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 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.

References

 Other websites 






Category:2003 movies
Category:2003 animated movies
Category:2000s English-language movies
Category:2000s family movies
Category:2003 musical movies
Category:Disney animated movies
Category:American family movies
Category:American musical movies
Category:Movies about animals
Category:Movies about snakes
Category:Movies about tigers
Category:Movies about bears
Category:Movies about wolves
Category:Movies about orangutans
Category:Jungle movies
Category:Movies set in India
Category:Sequel movies
Category:Movies based on books
Category:The Jungle Book