Dawalk-1
I agree with the reviewer of the DVD to this Disney sequel on the Ultimate Disney site (now more commonly known as DVDizzy): It's not on the same level as the first movie, but simultaneously it isn't that bad either and I still find it enjoyable, despite the flaws there may be. Someone mentioned that this is just a rehash of the original film. I didn't quite get what that other viewer meant or what that other reviewer was talking about at first, but I guess it is somewhat, in a few ways, but not all that much I don't think. Believe it or not, this is actually one of the few Disney sequels I was feeling to a degree. Those who think this is very bad, I can think of other movies that are much worse, such as the straight-to-VHS Bar-B-Q and I rather watch Jungle Book 2 again than that or before ever watching that again, looking back on it. To anyone who may be reading this, y'all might want to rent for yourselves or watch it online first though. I don't think I'll even bother bringing up what has already been elaborated by the other reviewers about this on here nor try to discuss what hasn't already been discussed on this. Anyway, I say it's worth giving a whirl and hopefully at least some will be on the fence with it like I am.
Electrified_Voltage
Even though this film was made over thirty years later, it is a sequel to the 1967 Disney flick, "The Jungle Book", the last animated feature produced by Walt Disney himself, which was released the year after he died. I watched the 1967 film from beginning to end for perhaps the first time in January this year (I definitely saw at least SOME of it in my childhood, but I'm not sure exactly how much), and was not let down, as my review of it will tell you. It's been nearly three months since then, and it's taken me this long the get around to watching and reviewing this 2003 sequel, "The Jungle Book 2", made after so many other animated features produced by the Disney company after the man's death in 1966. I've seen several direct-to-video Disney sequels, most of which have been pretty bland, and this is a bland theatrical Disney sequel.Mowgli now lives in the "man village" with adoptive parents and a younger stepbrother named Ranjan. He is good friends with Shanti, the girl who lured him out of the jungle and into this village. However, he misses the jungle and his old friend, Baloo, and the friendly bear happens to be missing him. Baloo manages to make his way to the village, escaping from the elephants who try to stop him. Mowgli is obviously glad to see him, but when Shanti sees the bear, she thinks he means harm and screams for help! Baloo runs back into the jungle with Mowgli on his shoulders, and Shanti thinks her friend has been kidnapped, so she follows them. Mowgli and his bear friend are now back together, while Shanti and Ranjan search through the jungle for the boy. Unfortunately, the evil Shere Khan is also looking for the jungle boy, seeking revenge on him! Another problem for Mowgli on this adventure is that he finds himself unsure of whether he wants to live in the jungle with Baloo or in the village with Shanti and his adoptive family.A major problem with this sequel, one it didn't take long at all for me to notice, is definitely the humour. The film starts with Mowgli in the village, and nothing here made me laugh or even smile. When we see the jungle animals in this film, it's still not funny, even with the return of such characters as Baloo, Kaa, and the vultures. Sure, we have more of their antics here, but unlike before, they're not funny. In fact, nothing in the entire film made me laugh or smile at all, even if I may have very seldom come close! Another complaint I have about this "Jungle Book" sequel is that the Ranjan character is too noisy! I guess this is supposed to be funny as well, but it's not. Around the beginning, after Mowgli and Ranjan trick Shanti and make her fall in the water, she calls them, "Horrible, stinky boys!" What a cheesy line! Throughout the film, I did not find myself very interested in the plot (it may copy that of the original a little too much), and I think I had trouble following the "W-I-L-D" song because it was so uninteresting to me. There may be some mild suspense towards the end, and some parts later on may even be fairly poignant (or at least close to it), but these things are certainly not enough to make "The Jungle Book 2" worth watching.The first sequel to an animated Disney feature was "The Rescuers Down Under" from 1990. That film was released in theatres, but most of the animated Disney sequels have been direct-to-video, starting with "The Return of Jafar", the first of two sequels to 1992's "Aladdin". "The Jungle Book 2" was released the year after "Return to Never Land", which I haven't seen, but I know that it's a sequel to the 1953 Disney feature, "Peter Pan". Unlike most other Disney sequels, these two actually had a theatrical run, and I don't know about the "Peter Pan" sequel (though it wouldn't surprise me if I saw that it's the same as most of them), but this "Jungle Book" sequel is just like another direct-to-video one and probably should have been just that. As one would expect, since this sequel was made decades after the original, the animation is more advanced here, but it's so bland compared to its predecessor that I don't really care. I'm not sure whether I should be giving this a 4 or a 5 out of 10, but neither of those are high ratings. 1967's "The Jungle Book" is good animated family entertainment for many of those who want that, but this 2003 sequel might be just for kids.
Julia Arsenault (ja_kitty_71)
As far as I'm concerned, this film and the original films are two totally and completely different things and I love both of them; I am not one to compare. I thought the animation was excellent and the songs are alright too.I love the movie opening, when Mowgli was telling his new family and new best friend, Shanti, about his former life in the jungle through a puppet show. As he gets to the part where he fought Shere Khan, the ferocious tiger, Ranjan decides to put his own twist on the story and in doing so, manages to destroy the set and embarrass Shanti in the process. Ranjan's comment that, "Shanti blinked her big, beautiful, brown eyes at you. And you follow her into our village," prompts Shanti to turn red and deny she did anything of the sort. This prompts a little argument between Mowgli and Shanti, forcing Mowgli's adoptive father to break it up by revealing that his wife used the same trick on him. Also, my favorite musical sequence is when Mowgli and the village kids sang "Jungle Rhythm."So anyway, as I said I love both "Jungle Book" films.
