The original Jungle Book was the last animated feature to which Walt Disney himself added his own personal touch. He passed away just before the release of the film. Now, decades later, The Jungle Book is now a classic, and Rudyard Kipling's story is being continued in Disney's brand-new sequel to the film.
The Jungle Book 2 takes up right where its predecessor left off. Mowgli (voiced by Haley Joel Osment of The Sixth Sense) now lives in the "Man Village" having been adopted by one of the families there. Naturally, the young boy struggles in accommodating to his new life (his adopted father even states, "You can take the boy out of the jungle, but you can't take the jungle out of the boy."). Mowgli misses his adventures in the jungle, but most of all he misses his dear friends Baloo and Bagheera (and they miss him too). Unfortunately, however, Mowgli is forbidden from crossing the river into the jungle, for it is still a dangerous place (and as we later learn, the sophisticated villain tiger, Shere Khan, is back and hungers for revenge).
But all of that doesn't stop the friendly bear, Baloo from seeking out his pal Mowgli (Baloo was voiced quite well by John Goodman who did a fairly good job at imitating the voice of Phil Harris). Mowgli jumps at the chance to leave to the jungle with Baloo, but soon finds that he is torn between his jungle friends and his love for Shanti (the girl who lured him to the man village in the first place) and his adopted family.
The movie has a couple of scary parts involving Shere Khan, and some sad parts (involving the prospect of not seeing dear friends ever again), but happily we are given a good and upbeat ending (which contrasts to that of the original). However, the ending comes much too soon, for the entire movie only lasts 72 minutes, which at today's exorbitant ticket prices leaves you feeling quite cheated. There is barely enough time for a couple of new songs (I really enjoyed "The Jungle Rhythm" which kinda reminded me of "Puttin' on the Ritz") along with a reprise of "The Bear Necessities" made famous from the original.
One bright spot in the film was the humorous voice of Phil Collins as "Lucky" the vulture. Lucky was constantly teasing at Shere Khan until he got just a little too close...
To sum it all up, I liked the characters, the music, and the happy ending, but I just felt like there wasn't enough. Another thing that was lacking was the animation. After such jungle scenes from The Lion King and Tarzan, you get the feeling that Disney just didn't quite put its all into this one. However, my daughter loved it, and I truly enjoyed watching it with her, and in the end, that's all that matters.
It's great to see Mowgli, Baloo, and the whole gang once again.
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