Spoilers from The Jungle Book (1967) will be unmarked. You Have Been Warned!
After being charmed by the village girl Shanti (Mae Whitman) at the end of the last movie, Mowgli (Haley Joel Osment) has since been accepted by the Man Village. Despite being adopted by a loving family, Mowgli still finds himself yearning for his old life in the jungle before he had to follow the rules of his new parents. Baloo (John Goodman) has also found himself missing Mowgli and decides to pay him a visit despite Bagheera's objections. When Shanti mistakes Baloo for a wild predator, he and Mowgli run off to resume their carefree life in the jungle. Worried about Mowgli's well-being, Shanti and Mowgli's adopted brother Ranjan try to find him before anything happens to him. Unbeknownst to Mowgli and his friends, the evil tiger Shere Khan (Tony Jay) has returned to the jungle, seeking revenge after his humiliating defeat at Mowgli's hands.
Tropes related to The Jungle Book 2:
- Accidental Hero: When Baloo comes into the village to see Mowgli, he had no idea that he actually saved him, as Shere Khan was also in the village and followed Shanti to Mowgli's home waiting to attack when Mowgli showed himself.
- Accidental Truth: While Mowgli thought it was just a joke that he and Ranjan were playing on Shanti when he said that Shere Khan was after him looking for revenge, little does he know that the tiger is indeed seeking revenge against Mowgli for his humilation.
- Actor Allusion: If you pay very close attention during the scenes with the vultures, you'll hear Jess Harnell doing his Ringo Starr impression. Again.
- Adaptational Heroism: In Kipling's original story, many of the villagers are Improperly Paranoid as they were played on by the local hunter Buldeo into turning against Mowgli and attempting to murder his adoptive parents; plus Mowgli's adoptive father was ungrateful towards Mowgli for saving both his and Messua's lives as they lost much of their belongings in the village. But here, the villagers are more welcoming towards outcasts; even Mowgli's adopted father was given Papa Wolf tendencies as he's doing his best to raise Mowgli to become a valued community member. The villagers even aided Mowgli's adoptive father in his search to find Mowgli, Shanti and Ranjan when they were lost in the jungle.
- Aesop Amnesia: By the start of the movie, Baloo's clearly forgotten that Mowgli needs to stay in the man village to be protected against Shere Khan, having apparently made multiple attempts to take him from it beforehand and confidently asserting that he could simply drive Shere Khan - the same tiger who almost clawed Baloo to death in the first movie - away a second time.
- Even Mowgli himself subjected to this as he finds life in the village to be quite boring and wants to have more fun in the jungle, despite being aware that Shere Khan is still on the loose.
- Amusing Injuries: Kaa gets quite battered by Mowgli and Baloo as he tries to eat the man-cub in "Bare Necessities". He gets whacked by a tree branch, has a rock dropped on his head, and gets hit by a bunch of prickly pears.
- Anachronism Stew: There are a few examples:
- When Shanti peels a mango, she twirls it like a basketball and tosses it into a tree to be peeled by a branch.
- Baloo does the same twirl when peeling a mango with one of his claws.
- Like the original movie's song, "The Bare Necessities", both "Jungle Rhythm" and "W-I-L-D" songs have modern jazz and rock music.
- When Shanti peels a mango, she twirls it like a basketball and tosses it into a tree to be peeled by a branch.
- Anger Born of Worry: Mowgli's adoptive father is understandably furious when Mowgli almost leads the other children across the river into the jungle.
- Animal Stampede: Colonel Hathi and his herd cause one while fleeing from humans in the jungle. Bagheera winds up getting caught in it as well.
- Art Evolution: Due to the large 36-year
Sequel Gap from the original film, this sequel has a notably different animation style. The "hard scratchy outline" look from the original is replaced with softer lines and a more lush colour palette akin to modern Disney movies. Additionally, while the designs remain mostly consistent with the original, some characters are animated differently note . - Art Shift: During the W-I-L-D song sequence, Baloo's color changes from his usual gray to a brighter blue, his nose even going from brown to blue during the song. According to the moviemakers, this temporary color change was done because this particular sequence was so filled with brightly-colored animals that Baloo with his gray fur seemed a little drab in comparison — and since Baloo was supposed to be the center of attention in that scene, they gave him a more eye-catching color.
- Ascended Extra: Shanti was only in the final scene of the original movie. Here's she's a main character, getting about as much screen time as Mowgli and Baloo.
- Even Mowgli's adoptive father, who is the village leader himself. While he was was shown in the original story written by Kipling, he is presented as uncaring towards Mowgli. But here, he is more of a stern, yet reasonable, father figure trying to raise Mowgli and teach him about humankind.
- Aside Glance: Shanti does this when she doesn't particularly believe Mowgli's fib that he saw tiger tracks yesterday.
- She also does one when claiming that Baloo was attacking her, Mowgli and Ranjan.
- Badass Adorable: Even if he's technically The Baby of the Bunch, Ranjan doesn't seem to be afraid of anything. When Shanti is hypnotized and nearly eaten by Kaa, he intervenes at the last minute and actually beats the giant python into submission with a stick.
- Big Brother Worship: Ranjan clearly idolizes Mowgli, as he has aspirations of being a jungle child like Mowgli.
- Big Damn Heroes: Ranjan saves Shanti last-minute from becoming a snack of Kaa, prior to beating him up.
- Bigger on the Inside: The cave the elephants hide in is apparently able to fit Hathi's entire herd, as well as Bagheera, inside of it. Judging by the shot of Bagheera smushed between an elephant and the cave wall, it's a tight fit, though.
- Big, Stupid Doodoo-Head: After Mowgli and Ranjan scare Shanti with their tiger prank, she gets angry at them and calls them "horrible stinky boys".
- Brainy Brunette: Shanti is brainy and has long black hair.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: Baloo does this twice, when his eyes pop up from a bush and during the song, " W-I-L-D", when he says, "I don't need no hat" to the camera. Kaa does this when he says, "I so despise these song and dance routines." At one time, Shanti looks at the camera after she claims (and thinks) that Baloo is attacking them.
- Call-Back:
- Part of the climax involves Shere Kahn imposing a countdown on Mowgli - only in the first movie, he was giving Mowgli time to hide, while in the second he's giving Mowgli time to reveal himself before he kills Shanti.
- Just like in the first film, Hathi and his heard suffer a Human Traffic Jam, though unlike the first time it's less due to Hathi's forgetfulness and more due to a combination of panic and underestimating his ability to fit inside a cave.
- Cassandra Truth: Shere Khan refuses to believe Kaa when the latter truthfully tells him he has no idea where Mowgli is.
- Character Development: Mowgli has become more mature and less rebellious since his stay in the man village. He has also adapted to life in the jungle better, as shown during the reprise of "Bare Necessities" where he suffers none of the comical mishaps that occurred in the original movie.
- Even Shanti learns that you shouldn't grow up too fast and turns from a proper, sheltered, timid jungle-hating young village girl into a fiery, fun-loving Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak.
- Character Exaggeration:
- Kaa's incompetence and cowardliness are greatly exaggerated to the point where he becomes something of a Butt-Monkey, whereas in the first film he was genuinely menacing yet constantly unsuccessful, and his general fear of Shere Khan (the same as everyone else) is exaggerated to not being able to form full sentences around him. Also, Kaa (previously grey-and-brown coloured in the first film) is now green.
- Shere Khan seemed to take the opposite extreme who, while still the greatest threat of the original film, was still somewhat hammy and whimsical in tone. Here, he is much more stoic and sinister in tone.
- Bagheera's Chew Toy status is also exaggerated between films.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome:
- King Louie does not appear in the sequel, allegedly due to fears of a lawsuit issued by Louis Prima's widow over caricature of his voice. He is alluded to during Mowgli's performance at the beginning, and his absence is handwaved by Baloo when the pair go to Louie's old palace.
- While Colonel Hathi's and his son appear, his wife Winifred is completely absent.
- Despite the first act focusing heavily on Mowgli missing his friends from the jungle, the wolf pack that raised him from infancy are not seen or mentioned at all.
- Company Cross References: When Kaa gets pelted with prickly pears, the end result ends up looking suspiciously like he's wearing a Mickey Mouse disguise.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Ranjan does such a number on Kaa that he (Kaa) swears off mancubs as a part of his diet. Even Shanti (who he was previously trying to devour) thinks he's had enough.
- Damsel in Distress: Shanti; she gets hypnotized, roared at and is nearly tiger chow.
- Darkerand Edgier: Downplayed: while the sequel still has some lighthearted elements like in the first film, if not more, Shere Khan, on the other hand, is far viler and more threatening in this movie instead, with all of his comedic and redeeming qualities completely stripped away, resulting in him becoming an outright terrifying and despicable wild animal who now only cares about plotting to kill Mowgli out of revenge for his previous defeat.
- Demoted to Extra: Bagheera. Though he's one of the most important characters in both Kipling's book and in the original movie, he's barely involved in the plot and only shows up to get beat up a lot.
- Even Mowgli's adoptive mother Messua counts. Just like Bagheera, Messua was one of the most important characters in Kipling's book as she was very supportive towards Mowgli; even when she is about to face wrath by the other villagers for harbouring him. Here, she contributed to little in the plot, despite the fact that she and her husband are doing their best to raise Mowgli as their son alongside Ranjan.
- Denied Food as Punishment: Mowgli's adoptive father punishes him that way when he nearly leads the village children into the jungle. Shanti felt bad for inadvertently getting Mowgli into trouble and tries to sneak him some fruit that night.
- Dinner Deformation: Happens to Kaa who swallows a boulder. It remains a lump in his neck for the rest of the time he appears on screen.
- Disney Death: Lucky seems to be mauled by Shere Khan for making fun of him too many times, but he comes back in the climax to mock Shere Khan after he gets trapped in the statue head.
- Disney Villain Death: Shere Khan, falls into a lava pit and is trapped in a hollow sinking statue head. Word of God said he was supposed to survive for a cancelled sequel.
- Distracted by the Sexy: Funnily enough, Mowgli has absolutely no problem cheerfully admitting that Shanti seduced him into the village, but she apparently finds it embarrassing and fervently denies doing any such thing.
- Earthy Barefoot Character: Mowgli always walks barefoot because he came from the jungle and is the most knowledgable about it. While for the Villagers of Men like Shanti and Ranjan it could stem from Barefoot Poverty.
- Fate Worse than Death: Shere Khan ends up being trapped underneath a cage-like statue surrounded by boiling lava. If that's not bad enough, Lucky the vulture is still alive and is free to taunt him to his heart's desire.
- I Was Named "My Name": Human example. Mowgli is called that (or Man-Cub) throughout the first movie by all the animals. Here, we see that his adopted human family has also named him Mowgli. Justified as Mowgli can talk to them.
- Happily Adopted: Similar to what he had while living in the jungle with the wolves in the original film, Mowgli found himself in good graces in the Man Village after telling his story in the jungle, and he ended up being adopted by the village leader, who has a wife named Messua and a son named Ranjan.
- Human Traffic Jam: Colonel Hathi's heard suffers one just as they did in the first film. In this case, after instigating a stampede while fleeing from humans, Hathi leads the heard to hide in a cave. He gets stuck while trying to enter, only for the elephants behind him to ram into him and force each other into the cave, concluding with Hathi Jr. squeezing himself in at the end.
- Humiliation Conga: Kaa suffers one due to him trying to eat Mowgli and Shanti. Mowgli and Baloo unknowingly inflict some Amusing Injuries as he tries to eat Mowgli, he gets accidentally burnt by Shanti’s torch, he gets beaten by Ranjan with a stick and he is rendered immobile due to accidentally swallowing a huge rock.
- Hypnotize the Captive: Shanti is brainwashed by Kaa and is nearly eaten by him before Ranjan arrives.
- Joke of the Butt: While not given as much screentime, this film does carry over the "elephants ramming into each other's butts" gag from the first film with Hathi's troop getting another Elephant Traffic Jam scene. This time around poor Hathi Jr gets caught up in it as well, having to squeeze himself under the rear of another elephant to enter the cave they're hiding in.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Due to being Demoted to Extra for most of the movie, Bagheera has no idea about Shanti and Ranjan being lost in the jungle - he's confused to see Ranjan, "another man cub" riding Baloo near the climax of the movie, and is even more confused when Ranjan mentions Shanti is in danger. "Who's Shanti?" Though Mowgli introduces her to him in the climax.
- Loincloth: Mowgli and Ranjan wear nothing but a piece of cloth around their groins. Mowgli wears a red loincloth while Ranjan wears a blue one.
- Magic Pants: Applies to Ranjan's loincloth. Similar to Mowgli's in the original Jungle Book, Ranjan's loincloth is able to stretch a fair distance away from him and still remain intact after the fact.
- Male Gaze: In the deleted musical number "I Got You Beat", the camera briefly focuses on the bottoms of three attractive villager women as they dance in time with the song's beat.
- Misplaced Wildlife: The big dance number has both hippos and Thompson's gazelles (native to Africa) Kookaburras (native to Australia), Black sifaka lemurs (native to Madagascar) and ocelots (South and Central America).
- My God, What Have I Done?: Shanti has this reaction after she accidentally alerted Mowgli's adoptive father due to Shanti panicking about Mowgli leading the children into the jungle. She watches in guilt as Mowgli's adoptive father harshly chastises his adoptive son for trying to lead the children into the jungle, and when Mowgli is sent to his room as a punishment without dinner, Shanti tries to apologise to him, but Mowgli just silently glares at her and ignores her. Later that night, Shanti brings a bowl of fruit that night to try and make amends.
- Even Mowgli's adoptive father gets this reaction upon seeing that Mowgli has ran away into the jungle following his punishment, admitting that he may have bit a little harsh by denying Mowgli food that night.
- Even Mowgli himself gets it both when Baloo tells some animals how Mowgli complained about the Man-Village and Shanti and when Baloo decides to scare Shanti and Ranjan to stop them from taking him back to the village. And even when he has to explain himself about it, breaking Shanti's heart and causing her to carry Ranjan and stormoff.
- Named in the Sequel: The girl who lured Mowgli into the Man Village at the end of the original film was named Shanti, and receives a larger role along with him.
- Never My Fault: When Shere Khan interrogates Kaa on Mowgli's whereabouts. He believes that Kaa knows where Mowgli is (after hearing the snake grumble "man-cub"). Though Kaa truthfully has no idea where Mowgli is, Shere Khan won't believe him and continues to threaten the python. So to save his skin, Kaa fearfully lies to the tiger that Mowgli's at the swamp, allowing him to flee. When Shere Khan arrives at the swamp with Mowgli nowhere to be found, he angrily growls "That snake lied to me!"
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Implied with the heckling vulture Lucky:Shere Khan: Isn't it ironic that your name is "Lucky"?
- No Ontological Inertia: When Ranjan rescues Shanti and makes Kaa swallow a rock, she snaps out of the trance and is relieved to be released but surprised to see Ranjan rescuing her.
- Oh, Crap!: Baloo when he sees the elephants coming towards him.
- Also Bagheera with the elephants and when the log he and Colonel Haiti are on is about to break.
- Shanti when she first sees Baloo with Mowgli, when bats start chasing her in the jungle and when Kaa hypnotises and tries to eat her.
- Mowgli, Shanti and Ranjan both when Baloo scares the village girl and when Shere Khan traps and chases them.
- Baloo and Shanti when they bump into each other in the ancient ruins.
- Shanti when her gong falls and Shere Khan corners her.
- Papa Wolf: Despite being a stern village leader, Mowgli's adoptive father will not hesitate to protect the village and its inhabitants (including his family) from any threat; this was shown when he led several of the villager men to ward off Shere Khan when the latter invaded the village. Mowgli's adoptive father even leads up a search party to search for Mowgli, Shanti and Ranjan in the jungle after learning that they ran there following Shere Khan's attack.
- Retcon: In an old Jungle Book comic made in 1973, her name was Sari. After that an obscure foreign-language novelization rendered the village girl's name as Jasmine. Obviously, this wouldn't fly after 1992, so the movie and subsequent merchandise and press material for the first film gave her a different name.
- Same Plot Sequel: The movie's plot is almost identical to the first movie in that it revolves around the dilemma on whether Mowgli belongs to the jungle or the man-village, and Baloo still wants him to live in the jungle with him. Meanwhile, Shere Khan still pursues Mowgli to kill him.
- Sissy Villain: Shere Khan is a more bitter villain, though still plays around with this at times.
- Slasher Smile: Shere Khan bares his sharp teeth several times whenever he attacks, most notably before he seemingly beats Lucky mercilessly).
- Spared by the Adaptation: In the original story, Messua and her husband had a biological son named Nathoo, who was snatched away and devoured by a tiger (possible Shere Khan) the day when an infant Mowgli was found in the jungle and raised by wolves. Here, Messua and her husband have a biological son named Ranjan, who is about several years younger than Mowgli and managed to avoid any danger in the jungle (thanks to Mowgli, Shanti, Baloo and Bagheera).
- Spelling Song: "W-I-L-D".
- Stuck in the Doorway: A variation - during the elephant stampede, Colonel Hathi attempts to lead his troop into a cave, but gets stuck in the opening until the rest of the elephants slam into him from behind and force each other inside.
- Take a Third Option: Mowgli has to choose between staying in the village with his own kind or living in the jungle with Baloo. In the end, he chooses to stay in the village, but leaves to visit Baloo every day.
- Talking Animal: In the first movie it was a possibility that Mowgli just Speaks Fluent Animal, but here the animals are revealed and shown to be able to talk to all humans.
- Tempting Fate: Shanti says "Tigers don't come into the village" and later in the film, Shere Khan does that exact thing.
- That Makes Me Feel Angry: When Shere Khan is interrogating Kaa on Mowgli's whereabouts:Shere Khan: Oh, please don't insult my intelligence. It makes me irritable.
- The Series Has Left Reality: In the first movie, it seems like Mowgli just understands the animal languages, but the sequel reveals that animals can communicate with all humans.
- This Is Gonna Suck:
- Bagheera's reaction when the log he and Colonel Haiti are on is about to break.
- Kaa also reacts this way when the boulder he just swallowed is about to make him fall off a cliff.
- Troll: Lucky the Vulture, after hearing of Shere Khan's humiliating defeat by Mowgli, makes it point to mock him on a regular basis.
- Too Dumb to Live: Lucky is a brainless troll who spends the majority of his role taunting Shere Khan over his defeat at the hands of Mowgli as up close as possible inadvertently giving him directions to the mancub's location in the process (before falling victim to a rather nasty beating).
- Took a Level in Badass: Mowgli thankfully gets more capable in the sequel, and he stands up to Shere Khan to protect Shanti and Ranjan with little hesitation.
- Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: How Ranjan's hirsute, obese and middle-aged dad ever ended up with his very attractive young wife Messua is a mystery note . Partly justified in that he's an Ink-Suit Actor of his voice actor John Rhys-Davies.
- Villain Decay:
- Kaa gets a bad rep around here for his horrendously decayed personality and role in the story, but he was legitimately threatening in the original movie. In The Jungle Book 2? Not so much.
- Reversed for Shere Khan, who is somewhat less whimsical a villain than he was in the first.
- Walk Into Camera Obstruction: Twice. Once with Baloo as he is walking inside the temple. "Step aside and I'll show you what a real rug cutter can do". Again with Baloo during the song WILD. Does it after he knocks off Timon & Pumbaa look-alikes.
- Was Too Hard on Him: Mowgli's adoptive father reprimands Mowgli for trying to lead the village children into the jungle by crossing the river and confines him to his room without dinner. Later that night, Baloo takes Mowgli back to the jungle and Shanti follows them thinking Baloo kidnapped the man-cub while Ranjan, Mowgli's adoptive brother, follows her. The adults in the village were too busy chasing Shere Khan out of the village and after they kicked the tiger out, they found out their children ran into the jungle and went in there to look for them. The following day, Mowgli's adoptive father begins to feel remorseful saying he was "too harsh" on Mowgli. His wife assures them that they'll find the children and they continue searching.
- Wedgie: Ranjan is the victim of this. After Shanti tells him to stay and runs after Mowgli and Shere Khan, Ranjan almost immediately begins to follow her only for his loincloth to get stuck on a branch and fling him backwards into Baloo.
- Would Hurt a Child: As always in the original film, Shere Khan and Kaa make no hesitations in laying a claw or jaw on Mowgli and his friends at the jungle; as Kaa tried to ambush Mowgli and devour Shanti, only to end up suffering amusing injuries. Shere Khan, as usual, makes no hesitation to kill Mowgli just for existing; even planning to do the same towards Shanti and Ranjan.
