After watching the first mesmerizing brilliant Jungle Book, its sequel enraged me - it was just so unspeakably fourth rate, I felt ripped off that it had taken up my time. Tricked into watching it by the captivating parent movie. What a con!!! Really, really, really, bad, bad, bad, bad!!!!!!!.... The first Jungle Book was a masterpiece - awesome in everything that makes a first rate movie classic. Jungle Book 2 might entertain under 3s, although I doubt I would have thought much of it when I was that age as I had fairy tales, Noddy, Mae Gibbs etc at bedtime. I am most suspicious of the financial interests of anyone giving the sequel a good review. Some good reviews had appalling grammar - so maybe these reviewers don't need intellectual content. Other positive reviews sounded like they were straight out of an PR company - full of slick advertising jargon.

I watched this before The Jungle Book, so it's either that it was because I was young or I didn't see The Jungle Book but at that age, The movie was boring.This sequel depicts Mowgli's adventures in the man-village along with his friends, later, he returns to the jungle. Shanti is even more annoying in this one, last time we saw her, she was 9 and in the sequel, she is 11. I'm pretty glad that her voice didn't sound like a woman but the voice sounded kind of whiny. She has a toddler for a brother named Ranjan who isn't any better, the two are just plain annoying.Thinking about this movie makes me mad. I can't believe that Disney would ruin all these great movies with sequels but at least this one's the best I've seen out of them but this is just a rehash of the first movie.Now, if you're curious, I wouldn't mind you giving this a go but it's too short.

It was inevitable, I guess. I happen to sometimes watch, sometimes ignore children's movies my son watches because after the 50th time, they tend to become part of the regular noise you grow accustomed to. But, someone recently bought Disney's Jungle Book for my son and I loved it as a child, so like my son, I would happily watch it over and over. He loves animals and so Jungle Book was certain to please him immensely. Anyway, after half a dozen viewings, the movie has become alive in my mind again after all these years.As an adult, I appreciated the special quality that comes with specific voices and how they match the personalities of the animal characters they portray. The voices and the characters fuse and to me,(..and maybe you who are old enough to understand the point I'm getting at)no one else can truly inhabit them. I credit John Goodman and others in their attempts to capture the characters we are familiar with in Disney's cash-in sequel to Jungle Book. Goodman, admirably, tries his best to recapture the magic, and imitating the voice of the great Phil Harris is no easy task, as Baloo the bear. If anything, Goodman deserves HIS OWN Disney character, not one already brought to life by another actor. Haley Joel Osment was still riding the high as a child star and does what he can with Bruce Reitherman's Mowgli, but again, we associate with the distinctive voices and can recognize an imitation. Sebastian Cabot as Bagheera, George Sanders as Shere Khan, Sterling Holloway(..there's only one Sterling Holloway, that's simply the way it is)at Kaa, J Pat O'Malley as Col Haiti, the new voices simply can not substitute those magical actors from the past. My grumbles, though, really matter little to my son, who thoroughly enjoys the sequel because it has talking animals and songs. He doesn't understand the significance of my argument and that's really all that matters, isn't it? He only knows that these are animals who talk to each other(..and with Mowgli), sing in harmonious bliss, and face an uncertain obstacle in regards to Shere Khan. Anyway, the animation is just fine and Bob Joles does a decent Bagheera, the panther attempting to convince Mowgli, the man-cub, to return to the man village because the man-hating, and very dangerous tiger, Shere Khan(Tony Jay, who isn't too bad at his George Sanders impersonation)is on the prowl. But, Baloo wishes for his buddy, Mowgli to remain at his side, despite the potential harm which might come their way. A village girl, Shanti(..voiced by Mae Whitman)and her little brother, Ranjan(..voiced by Connor Funk), who idolizes Mowgli, soon follow behind risking their own well-being to find the man-cub to apologize for getting him in trouble with her father(..voiced by John Rhys-Davies). Jim Cummings attempts to mimic both Holloway as the slithery snake, Kaa, and J Pat O'Malley, as the stern and proud elephant leader, Col Haithi, not an easy feat in the slightest. Louis Prima's King Louie is sorely missed, but I'm happy that an attempt at imitating his voice doesn't happen. Cummings does voice work for Winnie the Pooh nowadays when the character was brought back by Disney.

A few weeks ago, they re-released The Jungle Book on Disney DVD and I watched it after not seeing it for years and I just forgot how much I loved it. I saw that it had a sequel and I figured it might be worth a look. I watched it tonite and even though it wasn't a bad attempt, it was not really necessary to make it. The first Jungle Book ended so well and had a perfect happy ending, this was just a strange continuation on the story. They do bring back our favorite characters which I loved, like the snake, he's so cheesy, but he always cracks me up. Bagera, the panther, once again, I just love him, he tries to do right all the time, but he always gets hurt in the process. And of course Baloo is always there to bring some life and fun to the story with the simple bare necessities.Maugli is living in the village with a new family and life. But it's not the life he's always wanted, it has work and rules. He tells the other kids about the jungle, but they don't believe on how fun it is. Baloo and Bagera are in the jungle and Baloo just misses Maugli so much and brings him back to the jungle. But they're in big trouble, Shanti and her little brother(children from Maugli's village) follow Maugli and they are all being followed by Sher Kahn who wants revenge on Maugli for making a fool out of him.The Jungle Book 2 is a cute Disney sequel, but for those who love the original, it doesn't hold a candle up to the first Jungle Book. But for the kids and just a regular family film for the afternoon. I have to admit that there was a scene that definitely made me laugh, when the snake sees Shanti and tries to eat her, but her little brother beats him up, pretty good too, I couldn't help but laugh out loud. There are some fun moments, so it's worth a look, but I do of course prefer the first Jungle Book.4/10