Jungle 2 Jungle is a 1997 remake of French film "Un Indien Dans La Ville"note ("An Indian In The City" though it was released in English as "Small Indian, Big City") starring Tim Allen.Michael Cromwell (Allen), a New York-based commodities broker, wants to marry his lady love Charlotte (Lolita Davidovich). But his divorce from his first wife, Dr. Patricia Cromwell (JoBeth Williams) has not been finalized yet, and he has to locate her. He traces her to a tribal settlement in Canaima National Park, Venezuela. His visit comes with a surprise: Michael and Patricia have a 13-year-old son who has been raised by the tribe, Mimi-Siku (Sam Huntington).Michael is convinced to take his son with him in a first visit to New York City. Major culture shock follows. Also, the boy finds his first love in Karen Kempster (Leelee Sobieski), daughter of Michael's co-worker Richard (Martin Short).
Jungle 2 Jungle provides examples of:
Accidental Pervert: Depends on if you consider it an "accident" or not—Mimi is looking for his pet tarantula in Charlotte's bed while she's sleeping in it, and gets an eyeful of her lower bits. He visibly doesn't mind what he sees, but she understandably flips out when she sees him there.
Mimi: [happily] Nice poochie-poochie! Charlotte: [wrapping herself up in a blanket and fleeing] THAT IS THE LAST "POOCHIE-POOCHIE" YOU'RE GOING TO SEE AROUND HERE, YOU LITTLE SAVAGE!
Actor Allusion: Michael accidentally blowguns his girlfriend's cat. His reaction is a familiar guttural "Oh, no..."
Aesop Amnesia: So Michael acknowledges that he took Patricia for granted, and paid more attention to his work than her. He even acknowledges it to Mimi, and realizes that's why Charlotte might be so unhappy. But he ditches Charlotte twice in the movie without telling her why, and by the end, she's clearly unhappy with Michael and unwilling to work around his schedule.
Berserk Button: Do NOT call Mr. Jovanovic "Mr. J." And don't screw him on a stock deal, either.
Big Applesauce: The movie features plenty of lovely shots of the pre-9/11 NYC skyline, along with location filming around the rest of the city.
Blithe Spirit: Michael and Mimi-Siku go for a stroll in Central Park after buying some hot dogs from a vendor. Then Mimi notices some Street Performers singing and playing instruments for a number that sounds remarkably similar to the tribal music he has heard back home, and he excitedly performs an ecstatic dance before the astonished onlookers. Mimi urges his father to join him, and Michael indulgently does. Then everybody in the park gets into the spirit and joins in the spontaneous dance party.
Blow Gun: Michael contrives to shoot himself in the leg with semi-paralytic darts not once but twice.
Child Hater: Zig-zagged. Charlotte is almost an example, since she doesn't want to have kids and wasn't happy to hear about Mimi, but she does make an effort to befriend Mimi at first. She only starts disliking Mimi after the kid repeatedly acts out of line.
Cultural Translation: The original took place in France. Disney changed this to America.
Did They or Didn't They?: Mimi and Karen actually didn't (this is a Disney film, after all, and they're just thirteen), but it doesn't stop her dad from freaking out and threatening her with boarding school.
Eat The Dog: It's a running gag. First, Mimi wants to eat Charlotte's cat, but he settles for the cat food instead. Then he kills a pigeon with an arrow and gives it to a homeless man to eat. Finally, he steals the Kempsters' exotic fish and roasts them over a campfire in the backyard.
Fingore: Jovanovic's preferred method of punishment is to cut off fingers. We don't see anything since it's a family movie, but we do see the results of this punishment on another man.
There's the bit with Mimi accidentally seeing Charlotte's (implied) nudity/semi-nudity, and enjoying it.
Richard sees Mimi and Karen spooning in Mimi's hammock. Though the movie doesn't outright mention it, he assumes that the two had sex (they didn't), and he freaks out.
Related to the above, when Michael finds out about Karen and Mimi, he asks if cookware note which in the tribal culture is used as a romantic gift in lieu of flowers was exchanged. Richard misunderstands.
Michael: Was there a pot involved? Richard: No, there was no pot involved!
When the Kempsters visit the tribe at the end of the movie, Mrs. Kempster wonders, "This isn't one of those topless tribes, is it?"
Giver of Lame Names: Mimi. At age six, he named himself "Mimi-Siku," which means "cat piss." When he meets Michael, he names him "Baboon."
However, he later averts this trope by giving Karen a native name with a nice meaning.
May be In-Universe Values Dissonance as Mimi's mother claims it's a territorial thing. "Baboon" may be a joke, however.
Grey and Grey Morality: At the beginning of the movie, Michael is a bona fide Jerkass who is wrapped up in himself and his white collar world, which costed him his first marriage. But his ex-wife Patricia isn't much better—she constantly belittles Michael; she springs Mimi-Siku on Michael after thirteen years; she says that promises in the tribe are kept no matter what, despite her breaking her promise to meet Michael in Caracas for the divorce paperwork; and she angrily guilts Michael into taking a son he knew nothing about two days ago back to New York, knowing full well that Michael made the promise with the belief that a "man" is eighteen or older and not thirteen.
Kidanova: Mimi-Siku is very popular with the village girls and gives them cooking pots as gifts, which the girls love and are more practical than flowers in the jungle. He doesn't stop when he gets to New York, either, flirting with a girl on the street and later romancing Karen. Michael claims it's In the Blood, but Patricia seems skeptical.
Literal-Minded: Michael tells Mimi to pour milk on the Cap'n Crunch to make breakfast. But Michael neglects to tell Mimi that both should go into a bowl first...
Mighty Whitey: Played with, but ultimately repudiated. Mimi-Siku is quite adept at tribal customs, but that is only because he has been explicitly raised as an native, and among native children. At one point the chief assigns him a task in order to "become a man," but due to Michael's refusal to cooperate it at first doesn't look as if Mimi will succeed. Michael himself is noticeably squeamish around the various jungle animals and Mimi's pets - as are other Anglo-American characters when Mimi is brought to New York.
Scenery Porn: Mostly in New York City, since the majority of the movie takes place there, but there are tons of lovely shots of Venezuela's Canaima National Park for the jungle scenes.
Shout Out: "He's doing a Fay Wray!" (On Mimi-Siku on the outside of a high-rise)
In the natives' culture, children choose their own names. Mimi chose his at age six, and apparently "Mimi-Siku" means "cat piss."
Mimi also doesn't know how to use a bathroom. First he pees on the plane's exit hatch during the flight to New York, then later starts to pee on a potted plant in Charlotte's office.
The scene in the tribe's bachelors' tent is mostly a series of fart jokes.
Unusually Uninteresting Sight: No one in New York bats an eyelash at Mimi-Siku wandering the streets in full jungle garb, though it's justified since it's New York City and crazy things are everywhere.
Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Everyone hates Mimi's tarantula, but no one worse than Mr. Jovanovic, who flees and leaves the Kempsters alone forever after Mimi sets the tarantula on him. A Russian mob boss!
You No Take Candle: Mimi-Siku apparently talks like this since he was raised alongside a native South American tribe, though it's really odd since his mother holds a doctorate and speaks perfect English.
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