The Movie

And the cheapening of the Disney legacy continues...

Honestly, this concept needs a descriptor; Dewaltification sounds a tad too extreme, although the originator and driving force behind what emerged into the world's most recognizable entertainment conglomerate absolutely loathed the concept of sequels to his animated classics. I think Tinkerhell is probably the most apropos, although one might argue that it stigmatizes the Nether-Regions.

Our search continues.

In the meantime, hot on the heels of Atlantis: Milo's Return comes The Jungle Book 2, a feature-length sequel to the last animated film in which Walt Disney was ever involved. While the former title was little more than a weak "film" cobbled-together from episodes of an aborted television series, the latter was a feature-length film, released in theaters in the Spring of 2003 and generating over $120 million in worldwide box office revenues. Sporting spiffier animation than your general Direct-to-Video (or DTV) sequels, The Jungle Book 2 carries a pretty impressive pedigree. The original Jungle Book is one of the most passionately adored Disney animated films -- its adjusted domestic Box Office gross, taking inflation into account, is a staggering 431 million dollars. It is also one of the coolest -- no one has ever been badder than King Louie, a swingin' orangutan who just oozed style and vivacious coolness from every pore (due in no small part to the unique vocal styling of the great Louie Prima.) The Jungle Book is widely considered the last film of Disney's "Second Age", a seventeen year period that began with the release of Cinderella in 1950 and included such classics as Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan, 101 Dalmations, and Lady and the Tramp. Many might argue that, from a stylistic standpoint, The Jungle Book more closely resembles the films of Disney's "Dark Age" (from 1970 to 1988), and they wouldn't be too far off, either. Nonetheless, The Jungle Book is pure Disney gold, a proud member of their esteemed "Platinum Line" of films.

So naturally, the first film left so many unanswered questions which necessitated a sequel. This leaves us with The Jungle Book 2, which doesn't quite manage to insult the original enough to inspire seething rage among Disneyites, but certainly has about as much raison d'être as a Color Me Badd reunion. Like most Disney sequels, the film isn't rabidly awful nor is it remotely interesting. As Baloo and Mowgli, John Goodman and Haley Joel Osment are certainly up to the task. Osment actually provides more personality to the role than young Bruce "What's nepotism?" Reitherman did in the original, while Goodman is certainly on his way to becoming the Phil Harris of the 21st Century. And whoever hired the great Tony Jay to provide the voice of Shere Khan should automatically be given a dozen FastPasses to Splash Mountain and Tower of Terror.   The Jungle Book 2 is barely passable entertainment, the cinematic equivalent of cheap Chinese food. Half-an-hour later, it's like you never watched the thing.

The DVD

Video:

The Jungle Book 2 features more of Disney's patented "family-friendly" widescreen, which corresponds to a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.66:1. The transfer has also been anamorphically enhanced for your widescreen viewing pleasure. I can complain all I want about the quality of the film, but the video just looks jaw-droppingly good. What a vivid array of colors! From the purple folds of Shanti's skirt to the lush green vegetation of the jungle foliage to the sky blues, this is an amazing look picture. The sharpness of the picture and the amount of image detail is wonderful, with only a tad of edge-enhancement and jagged edges with which only the strictest of DVD reviewers will find fault. Shadows and black levels are smooth and deep, sporting solid delineation and spot-on contrasts. The transfer is very clean with little compression noise and no pixellation or annoying artifacts.

Audio:

The audio presentation features both DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 English language soundtracks, as well as a French Dolby Digital 5.1 track. There wasn't a great deal of discernable difference between the DTS and Dolby Digital, save for stronger volume levels and LFE in the DTS. Otherwise, both tracks were fairly similar. The soundstage is significantly spacious, with a fine degree of separation in the front and some effective use of the surrounds to augment the presentation. Orchestral fidelity sounded deep (although lacking the depth of traditional Disney features). LFE is used sparingly but effectively, especially towards the end of the film.. I didn't notice too much directionality, save for one incredibly creepy sequence involving Shere Khan's voice that creeps up behind Mowgli during the film's climax -- a wonderful piece of sound authoring! Overall, the soundtrack is solid and effective in enhancing the presentation of the film.

The Extras

As with many Disney DVDs, you are bombarded with Sneak Peeks the moment you put the DVD into your player. Thankfully, I will not call them "forced trailers" because any monkey who can't find the "Menu" button on his remote should stick to VHS. That having been said, in this section you can find trailers for The Lion King: Special Edition, Brother Bear, Piglet's Big Movie, Stitch! The Movie, Sleeping Beauty: Special Edition (cannot wait!), George of the Jungle 2 (cannot stomach!), Kim Possible, Air Bud Spikes Back, Recess: Taking the 5th Grade/Recess: All-Growed Down (cannot fathom!), and The Haunted Mansion.

Moving into the Bonus Features section, our first extra is Mowgli's Jungle Ruins Maze, a forgettable game that might entertain your little ones for roughly 9.87 seconds. In case you forgot what a really good animated film is like, you can watch a three-minute video recap entitled Synopsis of the Original Movie "The Jungle Book", three minutes that involved me far more than the sequel ever did. The Legacy of The Jungle Book runs about fourteen minutes long, a short feature in which cast and crew reminisce on what made the original film so wonderfully beloved, as well as how the team approached the creation of The Jungle Book 2. (You know, for a sequel, this DVD spends an awful lot of time bowing at the altar of the original. Can't blame them!)

Disney's Song Selection plays like an audio track list, a K-Tel greatest hits moment. Here you can watch, listen to, and sing along with ten of the film's musical numbers. You can select any one song, or utilize the "Play All" option and sing all ten back-to-back in one gigantic mediocre musical jamboree. If Smash Mouth's vile, horrific butchering of "I Wanna Be Like You" doesn't instantly cause massive vital organ failure, you should really volunteer for the next "Super Soldier Serum" program. Revolting! Moving right along, our next stop is Sing With The Movie, an option that allows you to "sing along with all your favorite songs." Unfortunately, Leo Sayer's "Long Tall Glasses" was not included on this DVD, so I had to resort to singing some of the songs that were featured in the film. As you watch the film with this option turned on, the movie lyrics will appear every time a song is sung. Sort of like turning the subtitle options on, only with yellow and white lettering that flow as the lyrics change.

Next up are two Deleted Scenes, featuring introductions by Sharon Morrill and Matt Walker, two members of Disney's upper management who explain why the scenes were cut. The scenes provide some interesting insight into a direction of Shanti's character which was ultimately refined into something slightly different. Finally we have three Music Videos: "W-I-L-D", "Jungle Rhythm", and "I Wanna Be Like You" (again, performed by Smash Mouth, a horrific atrocity that should have been outlawed by the Geneva Convention.)

You can also Register Your DVD with Disney online using the web-link and your DVD-ROM drive. Alternatively, you can go to DisneyDVD.com. It's all good.

Final Thoughts:

Am I being too hard on The Jungle Book 2? The film has such neurotic insecurites that it features "The Bear Necessities" not once, not twice, but thrice! The original songs created for the sequel are so bland and unmemorable; I almost don't blame them for invoking the first movie. But despite my wisenheimer attitude, the movie isn't bad. There are two layers of Disney sequels: the horrific and the forgettable, and The Jungle Book definitely falls into the higher echelons of the latter. It features some very nice animation, using modern animation techniques and CGI to visually take the movie into places the original never could go. But as mentioned before, there was no need for this movie. It didn't open the story up, it didn't develop the characters, it didn't provide anything new, innovative, or memorable. At best, it continually reminded you of the greatness of the original film. This is rental material, but if you liked the film you'll probably be pleased at the decent selection of extras.