THE JUNGLE BOOK 2 -The Blu Review

The Disney DTV sequels have become a bit if an embarrassment to the Disney legacy. There have been a lot of them and for every TOY STORY 2 there are a half dozen cash-ins like ALADDIN THE RETURN OF JAFAR, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST’S ENCHANTED CHRISTMAS, and LILO AND STITCH – STITCH HAS A GLITCH. Most seemed rushed with inferior animation, weak tunes, and lame scripts. They may have worked their way into the wallets of the Disney fans, but not their hearts.

Let’s face it – topping Phil Harris and his classic jungle jive in the original 1967 JUNGLE BOOK wasn’t going to happen but 2003’s JUNGLE BOOK 2 was better than most sequels, had an impressive voice cast, and was wise enough to include the JB signature tune “The Bear Necessities” not once but three times! The film’s animation was more detailed and vivid than most of Disney’s low-budget animated efforts and JUNGLE BOOK 2 even received a theatrical run.

After leaving life in the jungle behind, Mowgli (voice of Haley Joel Osment) has been adopted, and now lives in the nearby village with his new parents and his younger brother, while becoming close friends with Shanti (voice of Mae Whitman), the girl who first lured him out of the wilds. However, adjusting to live among other humans hasn’t been easy, and after Mowgli pays a visit to an old friend, happy-go-lucky bear Baloo (John Goodman), the boy considers staying for a while. Before long, both Shanti and Mowgli’s new family notice he’s missing, and Shanti goes into the jungle to look for him, despite her fear of wild animals. However, Mowgli and Baloo are soon reminded that life in the wilderness isn’t always carefree when they learn Shere Khan (voice of Tony Jay) is looking for Mowgli, eager to settle an old score. The Jungle Book 2 also featured voice work from Phil Collins and John Rhys-Davies.

JUNGLE BOOK 2 has been released on DVD before and is now out for the first time on Blu-ray

The image, offered in anamorphic widescreen (1.66:1 aspect ratio) Codec: MPEG-4 AVC with 1080p Resolution, looks great. Since JB2 had the advantage being a relatively decent production, the image is much crisper and the colors are more vibrant and vivid than the DVD

The audio is decent but the 5.1 surround sound track is uncomplicated. The dialogue is clear, but there’s not a lot of bass or the rumble of sound effects you might expect for a movie that takes place in the jungle.

There are no new extras on the Blu-ray that were not on the DVD, but they are all piped over:

Original Movie Recap is a three-minute synopsis of the first film though I can’t imagine anyone buying part 2 who didn’t buy part 1 when it came out on Blu a couple of months ago.

The Legacy of ‘The Jungle Book is a 14-minute making-of featurette on the sequel with testimonials from crew members who seem to admire the original and really wanted to do it right with the follow-up. It was also good to hear Roy Disney talk about his brother’s influence on the original film.

Music Videos for “W-I-L-D,” “Jungle Rhythm,” and Smash Mouth’s wretched cover of “I Wanna be Like You”

Sing Along With The Movie: an option that allows the viewer to view the film with the lyrics turned on.

Two deleted scenes: “I got you beat”, and “Brave” neither add nor detract from the feature and I can see why they were cut.

I recommend the JUNGLE BOOK 2 for Disney aficionados and completists, but for the casual viewer there are much better Disney animated features to spend your money on.