am2xAnimated Movies was launched by Olivier Mouroux in 1999. In addition to a daily news report, he also created a database of information about past, current, and upcoming films. In 2003, he took a job in the industry and had to give up his work on the site. Several fans of Animated Movies decided to take on the task of keeping the news portion of his site going, and founded what is now Animated Views.

As AV turns 15, let's take a look back at the site we descended from. Below you can explore the database Olivier compiled at Animated Movies during its existence, as it last appeared online in October 2003.

Cast * Story * Interesting Facts


Directed by: Steve Trenbirth
Written by: Carter Crocker & Karl Geurs
Music by: score by Joel McNeely (Return to NeverLand) and two new songs by Australian musician Paul Grabowsky (with lyrics by Lorraine Feather)

Production Wrapped In: October 2002
Release Date: February 14, 2003
Running Time: 78 minutes

Budget: $15 million
U.S. Opening Weekend: $14.109 million over 2,808 screens
Box Office: $47.89 million in the U.S., $130.5 million worldwide
 
 

CAST

Mowgli...  Haley Joel Osment
Shanti... Mae Whitman
Baloo... John Goodman
Lucky the vulture.. Phil Collins
Shere Khan... Tony Jay (Monsieur D'Arque in Beauty and the Beast)
Colonel Hathi... Jim Cummings
Bagheera... Bob Joles
Ranjan's father... John Rhys-Davies
 
 

STORY

Picking up where the original Jungle Book left off, Jungle Book II finds Mowgli now living in the man village. Even though he loves his new family and friends, especially his feisty little step-brother Ranjan and his best pal Shanti, the girl who initially wooed Mowgli from the jungle, Mowgli misses his buddy Baloo, who likewise pines for his little man-cub. Baloo isn't the only one hoping to see Mowgli again soon--Shere Khan impatiently awaits his revenge. When Mowgli sneaks away to the jungle, the chase is on to see who will find Mowgli first--his old pals, his new family, or the man-eating tiger.
 
 

INTERESTING FACTS

  Variety announced in March 2001 that a direct-to-video sequel would premiere in February 2003 -but it was confirmed in February 2002 that The Jungle Book II would actually get a theatrical release.

  Produced at the Walt Disney Animation Studios in Paris, the movie is directed by Steve Trenbirth, the animation director on The Return of Jafar (1994), Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996), The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998) and Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure (2000).

  It was first rumoured that the sequel, entitled Mowgli II: Return to the Jungle, would follow the adventures of one of Mowgli's daughters, Mary, who wants to live in the forest -but his dad forbids him, since he's afraid Shere Khan might return... When she runs away in the jungle, she meets Baloo who tries to understand why she escaped and offers to take her home -only making her run away even further. Kaa, Shere Khan, King Louie, the vultures, Colonel Hathi, and Bagheera are all expected to return in this sequel, which will also introduce Mowgli's wife. 13-year old Haley Joel Osment is listed as the voice of adult Mowgli, which of course didn't make much sense.
Very first image from the movie, premiered at Animated Movies in September 2002!
   The sequel will actually pick up immediately after the conclusion of the 1967 original. A leaflet included in the UK edition of Atlantis on VHS in February 2002 reveals the plot for this theatrical sequel, tentatively titled The Jungle Book II: Return To The Jungle: "We return to the classic tale to find Mowgli longing for the good old days with his friend Baloo. When Mowgli sneaks away from his village for some swinging jungle fun, his worried girlfriend Shanti goes right after him, with the villianous tiger Shere Khan back to seek revenge, his freinds must find the courage in each other to triumph over their fearsome foe."

  Actor John Goodman commented in October 2001 that he "started Monsters, Inc. about halfway through Emperor's New Groove and then started doing Jungle Book 2 about three quarters of the way through [Monsters]. We did a couple pretty good songs [for Jungle -and] there's a small repetition of 'The Bare Necessities'. It's just everybody remembers Phil Harris['s Baloo] from it. I try not to imitate him but go along those lines, so it is kind of a challenge."

  Haley Joel Osment explained in March 2002 that he found acting with just his voice much more difficult than his usual roles: "you have to get the character across using just your voice, you can't use your body or mannerisms that you would normally."

  MTV reported in August 2002 that a new CD called "Disneymania" would be released on September 17, 2002, and include a remake of "I Wanna Be Like You" from the newly retitled The Jungle Book 2 by Smash Mouth.

  The film gets a musical boost from both a reprise of "The Bare Necessities" and Smash Mouth's rousing rendition of "I Wan’na Be Like You" as well as new tunes like the show-stopping "W-I-L-D" and the swinging beat of "Jungle Rhythm."
 

  The Buena Vista International site InCinema.com.au states that "Return to the Jungle [different title] starts off where The Jungle Book left off. We return to the classic tale to find Mowgli longing for the good old days with his friend Baloo. When Mowgli sneaks away from his village for some swinging jungle fun, his worried girlfriend Shanti goes right after him. With the villianous tiger Shere Khan back to seek revenge, his friends must find the courage in each other to triumph over their fearsome foe." And mixed up the cast with that of a 1998 live action project starring Brandon Baker, Rene Russo, Alan Cumming with voices by Fred Savage, Kathy Najimy, Wallace Shawn...!

  With an Australian director, Steve Trenbirth, it started life in Los Angeles, with scripting, early storyboarding and recording the characters' voices, before shifting to Sydney.

  The Jungle Book II was originally due for the video market but Disney executives were so impressed they decided to give it a cinema release next year. "It shows the talent base here--a lot of it we've had to develop ourselves. They're really world class," commented the general manager of Walt Disney Animation Australia, Phil Oakes.

  About 220 animators and other staff from Walt Disney Animation Australia worked on this project during 3 years.

  The character of King Louis the ape does not return because of a legal dispute: Louis Prima’s widow, Gia, sued the Walt Disney Company back in 1999 for unpaid royalties. Jim Hill explains that "Disney settled with the Prima family back in May 2001 for an undisclosed sum. But the ripple effect from this behind-closed-doors deal continued to roll through the company. First the upcoming appearance of The Jungle Book's King Louie on House of Mouse had to be reworked: if Jim Cummings (the noted voice-over artist who has been voicing the animated orang since Prima passed away back in 1978) ever again imitated Louis Prima’s distinct voice, that act alone would potentially open Disney up to for yet another onslaught by Gia’s attorneys. After a somewhat labored negotiation, a compromise was reached, and a King Louie look-alike named King Larry incorporated in the show. As for The Jungle Book II--Disney Television Animation’s next theatrical release--all of the colorful characters from the 1967 film will be back… except, of course, King Louie."

  The sequel uses the same style of hand-drawn animation as the original Jungle Book (1967).

  Jim Hill reported in October 2002 that the movie was "a relatively well animated but still somewhat tame follow-up to the 1967 feature length cartoon. Those folks who have already seen the work-in-progress version of Jungle Book II say that the sequel (which started out as a direct-to-video project) could use some of the energy that the King Louie sequence brought to the original film."

  In November 2002, 'Monkey Boy' told AICN that "if the finished whole lives up to the parts I saw, this will be a beautiful movie. Glorious 2D animation, and they really got it right. All the characters are carried over well in terms of their rendering, and the jungle backgrounds that were in place are lovely. Kudos to an animation staff that obviously did their homework. The new voices are very good. The songs [which include a bouncy number called 'That Jungle Rhythm' and a redux of 'Bear Necessities] are tremendously forgettable. My main complaint is that all these technical achievements are hung on a script which is about on par with a 3rd rate episode of Rescue Rangers. Mowgli has been living in the man village for awhile, and is friends with the water jug girl from the end of the 1st movie. He gets bored, escapes to the jungle, is hunted by and escapes from Shere Khan, and goes back to the man village at then end. It's all too neat, too bland, too familiar. Nothing happens that didn't happen in a more entertaining way in [The Jungle Book]. In fact, it feels very much as if their one and only motivation in making this was to cannibalize an existing property in the safest way possible. Having loved the 1st movie, it was overall a very depressing experience watching this one. It seems very short sighted of Disney. Sure, this will serve its purpose, and parents will buy the DVD because it's the Jungle Book and nothing's particularly wrong with it. But will anyone give a tinker's cuss about it 20 years from now?"

  Musician Lorraine Feather wrote on her website in December 2002 that "hot on the heels of Jungle Book II’s release, will come the companion album, Jungle Music I think it’ll be called. It will include Paul Grabowsky’s and my two songs from the film, the end-title ballad I wrote with Joel McNeely (composer of the score as well); two other songs Paul and I wrote that were dropped from the movie but reinstated for the album; and some other stuff! I went to LA to co-produce three tracks, with Joel and with my longtime friend Carlos Del Rosario, aka Yutaka, and sing on one of them."

  "He likes to have a good time," said John Goodman, 50, of Baloo the bear, who adds that he had no trouble relating to his fun-loving cartoon alter ego. John was 15 years old when the original film debuted in 1967. "That explains why I've never seen The Jungle Book. I'm not exactly certain what I was into back then, but I know it wasn't Disney cartoons. "I saw [Baloo's voice Phil Harris] at a race track once. That's more what I was into, I guess."  After being cast in the sequel, John Goodman deliberately avoided the original so as not to be unduly influenced by the distinctive voice performance of the hipster actor/musician Phil Harris. "We fooled around in our first recording session until we got something they were comfortable with. Something that wasn't too Southern or too ethnic or anything." Even though singing is hardly a new thing for Goodman,the songs in The Jungle Book 2 were a major challenge for him. "It was really hard work on this one. It's a little out of my range, such as it is. My three-note range. But it worked out all right. I'm not much of a singer anymore," he said, blaming cigarettes. "My voice isn't what it used to be. I haven't taken very good care of it."  John Goodman said that he was eager for his 12-year-old daughter Molly Evangeline to see the sequel, so he booked a private showing. "The night of the movie screening, Molly had an audition for a school production of The Wizard of Oz. That was her priority and I agreed." One of the most sought after voice actors in Hollywood (A Dinosaur's Story, The Emperor's New Groove, Monsters Inc.), he is always eager to see the finished version of his animated films. "When you're doing these things, you have no idea how it's going to turn out because they get you to deliver the lines in 10 or 12 different ways. It's fun to see which versions they use and how they tie it all together."

  The video & DVD version of The Jungle Book II is tentatively slated to go on sale next July.
 
 



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