The Jungle Book 2
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySteve Trenbirth
Written by
Produced by
  • Mary Thorne
  • Christopher Chase
Starring
Edited by
  • Christopher K. Gee
  • Peter Lonsdale
Music byJoel McNeely
Production
companies
Distributed byBuena Vista Pictures Distribution
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. 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 (1990), Fantasia 2000 (1999), and Return to Never Land (2002) and the last one until Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018). The film is not based on The Second Jungle Book, but they do have several characters in common.

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

Plot

Following the events of the previous film, Mowgli now resides in the "Man-Village" with Shanti, the girl who lured him into the village, having been being adopted by the village leader, who has a wife named Messua and a son named Ranjan. However, wanting to return to the exciting life of the jungle, Mowgli nearly leads the other children in the village into the jungle. Mowgli is punished by the village leader for disobeying him by leaving the village and putting the other children 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; 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 boring 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. 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 Shere Khan finally thwarted, Baloo decides to let Mowgli return to the Man-Village with Shanti and Ranjan, and Bagheera proudly compliments Baloo for making a wise decision. Upon returning to the Man-Village with Shanti and Ranjan, Mowgli reconciles with the village leader, who apologizes to Mowgli for failing to understand that the jungle was part of his identity. Mowgli embraces his new life in the Man-Village, and the children return daily to visit Baloo and Bagheera in the jungle.

Voice cast

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

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. Marty Stuart reportedly submitted songs for the film during production.[6]

  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.[7]

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".[8] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 38 out of 100 based on 24 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[9] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.[10]

Box office

The film was released on February 14, 2003 and opened at #4 in its 4-day opening weekend with $14,109,797.[11] 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 rereleased on June 17, 2008 as a "Special Edition" DVD with additional bonus features.[12][13] In the United States, the 2008 DVD release sold 126,593 units and grossed $1.83 million in two weeks.[14] The film was first released on Blu-ray on March 18, 2014; a Blu-ray release was also included as part of the Disney Legacy Animated Film Collection on November 14, 2023.[15][16]

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.[17]

References

  1. 1 2 "The Jungle Book 2 (2003)". Archived from the original on March 1, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "The Jungle Book 2 (2003)". Box Office Mojo.
  3. ↑ "The Jungle Book 2 (2003)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
  4. ↑ Johnson, Walter (November 19, 1999). "Quick takes". Knoxville News Sentinel. Knoxville, Tennessee. p. 79.
  5. ↑ Phil Collins (2016). Not Dead Yet. London, England: Century Books. p. 269. ISBN 978-1-780-89513-0.
  6. ↑ Risling, Lori (March 3, 2000). "Nashville Notes". The Morning Star. Vernon, British Columbia, Canada. p. 20.
  7. ↑ 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.
  8. ↑ "The Jungle Book 2 (2003)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  9. ↑ "The Jungle Book 2 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  10. ↑ "Find CinemaScore" (Type "Jungle Book 2, The" in the search box). CinemaScore. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  11. ↑ "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.
  12. ↑ "The Jungle Book 2: Special Edition". Amazon. June 17, 2008. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
  13. ↑ Cedeno, Kelvin. "The Jungle Book 2: Special Edition DVD Review". UltimateDisney.com. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
  14. ↑ "The Jungle Book 2 (2003) - Video Sales". The Numbers. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  15. ↑ Dela Paz, Maggie (2023-09-11). "Disney Legacy Animated Film Blu-ray Release Date Set for 100-Movie Collection". Comingsoon.net. Retrieved 2023-09-11.
  16. ↑ "The Jungle Book 2 [Blu-ray]". Amazon. 18 March 2014. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  17. ↑ https://screenrant.com/canceled-jungle-book-3-facts. Archived 2020-12-12 at the Wayback Machine
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