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Disney Disclaimer: The manufacturer provided NewTechReview with a unit of this product for review. Reviewed by Scott R. Garrigus | ||
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"Now that Mowgli's living in the 'man-village,' he cherishes his new best friend and little brother, but he still has that jungle rhythm in his heart. He misses hanging out with happy-go-lucky Baloo the bear and Bagheera the panther. Yearning for freedom, Mowgli runs off into the jungle and encounters his enemy Shere Khan! This time, he'll need both his new human family and his old jungle friends to help save the day." That's the official description for the latest Blu-ray title released from the Disney Vault The Jungle Book 2. Available on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD (you get all three in the Blu-ray Combo Pack), The Jungle Book 2 continues the adventures of Mowgli by picking up where The Jungle Book left off with Mowgli living in the village with his new human family. As sequels go, The Jungle Book 2 isn't bad, but it's not great. We're presented with a few new songs and of course, the wonderful Bear Necessities. We're also offered top-notch voice talent with Haley Joel Osmond as Mowgli, John Goodman as Baloo, and Jim Cummings as Kaa. But for adults, the storyline and animation style just don't compare to the original. Kids, on the other hand, will enjoy it and this is a kids movie after all. The Jungle Book 2 is presented in 1080p with a 1.66:1 aspect ratio. Disney has done an excellent job with the video, providing bright colors, solid darks and clear lines, but as I mentioned this new style of animation is not as appealing as the original. For audio we get an English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio Track, as well as French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, and English 2.0 Dolby Digital. The audio is clear, the voiceover dialogue is always understandable and the music comes through nicely. More use of the surround channels would have been welcomed though. For bonus features, the Blu-ray Combo Pack provides: * Synopsis of The Jungle Book (SD, 3 min.) a short summary of the first film. * The Legacy of The Jungle Book (SD, 14 min.) a behind-the-scenes look into the making of The Jungle Book 2 with interviews and comments from the actors and crew. * Deleted Scenes (SD, 6 min.) nothing noteworthy here but there are a couple of song scenes called "I Got You Beat" and "Braver." * Music Videos (SD, 2 min.) Music videos for the in-film music sequences "Jungle Rhythm" and "WILD." * Sing Along A subtitle option that shows the song lyrics when a song plays during the movie, so you can sing along. As I mentioned before, adults will probably be bored and will definitely not enjoy The Jungle Book 2 nearly as much as the original. However, your kids will probably enjoy it and if you're a Disney collector, you may want to pick this up just for the sake of having it in your Blu-ray collection. For more information, visit movies.disney.com. |
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