The Jungle Book 2

The Jungle Book 2 is a 2003 animated movie produced by DisneyToon Studios in Sydney, Australia. It was released by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution. It was released in France on February 5, 2003, and released in the United States on February 14, 2003. It is the sequel to Walt Disney's 1967 movie The Jungle Book. Haley Joel Osment did the voice of Mowgli, and John Goodman did the voice of Baloo. The movie was going to be a direct-to-video movie, but it was released in theaters first. The movie is not based on The Second Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling (published in 1895). However, they do have some of the same characters. When released, the movie was criticised mainly for its bad animation and a story similar to the original movie. Disney released the VHS and DVD versions on June 10, 2003. On June 17, 2008, a Special Edition DVD was released.

The Jungle Book 2
Directed by	Steve Trenbirth
Written by	Karl Geurs
Produced by	Christopher Chase Mary Thorne
Starring	John Goodman Haley Joel Osment Mae Whitman Connor Funk Bob Joles Tony Jay John Rhys-Davies Jim Cummings Phil Collins
Edited by	Christopher K. Gee Peter Lonsdale
Music by	Lorraine Feather Terry Gilkyson Paul Grabowsky Patrick Griffin Joel McNeely Richard M. Sherman Robert B. Sherman
Production companies	DisneyToon Studios Walt Disney Pictures
Distributed by	Buena Vista Pictures
Release dates	February 14, 2003 (Australia) February 23, 2003 (United States) September 17, 2008 (Togo) May 18, 2019 (Bhutan) (internet)
Running time	72 minutes
Countries	United States Australia
Language	English
Budget	$20 million

The story

Mowgli feels unwelcome and out of place in the human village where he now lives. When Baloo arrives for a visit, Mowgli leaves with him to go back to the jungle. However, his friend Shanti thinks he was kidnapped. She follows him into the jungle. Shere Khan is still hunting for Mowgli, which puts him, as well as Shanti and Baloo, in danger. Mowgli must decide whether he wants to live in the jungle with Baloo, or stay in the village with Shanti.

Voice Cast

• Haley Joel Osment as Mowgli
• John Goodman as Baloo
• Mae Whitman as Shanti
• Connor Funk as Ranjan
• Bob Joles as Bagheera
• Tony Jay as Shere Khan
• John Rhys-Davies as Ranjan's father
• Jim Cummings as Kaa, Colonel Hathi and M.C. Monkey
• Phil Collins as Lucky
• Jeff Glen Bennett as Buzzie
• Veena Bidasha as Messua
• Brian Cummings as Flaps
• Baron Davis as Dizzy
• Bobby Edner as Hathi Jr.
• Jess Harnell as Ziggy
• Devika Parikh as a woman

Production

• 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 movie. However, he makes a cameo in the prologue of the movie and is briefly mentioned in the middle of the movie.
• The decision was made to keep Shere Khan in shadow during the beginning of the movie to "reflect his 'wounded pride'".

Soundtrack

The band Smash Mouth recorded a cover of the Sherman Brothers song, "I Wanna Be Like You" (originally from the 1967 musical movie), which is featured on this movie's soundtrack.

Reception

Criticism

Many people thought that The Jungle Book 2 was too much like the original 1967 classic. Many people thought it should have gone direct-to-video like what it was originally made for. On Rotten Tomatoes, the general opinion is "This inferior rehash of The Jungle Book should have gone straight to video." Based on 86 reviews, the movie has a "rotten" 19%, with an average score of 4.4. In the "cream of the crop" division, the movie has a 17% with an average score of 4.1. In the RT Community, it has a 30%, with an average score of 3.7.

Box office

The movie has made a total domestic gross of $47,901,582.

Other websites

• Official website
• The Jungle Book 2 at AllMovie
• The Jungle Book 2 at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• The Jungle Book 2 on IMDb
• The Jungle Book 2 at Rotten Tomatoes