Le Livre de la jungle 2

It seems that now days Disney has been releasing many sequels to the classics, most of them are straight to video releases, but because the original Jungle Book was so successful, I think they gave The Jungle Book 2 a chance on the big screen. All of the great characters from the original are back and better than ever, and the voices sound relatively the same. The animation is more updated, and looks wonderful. For fans of Disney, this movie is a must see. I give it a 9/10.

We just took our two daughters (ages five and four) to their first cinema experience...The Jungle Book 2. Though it had a few scary parts (Shere Khan close ups), overall it was pleasant and didn't contain the violence that has characterized a number of other childrens videos that we've rented.

The above experience not withstanding, as I watched the film I kept thinking that this movie should not have gone to the theaters, but should have been sent straight to video. When you look at the voice talent (John Goodman, Phil Collins, Haley Joel Osment), you initially expect big gun entertainment. It is later that it dawns on you that you've paid cinema prices for a film that lasts only around 75 minutes and has a plot that is more concerned with having the original cast make almost forced appearance (look! Here is the snake! We've come across the monkeys! Are those elephant noises I hear?), rather than bringing them all back as part of a well devised plot. The film develops well in the village with Mowgli recounting his jungle life. Once the village is left, however, you feel pushed along. The most forced of the whole group are the buzzards, who go from being significant in the first film to basically showing up here and watching Lucky, the new vulture addition, ham it up. I guess Col. Hathi's wife knew better. She doesn't even appear in this one!

The weak plot aside, there was something unusual for me in returning to these characters so many years later and seeing that they have not aged a bit....only in animation! Seeing this film from the 60s brought back with updated music, was enjoyable. Perhaps that is why the buzzards weren't really needed. Audiences of the first film would have been thinking "Ringo" during the buzzard scenes, here the Smash Mouths sing on the soundtrack. Some things just don't cross time well.

So... as a sequel the film is weak. But it is enjoyable to watch...on video. Some sequels are a waste even in the 99 cent bin (Beethoven 3, anyone?), while others are worth the sitting (Homeward Bound 2). Disney has given us a sequel designed for a family with little kids, but its theatrical run shows a greed that does not fit well with the reputation for quality that Walt Disney was given.

ps. We watched the film here in Argentina, so it was in Spanish. Lucky is presented as a doof whose Spanish has the thickest North American accent I've ever heard. Hmmmm.

I will have to agree with some commentators here that The Jungle Book 2 was a very big disappointment.

Disney Corp. should hire a team of movie experts and analyze the elements of the first movie and then repeat them again, with changes.

The only good part in my opinion was the new vulture played by Phil Collins, he was funny. Otherwise, the music which in version 1 was completely enchanting, and delightful is missing from version 2. Also they left out one of the best characters, King Louie, and above all, there was no plot at all. Alas! William, are there no more writers like thou?

Disney would die again if he saw this movie.

I agree with the reviewer of the DVD to this Disney sequel on the Ultimate Disney site (now more commonly known as DVDizzy): It's not on the same level as the first movie, but simultaneously it isn't that bad either and I still find it enjoyable, despite the flaws there may be. Someone mentioned that this is just a rehash of the original film. I didn't quite get what that other viewer meant or what that other reviewer was talking about at first, but I guess it is somewhat, in a few ways, but not all that much I don't think. Believe it or not, this is actually one of the few Disney sequels I was feeling to a degree. Those who think this is very bad, I can think of other movies that are much worse, such as the straight-to-VHS Bar-B-Q and I rather watch Jungle Book 2 again than that or before ever watching that again, looking back on it. To anyone who may be reading this, y'all might want to rent for yourselves or watch it online first though. I don't think I'll even bother bringing up what has already been elaborated by the other reviewers about this on here nor try to discuss what hasn't already been discussed on this. Anyway, I say it's worth giving a whirl and hopefully at least some will be on the fence with it like I am.

Recipe for Jungle Book 2:

Take one classic animated movie, loved by millions the world over.

Carefully remove the plot.

Add a couple of inconsequential new characters.

Simmer gently without much loving care for very little time in a studio.

et voila!

You have the most pointless sequel I have seen in a long time. This is a shameless and charmless cash-in on the original Jungle Book. All the characters are there (with the exception of King Louie - who is absent for no explained reason) but they are there just because they were in the first film. No other reason at all.

The plot isn't. There is no plot! Some vague hokum about how Mowgli misses the jungle, and that's it. Dull, dull, dull, dull, dull!

You have to admire Disney's inattention to detail, though. For example. Mowgli, having been transplanted to the man village, has to obey all the rules of civilised society. Except, he still gets to wear his loincloth like some Tarzan wannabee. No smart man clothes for you, jungle boy! Just that raggedy old cloth! Haha! You're in the man world now, but we'll cruelly let you wear your rag to constantly remind you of the fact that you were once in a real movie with heart!

And what's with everyone in that village? They are deathly afraid of the "jungle" and its inhabitants. So much so that they've placed convenient stepping stones across the river so that they can get to it anytime they like. Bah!

There's one new song of any note "Jungle Rythym" which is OK, but that's it. Otherwise it's just an endless rehash of "Bare Necessities" several times during the picture. Talk about a one-song movie.

The voices are done reasonably well, though how they roped John-Rhys Davies into this I'll never know. Mowgli (Haley Joel Osment) and Baloo (John Goodman) are particularly good.

But otherwise its just rubbish really. Little kids will enjoy it, but it's a shame Disney didn't add a few more "adult" oriented gags into it. The only one of note was the vultures being portrayed as the Beatles. Even that wasn't funny the second time around. I can imagine parents the world over, having taken their kids to see this, dreading the little 'uns wanting to go again.

Oh, and Disney guys? Just because Lilo and Stitch was a good film, doesn't mean you have to try and sneak the two main characters into every movie from now on. Shanti and the intensely irritating Ranjan are practically clones of Lilo and Stitch, but without the charm of either.

The final insult was, after sitting through the movie and listening to far too many reprisals of "Bare Necessities" and NOT having King Louie in it at all, the end credits played out to "I Wannna be Like You". Yeah, that makes tons of sense Disney. Not have a major character in the movie, then use his theme song at the end.

What a crock! Not so much of a straight-to-video production as it should have been a straight-to-the-cheap-bin-in-the-video-shop effort.