George of the Jungle 2

George of the Jungle 2 is the 2003 direct-to-video sequel of the 1997 Disney film George of the Jungle. It was directed by David Grossman, written by Jordan Moffet, and stars Thomas Haden Church, Julie Benz, Christina Pickles, Angus T. Jones, Michael Clarke Duncan, John Cleese, and introducing Christopher Showerman as "George". The movie focuses on George trying to save Ape Mountain from his evil nemesis Lyle (Thomas Haden Church). The sequel was widely panned.
== Plot ==
Five years after socialite Ursula Stanhope (Julie Benz) left civilization to marry George of the Jungle (Christopher Showerman), George finds himself hard-pressed to fulfill the roles of jungle king, father, and husband. George's stress level increases when the Mean Lion (voice of Michael Clarke Duncan) challenges him for leadership of the jungle, and when Ursula's mother Beatrice (Christina Pickles) teams up with Ursula's ex-fiancé, Lyle (Thomas Haden Church), in a plot to forcibly take away all that George holds most dear.
To do this, Beatrice invites Ursula, George, and George Junior (Angus T. Jones) to visit Las Vegas, which they accept. Throughout the visit, Beatrice and some of Ursula's fellow socialites try constantly to convince Ursula that George is unworthy of her affection. George, observing the threats but not his wife's resistance, begins to think himself unworthy of Ursula.
During the same time, George's mentor Ape (voice of John Cleese) has become a gambler and is in debt to several creditors, including Lyle. Upon discovering that Ape does not possess the exploitation rights of Ape Mountain, but George does, Lyle instead makes Ape work off his debts from the gambling for the next 17 years. He then engages Ape as a staged song performer and steals the deed to Ape Mountain from George's wardrobe. He thereafter sends two agents, Sally (Marjean Holden) and Kowalski (Erika Heynatz), to Ape Mountain, where they begin to demolish the jungle. The animals, terrified, turn to the Lion for guardianship.
Having failed to convince Ursula to divorce George, Beatrice hires a master of hypnosis to hypnotize Ursula into having no memory of having known George. The hypnotist brainwashes Ursula, giving her the idea that she had married Lyle. George, upon hearing from Beatrice that Ursula has left him, leaves his luck-charm with Ursula as she sleeps, then departs. He rescues Ape and leaves Las Vegas. Their departure triggers much commotion when the police force and the Animal Control Agency join forces to recapture them.
In San Francisco, Lyle fails to persuade Ursula that he is worthy of her affection. Ursula's memory, meanwhile, is stimulated by events similar to those in which George had played a major part.
Later, George then tries to reconnect with Ursula and George Junior before leaving to rescue the jungle. He gains Ursula's interest, but has trouble convincing her that he is her husband. Knocking her unconscious, George continues his journey back home with her, Ape, George Junior, and Rocky (voice of John Kassir) the kangaroo. In the jungle, George overthrows the Mean Lion and tries to convince the other animals to join him in stopping the diggers, but fails in gaining their lost trust in him until the diggers become an immediate threat. George defeats the bulldozers with the help of George Junior, Ape, Shep, Rocky and Tookie Bird (voice of Kevin Greutert).
Lyle's agents Sally and Kowalski come to destroy the tree house, only to be defeated by George and Rocky. George is unable to defeat the digging machine until his son joins the fray. Lyle and Beatrice arrive to pick up Ursula and George Junior. George manages to defeat both of them by hanging Lyle in a tree and Beatrice is kissed by Ape. Lyle is angered by his defeat and insults the narrator voice, who replies by pulling him from the story's world. Buster kisses Babs, restoring her full memory of him. After reviving Babs's friends in a similar fashion (for they had been hypnotized into forgetting Buster also), they subsequently renew their wedding vows and learn to find balance among George's duties.
== Cast ==
* Christopher Showerman as George, King of the Jungle. Showerman replaces Brendan Fraser with characters referencing this throughout the film.
* Julie Benz as Ursula Stanhope, Queen of the Jungle. Benz replaces Leslie Mann.
* Angus T. Jones as George Jr., Prince of the Jungle.
* Thomas Haden Church as Lyle Van de Groot, George's nemesis. Church reprises his role from the first film.
* Christina Pickles as Beatrice Stanhope, Ursula's mother. Pickles replaces Holland Taylor.
* Marjean Holden as Sally, one of Lyle's henchwomen
* Erika Heynatz as Kowalski, another of Lyle's henchwomen
* Dean Vegas as Elvis Impersonator
=== Voices ===
* John Cleese as Ape
* Michael Clarke Duncan as Mean Lion
* John Kassir as Rocky / Armando
* Kevin Greutert as Tookie
* Kevin Michael Richardson as Grouchy Ape / Chimp
* Tress MacNeille as Tiger / shep elephant
* Dee Bradley Baker as Dexter the Monkey / Water Buffalo
* Keith Scott as Narrator
== Release ==
Disney released George of the Jungle 2 direct-to-video on October 21, 2003.[1] A week prior to release, Caterpillar Inc. sued Disney over concerns that the film's use of its trademark constituted damage to its reputation. Caterpillar Inc. asked for a restraining order to prevent the release,[2] but they were unsuccessful.[3]
== Reception ==
Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that only one of six surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating was 5/10.[4] Joe Leydon of Variety wrote, "One of the finest and funniest made-for-video sequels ever released on the Disney label offers an unusually satisfying mix of kid-friendly broad comedy and knowing pop culture parody."[5] Michael Rankins of DVD Verdict wrote that the film "delivers cheap, fluffy, mostly painfree chuckles" and suggested that people watch Jay Ward's cartoons instead.[6] Aaron Beierle of DVD Talk rated the film 2/5 stars and wrote, "Although not quite the dreadful affair that most will be expecting from this kind of a direct-to-video effort, there's simply not much story for the film to go on and the only witty moments are provided by the narrator".[7]
==References==