The Jungle Book 2

From Disney's wildly popular THE JUNGLE BOOK comes a thrilling, all-new animated feature film. The jungle is jumping again as Mowgli, Baloo, Bagheera, and the rest of your favorite characters return in the fun-filled musical adventure THE JUNGLE BOOK 2. "It's a work of such charm and imagination it should enchant children of all ages" (Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times). Mowgli (Haley Joel Osment) has been living in the village among the humans. His new life includes his little stepbrother, Ranjan, and his best friend, Shanti, but the man-cub still has that jungle rhythm in his heart, and he misses his old buddy Baloo (John Goodman). When Mowgli wanders back into the wild for some swingin' fun, he soon finds Baloo isn't the only one waiting for him –- the man-eating tiger Shere Khan is lurking in the shadows and planning his revenge. If he is to defeat his nemesis, Mowgli will need the help of both his old friends and his new family. With fresh new renditions of "Bare Necessities" and "I Wanna Be Like You," and a host of original toe-tappin' tunes paired with classic Disney animation, THE JUNGLE BOOK 2 is sure to delight the entire family.

After a delightful opening, in which jungle boy Mowgli (voiced by Haley Joel Osment) recaps much of the original Jungle Book in a sprightly shadow puppet show, The Jungle Book 2 swiftly turns into a carbon copy of the splendidly swinging previous movie. After his old pal Baloo the bear (voiced by John Goodman) draws Mowgli away from the man-village, with all its work and rules, and back into the glorious indolence of the jungle, the movie repeats--in a less energetic form--an encounter with Kaa the snake, the cockney vultures, a musical number at the monkey's palace, the menace of Shere Khan the tiger, and even the song "The Bare Necessities." The only difference is that there's a girl named Shanti along for the ride; sadly, her character is so bland that it doesn't do much to justify the movie's existence. --Bret Fetzer