The Jungle Book 2 (2003) Review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8_PaRO-XzY

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

The Jungle Book is one of Disney’s many animated classics and surprisingly, it took much longer than necessary for a sequel to come about. Was it worth it? I don’t really know. 

PLOT

2003’s The Jungle Book 2 takes place only a few months after the first film, showing Mowgli to have fit in well with the man-village where he met the same young lady Shanti that brought him along. He is close to a younger man cub named Ranjan since it was his parents that adopted him and although he gets along with everyone, he misses the life of the jungle especially the bond he had with Baloo with the minimum time they had. He does get himself in trouble when trying to take other kids across the river with him, but Shanti does stop that from happening and Ranjan’s father punishes him for it. With Baloo missing him too, he eventually heads to the village to reunite with him. Much to Bagheera’s dismay, the panther tries to have the Jungle Patrol of elephants stop the bear since they know the tiger Shere Khan is still after the man-cub for embarrassing him in order to survive his wrath. Baloo evades the elephants anyway and reaches the village by night before Khan. Although Mowgli would be happy to see him, Shanti would mistake him as a threat when catching them playing together. Baloo doesn’t understand the situation when being called a wild animal and he escapes with Mowgli back to the jungle. They leave unscathed when the village spots Khan instead. Shanti follows Baloo hoping to bring him back home and Ranjan ends up following her too, becoming a bit helpful when saving her from being devoured by the python Kaa. Alone, Mowgli suggests Baloo to scare Shanti should she try taking him back. When visiting an old temple that once belonged to King Louie now open to all jungle animals like a club. After a brief period of partying together, Baloo would mock Mowgli’s time in the village thinking he’d be okay with the sarcasm. Little did he expect this would make him miss Shanti. Just when he leaves to get some space, he does run into Shanti and when Baloo catches up, he scares her and Ranjan anyway, unaware that Mowgli wanted to go back on that plan. Knowing their feelings were hurt, Mowgli distances himself from Baloo to apologize to his friends. This does lead to Khan finding him, but the man-cub gives his friends a chance to split up so that the tiger can focus on him only, following him to a temple surrounded by lava. Shanti instructs Ranjan to stay behind so she can try to save Mowgli, but the younger man-cub runs into Baloo and they head to the other temple as well. Bagheera catches up and stays with Ranjan as Baloo and the bear gets on the same page with Shanti when making clear they both care about Mowgli. She, Baloo, and Mowgli try scaring off Khan by sounding off different gongs from behind, but when Shanti’s presence gets revealed, the bear tackles the tiger long enough for both her and Mowgli to jump back to the jungle. Khan fails and gets trapped on a statue’s mouth at the bottom, being mocked by the vulture Lucky in the process. Baloos saves the kids from falling and when reuniting with Bagheera & Ranjan, he accepts once again that Mowgli belongs to the village. When the kids return to their parents, Mowgli does apologize for disobedience while Ranjan’s father apologizes for not understanding the jungle is still a home to him. Although Mowgli accepts the village as his new home, the film ends with him being allowed to roam the jungle with Shanti & Ranjan to see Baloo & Bagheera as much as possible.

THOUGHTS

Considering how rare it was for Walt Disney Pictures to make theatric sequels before the 2010s started normalizing it, it makes sense why The Jungle Book would not get one immediately. I mean it’s a bigger surprise how it had a direct to video budget and still got to be on the big screen, much like Return to Neverland being the legacy sequel to Peter Pan. Nevertheless, it felt good hearing ‘Bare Necessities’ again. That would not be what makes it instantly amazing because director Steve Trenbirth and writers Karl Geurs & Evan Spiliotopoulos definitely seemed to have a hard time making something new out of the familiar. I say this since apart from the animation being decent in the given budget, the songs ‘WILD’ and ‘Jungle Rhythm’ are definitely trying too hard to be ‘Bare Necessities’. I mean the former sequence is even transitioning to “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” from The Lion King which felt weird to notice. Apart from these moments, there were some moments storywise that don't make much sense storywise. Like I don’t have a problem with the vultures having a scene, but Phil Collins wasn’t funny as the fifth one Lucky and it doesn’t make sense why Khan didn’t kill him. And to be honest, as much as we get where the villagers are coming from, Mowgli should too because they don’t have the same survival skills as him. I can ask why Bagheera doesn't keep Jungle Patrol on top of Baloo sooner, but I’m more surprised it took so long for Khan to reach the village. I know the jungle is supposed to be a big place, but it never feels that way since not once is there an explanation why Khan didn’t find the village sooner. And it’s definitely hysterical Baloo doesn’t identify as a wild animal, but it’s totally on him to make a ruckus with Mowgli if he didn’t want to cause a disturbance at night. It’s also a surprise Shanti didn’t even see Khan during that period of commotion which tops how Ranjan caught up so quietly to get the upperhand on Kaa. Lastly, it’s kinda odd we don’t know why Louie left in the first place. Since he is a character not from the books, just like the vultures, there should’ve been an explanation on his whereabouts, apart from the fact Louis Prima’s widow Gia forbade the character to be used following his passing from pneumonia. If you can ignore these cons, then you’ll have a better time appreciating the pros the way I have. In the long run, I think there is still gonna be a crowd that will enjoy the theme of finding balance within responsibility because not having that makes life much harder. If you have that, then it will make it easier to go through vast changes that’ll come your way. And with a new voice cast, they get the point across. Haley Joel Osment was solid as Mowgli as he sounded much like his predecessor Bruce Reitherman, nailing the aspect that he is a bit rebellious since he has his own form of being homesick, missing the one character that wanted him to live carefree, but he had stayed long enough to understand he’s not the only one that cares about him. John Goodman is great being as laidback as we first remember Baloo, but the character has to go through this reminder Mowgli doesn’t belong with him no matter how much fun they have together. He doesn't hate Shanti, but is trying to look out for him the way Bob Joles expresses as Bagheera. Having already played Frollo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Tony Jay was an excellent successor for Shere Khan being all the more arrogant. This time, his new motive to hate humans originates from having a bruised ego towards the one child that survived him by outsmarting him. What’s worse than that, being outsmarted a second time in a row that he’ll likely die stuck in that lava pit. Personally, the animation peaked with the gong scene because it showed exactly how scared even a tiger can be when isolated by something unfamiliar. On top of that, it was actually impressive for Jim Cummings to voice three different characters here to flex his range as a voice actor: From the sly Kaa, the pompous Colonel Hathi who does it to himself thinking he can walk on a log without breaking it, and to the MC Monkey who is basically co-running the temple with the rest of the monkeys. Getting into the new characters, we can go on and say Connor Funk was a delight in making Ranjan just as hyperactive and fascinated with the jungle the way we first remember Mowgli, but Shanti is the true standout since Mae Whitman is able to present her as most rational much like how John Rhys-Davies does when voicing Ranjan’s dad. Yeah she does care about Mowgli, but because she and her people haven’t needed to go out the jungle as much as he’s first lived, it does become hard for her to understand how much he loves it until she meets Baloo and accepts he cares too. She was Mowgli’s first polar opposite of a friend since Bagheera since she mostly tries being the sensible one and wants him to accept his new home. He eventually does, but you do wish it didn’t take leaving for him to realize how safer he is with his own kind. Since everyone gets on the same page where they get to keep in touch is a solid win-win since the kids get to appreciate each others’ backgrounds and Baloo won’t be alone to have fun. In short, The Jungle Book 2 is a decent sequel for doing its best in being about as fun as many remember its predecessor. If you love the first one deeply, then I hope you enjoy this as well.