The Second Jungle Book: Mowgli & Baloo (1997)

Director:

Duncan McLachlan

Writers:

Matthew Horton (writer)
Bayard Johnson (writer)

Release Date:

16 May 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Family

Plot:

Pre-teen jungle boy Mowgli gets to human world and is pursued by P.T.Barnum circus scout Harrison who wants to take him to circus as curiosity...

Plot Keywords:

Circus | Sequel | Bear | Tiger | Snake

Cast

Gulshan Grover	...	Baldev
Jamie Williams	...	Mowgli
Bill Campbell	...	Harrison
Roddy McDowall	...	King Murphy
David Paul Francis	...	Chuchundra
Dyrk Ashton	...	Karait
Cornelia Hayes O'Herlihy	...	Emily Reece
B.J. Hogg	...	Col. Reece
Amy Robbins	...	Molly Ward
Hal Fowler	...	Capt. Ward
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Simon Barker	...	Train Official
Sunil Hettiarachchi	...	Rickshaw Man
Albert Moses	...	Conductor
E.A. Piyasena	...	Porter
Raja Summanapala	...	Baldev's Servant
Wijerathna Warakagoda	...	Engineer

Also Known As:

Jungle Book 2: Mowgli and Baloo
Rudyard Kipling's The Second Jungle Book: Mowgli and Baloo

MPAA:

Rated PG for some mild adventure violence and brief mild language.

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS (8 channels)

Certification:

Iceland:L | France:U | Germany:6 | Spain:T | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Kandy Mountain, Sri Lanka

Company:

MDP Worldwide

Trivia:

'Jamie Williams' performed his own stunts.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: Baloo is played by an American Black Bear (Ursus americanus). As the action takes place in India, it should be an Asian Black Bear (Ursus thibetanus) or a Sloth Bear (Melursus ursinus).

Movie Connections:

Follows The Jungle Book (1994)

Boy and animals out shine the adults

Jamie Williams, then 12 years old, stars as the man-cub Mowgli in this movie adaptation of the classic Rudyard Kipling story. He is supported by an outstanding cast of animals, such as Baloo the bear, Baghera the panther, and Shere Khan the tiger.

The story is too well know to bear repeating. But playing against Williams are characters representing the Yankee "collector" for P. T, Barnum's circus (Bill Campbell), a couple of eccentric British army officers and their wives, an Indian hurdy-gurdy player complete with trained monkey, an Indian prince who is really Mowgli's uncle, and a positively weird tracker with his trained python.

There is also an appearance by Roddy McDowall, who was himself a very famous child star (How Green Was My Valley, Kidnapped (1948)) with over 158 movie appearances in his career.

The boy-cub, his wolf brothers, and all the animals out shine and out star the adults in this movie. The animal trainers are the invisible stars, directing the animals in major roles, not just quick appearances.

Williams is exceptional in his role as Mowgli. I wonder at his stunt abilities. It must be hard to use a body double for a 12 year old boy. See him climb and leap about in trees, run with the animals, dive into rivers, and clamber around on the roof of a moving train.

And he's cute, to boot! Tanned, smooth skinned, and lithe. With a grin to light up a city. It's a joy to watch him run though the jungle swinging from tree to tree. A young Tarzan comes to mind. Maybe in a few more years when his body has filled out, Williams could replace Johnny Weismuller?

Watch this movie as an antidote to the dreadful cartoon version of the novel, with the singing bear. It is an extremely realistic portrayal of a feral boy, his jungle friends, the jungle itself, and those adults who would wish him ill. It belongs in that category of serious movies that star children, but are not just children's stories.

This story was not one of Kipling's best, in my opinion. It is rather fantastic. For his best story made into a movie, I refer you to "Captains Courageous" which was filmed in three versions.