This is one of the many sequels that Disney attempted in the new millennium, which marked the end of the Disney Renaissance era. Some of them were merely shadows of the original versions and many felt like someone had taken a straw from the originals, sucked it through and then vomited them out, leaving behind a total mess.
In this case, it's the latter. I can't even begin to count how wrong this sequel is on so many levels. The plot is riddled with clichés and is basically the same as the 1967 version, with the original characters brought back, but with not as much action or development. The new human characters are overtly annoying, especially the psychopath-in-making Ranjan, not to mention the father basically echoing the same thing almost every father in a Disney film says ("I'm very disappointed in you." "I shouldn't have been so hard on you.") If I had a nickel for every time someone said that, I'd be able to finance my own movie.
Another terribly written scene involves Kaa, who, after being needlessly and brutally abused every time he goes near a man-cub, meets Shere-Khan again. You would think after everything that happened during the limited time he was on screen, he would have wanted to rid the world of man cubs and tell Shere-Khan, who is bent on revenge, where to find Mowgli. But instead he lies to him, which makes absolutely no sense. Kaa had no reason whatsoever to lie to him. As I said, the writers were taking everything from the plot of the first film and put it into this one, having nothing glue together as it should.
The songs are also rubbish and highly forgetful, and John Goodman can't bring back Baloo to life as Phil Harris did. Goodman is no bear. He's a Sullivan.
Although the animation is much better, it cannot save the fate of how pointless this sequel is.
In this case, it's the latter. I can't even begin to count how wrong this sequel is on so many levels. The plot is riddled with clichés and is basically the same as the 1967 version, with the original characters brought back, but with not as much action or development. The new human characters are overtly annoying, especially the psychopath-in-making Ranjan, not to mention the father basically echoing the same thing almost every father in a Disney film says ("I'm very disappointed in you." "I shouldn't have been so hard on you.") If I had a nickel for every time someone said that, I'd be able to finance my own movie.
Another terribly written scene involves Kaa, who, after being needlessly and brutally abused every time he goes near a man-cub, meets Shere-Khan again. You would think after everything that happened during the limited time he was on screen, he would have wanted to rid the world of man cubs and tell Shere-Khan, who is bent on revenge, where to find Mowgli. But instead he lies to him, which makes absolutely no sense. Kaa had no reason whatsoever to lie to him. As I said, the writers were taking everything from the plot of the first film and put it into this one, having nothing glue together as it should.
The songs are also rubbish and highly forgetful, and John Goodman can't bring back Baloo to life as Phil Harris did. Goodman is no bear. He's a Sullivan.
Although the animation is much better, it cannot save the fate of how pointless this sequel is.