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The Jungle Book 2 | 134111__jungle_l
'JUNGLE' LOVE Mowgli (Osment) gets a lift from Baloo (Goodman)
The Jungle Book 2: Disney

Credits

Release Date: Feb 14, 2003; Rated: G; Length: 72 Minutes; Genres: Animation, Comedy, Kids & Family; With: John Goodman and Haley Joel Osment
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By Scott Brown
Scott Brown
Scott Brown
Scott Brown is a senior writer for EW and a frequent contributor to National Public Radio -- he has the tote bag to prove it

The Jungle Book 2, Disney's latest reincarnation, tries to squeeze a few more drops of milk from a sacred cow, 1967's ''The Jungle Book'' -- which has the disadvantage of being a marvelously complete and sequel-resistant fable. Nonetheless, the same money-minded dreamers who found a way to ''Return to Neverland'' have hacked a path back to Baloo heaven: Jungle-weaned Kipling stripling Mowgli (voiced by Haley Joel Osment) misses his scat-man papa bear (John Goodman, a natural successor to late Ursa Major Phil Harris) and skips out on his adoptive man-village for what amounts to a highlight reel of ''JB1'' -- including the obligatory recap of ''Bare Necessities.''

It's downhill from there: By the time Phil Collins joins the ''fab four'' vultures of the original (heresy!) and Smash Mouth covers ''I Wan'na Be Like You'' over the end credits, the whole enterprise starts to feel like a sheer con.


Posted Feb 12, 2003
 

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