
  • During one attempt at the classic song The Bear Necessities from the first film, two prickly pears land on and stick to Kaa's head, making him look like Mickey Mouse. This is an example of a Hidden Mickey.
  • During "W-I-L-D", Timon and Pumbaa can briefly be seen dancing until Baloo bounces them off with his backside.

Songs

Songs from the first film were composed by Terry Gilkyson and Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman with new songs by Lorraine Feather, Paul Grabowsky, and Joel McNeely.

  1. "I Wan'na Be like You" – Smash Mouth
  2. "Jungle Rhythm" – Mowgli, Shanti, Ranjan
  3. "The Bare Necessities" – Baloo
  4. "Colonel Hathi's March"
  5. "The Bare Necessities" – Baloo, Mowgli
  6. "W-I-L-D" – Baloo
  7. "Jungle Rhythm (Reprise)" – Mowgli
  8. "The Bear Necessities (Reprise)" – Baloo, Mowgli, Shanti
  9. "Right Where I Belong" – Windy Wagner

Production

In the 1990s, screenwriting duo Bob Hilgenberg and Rob Muir submitted a Jungle Book 2 screenplay in which Baloo ventured to save his romantic interest from a poacher. Disney ultimately went in a different direction for the sequel.[5]

John Goodman recorded his voice work in New Orleans while Haley Joel Osment recorded his in California. Due to a legal dispute, the character of King Louie from the original Jungle Book could not be included in this film. However, he makes a non-physical appearance as a shadow puppet in the beginning of the film and is briefly mentioned in the middle of the film. The decision was made to keep Shere Khan in shadow during the beginning of the film to "reflect his 'wounded pride'".

Reception

Critical reception

The Jungle Book 2 received generally negative reviews from critics. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film received an approval rating of 19% based on 91 reviews, with an average rating of 4.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "This inferior rehash of The Jungle Book should have gone straight to video".[6] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 38 out of 100 based on 24 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[7]

Box office

The film was released on February 14, 2003 and opened at #4 in its 4-day opening weekend with $14,109,797.[8] At the end of its run, the film grossed $47,901,582 in the United States and $87,802,017 in foreign countries totaling $135,703,599 worldwide. It could be considered a box office success, based on its $20 million budget.[2]

Home media

The Jungle Book 2 was released on both VHS and DVD on June 10, 2003. The bonus features included the behind-the-scenes, some music videos, "W-I-L-D", "I Wan'na Be like You" and "Jungle Rhythm", and deleted scenes. It was re-released again on June 17, 2008 on "Special Edition" DVD.[9][10] In the United States, the 2008 DVD release sold 126,593 units and grossed $1.83 million in two weeks.[11] The film was released on Blu-ray on March 18, 2014, following its predecessor's first HD Blu-ray release.[12]

Cancelled sequel

In 2003, a third installment to The Jungle Book was planned. It would have been about Baloo and Shere Khan being captured and sold off to a Russian circus, and Mowgli, Shanti, Ranjan, and Bagheera deciding to save them both. Over the course of the film, Shere Khan regrets his hatred against humanity after the events of the previous two films because of his capture, and eventually reforms after Mowgli and his friends rescued them. The project never materialized.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b "The Jungle Book 2 (2003)".
  2. ^ a b c d "The Jungle Book 2 (2003)". Box Office Mojo.
  3. ^ "The Jungle Book 2 (2003)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
  4. ^ Phil Collins (2016). Not Dead Yet. London, England: Century Books. p. 269. ISBN 978-1-780-89513-0.
  5. ^ Armstrong, Josh (2012-03-05). "Bob Hilgenberg and Rob Muir on the Rise and Fall of Disney's Circle 7 Animation". Animated Views. Retrieved 2013-04-24.
  6. ^ "The Jungle Book 2 (2003)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  7. ^ "The Jungle Book 2 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  8. ^ "Weekend Box Office Results for February 14-17, 2003". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database (which is owned by Amazon.com). February 18, 2003. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
  9. ^ "The Jungle Book 2: Special Edition". June 17, 2008. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
  10. ^ Cedeno, Kelvin. "The Jungle Book 2: Special Edition DVD Review". UltimateDisney.com. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
  11. ^ "The Jungle Book 2 (2003) - Video Sales". The Numbers. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  12. ^ "The Jungle Book 2 [Blu-ray]". 18 March 2014. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  13. ^ https://screenrant.com/canceled-jungle-book-3-facts.

External links

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