MovieChat Forums > The Jungle Book 2 (2003) Discussion > My thoughts on Jungle Book 2.

My thoughts on Jungle Book 2.

posted 15 years ago by TheLittleSongbird
12 replies | jump to latest

"Music comes from within, from your heart, and from your soul"

I thought Jungle Book 2 had some good moments, but overall, compared to the original, which is one of my favourites, I thought it a thinly-plotted and rather lame sequel. Out of 10, I gave it a 4.

I absolutely love the original. The animation and songs were great considering it was made in the 60s, it was original, the characters were likeable, and it was funny. The only reason why I didn't give Jungle Book a 10, and belive it it was that close, was because I felt it was a bit too short. When I wrote my review for the film on IMDB, I looked at the negative criticisms, and my jaw actually dropped when someone said it was racist. For one thing, Louis Prima, the voice of King Louie (a notable absentee) wsn't black, and I personally think, you may disagree with me, that someone's ethnicity shouldn't be an issue when considering voice work.

About the sequel, it completely lacked the qualities that made the original so memorable. Don't get me wrong, there are some good things. The animation is average, with some bright colours, if somewhat lacking in detail. There is a fairly entertaining brief appearence by Phil Collins as a vulture, and Bagheera, Kaa and Ranjan do provide some laughs in the middle half, after a rather slow beginning.

Unfortunately, that's where the positives end. The main flaw was the plot, one may argue it was non-existent, but there was actually one, but it was so bland and uninteresting. Another problem is that the characters have no personality. I loved Baloo, but John Goodman, despite his efforts, didn't put his heart and soul into it, like Phil Harris did. Likewise with Haley Joel Osment, and their rendition of Bare Neccessities, which I forgot to mention in my user comment, was out of tune. The material they were given was very bad, it was bland, uninteresting and unfunny on the most part. I also thoughts the songs were forgettable, nothing like the legendary ones in the original.

One of the original's main highlights was George Sanders (the king of suave I call him) as Shere Kahn, a cool and calculating villain that brought a sense of menace to the screen. Unfortunately, I was disappointed in Tony Jay as the character, he was given so little to do. I am not saying that I hate Tony Jay, far from it, he is an wonderful voice actor, like Tim Curry, (I loved his sinister interpretation of Frollo in Hunchback)but he just lacked menace. I will say that he was amazing as the character in Talespin,(a forgotten gem, not forgotten to me though) actually the best villain from the show, but the writers ruined Shere Kahn by making him rather empty as a villain.

Overall, a really disappointing sequel, in fact, probably the one I was most disappointed in. It isn't as bad as Cinderella 2 or Secret of NIMH 2, but it is rather lame in terms of plot and scripting. Sorry i am comparing always to the original, but I am just trying to be honest.

Bethany.

[–] BenjaminTheBlue 12 years ago

Yes I agree on everything above. It seems like it was really just made to be a money spinner. I feel the review above is looking at it from an adults point of view. The above are my feelings too. But how about a 4 year old? (just turned)

Well I will tell you. She loved it. Yet it is only because she had seen the 1st one. The one thing she did say all movie is - where is king Louis? The bit with baloo dancing with the monkeys does not get the 'play it again Dad' that the original got. I suspect the song is weak.

My suggestions - A jungle book 3 should be made. We love all the original characters, but jingle up the plot a bit. A new enemy. Better songs - maybe
Shere Khan could be on the side of baloo and mowgli? We would all go to see it.

Thx BenjaminTheBlue

[–] worstnameeverrightnow 11 years ago

The main flaw was the plot, one may argue it was non-existent, but there was actually one, but it was so bland and uninteresting.

unlike the first movie, this sequel actually has a plot. the first movie is just a road movie with no purpose or character arc. the second film, while it may not being great, actually has a plot and a more compelling one, too. mowgli is torn between the man world and the jungle.

[–] TheLittleSongbird 11 years ago

You are entitled to your opinion which I respect, as I am mine. My opinions here in the original post are not the most well-worded, but this was three years ago when I was 17 and I actually did try to make an effort to actually say why I disliked this sequel instead of "this is boring" or "this sucks" without explaining why, unlike some people. Okay you have the right to think that the sequel had more of a plot, and you have a point about the original film's plot. But in MY opinion, what made the sequel pointless to me was that I felt despite whether the original film had a plot that was thin and episodic, it was at least executed with fun, charm and heart and had timeless characters and songs. The sequel to me had none of those attributes, aside from the characters, who were for my money much more engaging in the original.

The reason why I am replying now is that I really hate your condescending tone. You could have said "I respectfully disagree" instead of that ignorant phrase " are you kidding me?". I didn't resort to attacking people in my post, and I am autistic for goodness sake. I have seen you around on other boards, being a great Disney and animation fan, and I have noticed that you speak of people elaborating more on their opinions(something that I completely agree with actually) and all this stuff about people having different opinions(also objectively true). Yet you come here, replying on my thread and literally imply that I was wrong for having this opinion, and you've also attacked people in the past for liking stuff that you don't and vice versa. Do you realise how hypocritical that sounds? I am not stalking you by the way, I visit the Beauty and the Beast, Lion King, Brave and Animation boards regularly and it is not that easy to ignore.

I am really sorry about this post, and if I'm coming across as agitated, but I have had a very difficult week, including full-on days at uni, disturbed nights, bad period pains, reliving in my dreams the unhappy times at school and being stressed about playing "agony aunt" to various dilemmas between my friends. But if you were to reply to anybody again, could you please make an effort not to be rude? I know that you probably don't mean to, but people would respect you more if you did make an effort.

"Life after death is as improbable as sex after marriage"- Madeline Kahn(CLUE, 1985)

[–] worstnameeverrightnow 11 years ago

look, i'm sorry if i offended you and if i came across an condenscending, but i wasn't really that rude. i've seen worse examples of people being rude. either way, i'm sorry about your tough week and i hope it turns out better for you.

[–] TheLittleSongbird 11 years ago

Thank you, I appreciate that. And I'm sorry too if I was rather snappy. I also accept that you didn't mean to come across as rude, I think in this case it was more my problem than yours, because my autism can mean that I can get upset over things easily. And I can misunderstand what people say when they often don't mean what I think they are saying.

"Life after death is as improbable as sex after marriage"- Madeline Kahn(CLUE, 1985)

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] TheLittleSongbird 11 years ago

I don't think you were rude at all boxzwxwq. In fact I found your advice very constructive. I think I overreacted too much when I wrote my first reply so I made the situation worse than it actually was when I didn't need to, and I'm sorry for that. To me, after giving a personal opinion on a movie, I just felt the poster could have phrased the reply much more nicely rather than say "are you kidding me?", but maybe that's just me. And I am aware that there are far ruder people on the internet(mainly bigots) and it's probably always going to be this way, I've encountered them many times before and have been much firmer with them.

"Life after death is as improbable as sex after marriage"- Madeline Kahn(CLUE, 1985)

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] BwozqkNegative (163) 4 years ago

wow, are u really dat sensitive and easily insulted by a "r u kiddin` me"-statement? i understand why u find it rude, but jeez, there could´ve been much worse comments dat were moure insulting.

[–] SteveH2002 11 years ago

I didn't think the plot was that thin, especially when compared with the original. They're both essentially the same - Man-Cub has adventures in the jungle, but he doesn't belong there. Mowgli's friendship with Baloo represents jungle fun, Shere Khan represents jungle danger. At the end of both Mowgli has to choose to leave the jungle for the village.

The characters were (imo) thinned down, though. In fact, I thought the real strength of the original was how well the characters fit the voices. As much as I love John Goodman he's not Baloo - the character was custom cut for Phil Harris, and any sequel voice actor is going to fall short. George Sander was pitch perfect as Shere Khan, and Sterling Holloway was great as the lisping snake Kaa. One of the things I wasn't happy with the sequel is Shere Khan is already there, already chasing Mowgli, but they don't establish why he's so intent on catching him. You have to see the original to understand, and that's a minor fail in my book.

What I most missed, though, was Louis Prima. King Louis of the Jungle was such a great character in the original, and again the voice - and song - totally fit the character.

[–] dalbrech 8 years ago

It was one of Disney's Direct to Video animated sequels that,after Toy Story Two showed what a huge hit a animated sequel could be, got a thatrical release...but without spending any more money then the tiny DTV budget to improve it. That explains a lot of what is wrong with the movie visually.
I'll Teach You To Laugh At Something's That's Funny
Homer Simpson

[–] Tinny-Tinette 8 years ago

What a well-executed and written elaboration. Well done :)

In terms quality, I agree that it's predecessor is superior. However, The Jungle Book 2 was one of Disney's more decent DTV sequels of the early 2000's. Not great by any means, but decent enough. In terms of story, I thought the sequel actually did it better. The sequel gave the premise a dilemma, weight and depth, while the first film never used it's dramatic potential. But in terms of heart and charm, the first film defintiively is superior.