Without doubt the greatest and best-loved Disney flick in history, Jungle Book obviously represents an intimidating act to follow, but this rather belated sequel has its heart in the right place and shouldn’t disappoint anyone.
Offering nostalgic viewers and newcomers alike extended acquaintance with the highly congenial cast of panthers, bears, snakes, vultures and tigers who populated the original Jungle Book, JB2’s plot witnesses Mowgli (the Man-Cub hero) living a settled life in the village into which a giggling temptress had lured him at the end of part one.
Needless to say, village life bores Mowgli senseless and he longs to return to the jungle, where his best mate Baloo the bear pines for him, while a malicious bloodthirsty tiger named Shere Khan prowls around awaiting revenge.
Though never as epic or memorable as the original, Jungle Book 2 is far from the act of total sacrilege that you might have feared, and there’s little justifiable reason for giving this a miss.