DVD Release June 10, 2003

Based on the traditional Rudyard Kipling story and 36 years after the original film wowed audiences, the same singing and dancing jungle characters are back in “Jungle Book 2.”

This story picks up where the first one left off, when the human Mowgli (voiced by Haley Joel Osment) leaves his jungle friends for the life in the human village with his new girlfriend Shanti (Mae Whitman).

Predictably enough, Mowgli soon tires of human life and finds himself on another adventure with Baloo the bear (John Goodman) and all his old friends and enemies. As with the first film, the best villain is the wicked Shere Khan (Tony Jay).

Unfortunately it tries way too hard to recapture the magic which bubbled over in the first movie, but ends up falling a bit short, succeeding more as a remake than a sequel. Directed by Steve Trenbirth, the film reviews all the best parts of the first film (including a repeat of the fun song “The Bare Necessities”) without the original swing.

Overall, “The Jungle Book 2” is best for children who missed the orginal; to them it’s just an entertaining, nonconfrontational romp through the jungle.