(Rated G, 75 mins.)
Just long enough to stop wee tots from squirming at a record 75 minutes, comes a new chapter in the beloved animated classic. Mowgli (voice of Haley Joel Osment) now lives in the man village with his family and friends. His favorite people are his feisty little stepbrother Ranjan and his best pal Shanti, the girl who initially wooed Mowgli from the jungle. But while all seems fine, there’s only one thing missing: Baloo (voice of John Goodman perfectly done), his blue bear friend. Mowgli sets off to revisit his home with all kinds of new jungle bunny happenings. Last year Disney did it with “Return to Neverland” that ended up on video. This one, some 36 years after the original, may seem redundant at times but afterall, this generation has to be told the whole story again. The memory of Jungle Book manages to tug at heartstrings in a gentler way than Peter Pan and Wendy did with last year’s remake. The movie 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” performed by the characters frolicking and having a good ole time. My how things change but still remain the same.