Jungle Cubs
| Jungle Cubs | |
|---|---|
 Disney's Jungle Cubs title card from Season 1 | |
| Genre |
Adventure Family Comedy |
| Created by | Mark S. Bernthal |
| Written by |
Sam Graham Chris Hubbell Tedd Anasti Patsy Cameron Lesa Kite Roger Reitzel Peter K. Hirsch David Weimers Scott Gray |
| Directed by |
Chris Bartleman Joe Horne Kenny Thompkins Blair Peters Mircea Mantta |
| Voices of |
Jim Cummings Pamela Adlon Jason Marsden Elizabeth Daily Stephen Furst Rob Paulsen Dee Bradley Baker Michael McKean Cree Summer David L. Lander |
| Theme music composer | Lou Rawls |
| Opening theme | "The Bare Necessities" |
| Ending theme | "The Bare Necessities" (instrumental) |
| Composer(s) | Stephen James Taylor |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 21 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Tedd Anasti Patsy Cameron |
| Producer(s) |
Chris Bartleman Kenny Thompkins Blair Peters Mircea Mantta |
| Editor(s) |
Peter Lonsdale Robert S. Birchard Carol Lewis John Royer |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Walt Disney Television Animation |
| Distributor | Buena Vista Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV) |
| Audio format | Dolby Surround |
| Original release | October 5, 1996 – January 10, 1998 |
Jungle Cubs is an animated series produced by Disney for ABC in 1996. It was based on their 1967 feature film The Jungle Book, but set in the youth of the animal characters. The show was a hit, running for two seasons in syndication before moving its re-runs to the Disney Channel. The show was broadcast on Toon Disney, but was taken off the schedule in 2001. The show did air in the United Kingdom on Disney Cinemagic and in Latin America until it was removed. The show's theme song is a hip-hop version of the classic song, "The Bare Necessities" performed by Lou Rawls.
Premise
The animal stars of Disney's 1967 animated film The Jungle Book were regressed to cubs for this syndicated animated series. Jungle Cubs suggested that when they were younger, both the good and antagonistic animals lived together in relative peace.
Each of the characters were given distinct characteristics which reflected their future personalities as seen in The Jungle Book; this creative idea further tied the show in with its film predecessor. Uptight Bagheera, free-spirited Baloo, headstrong Shere Khan, wild Prince Louie, neurotic Hathi, and hypnotic Kaa all returned from the film, putting aside their differences to live and learn together. The show gave a female elephant named Winifred a prominent role; she was (Colonel) Hathi's wife in The Jungle Book.
The cubs brave a variety of jungle dangers, often matching wits with sneaky vultures Cecil and Arthur. Living up to new federal regulations for educational television, Jungle Cubs offer lessons on friendship, self-respect, and other healthy traits, crafted for an audience of young children.
In the second season of the show, all of the cubs become slightly older and more distanced from one another. (Many are also given different voice actors.) And, although they still remain good friends, they are getting more and more busy with their own lives and spending less time at their fort, the Cub House (Louie's future palace). Bagheera becomes more serious and uptight than before and Hathi begins spending more time with Winifred than with the other Cubs. The biggest change, however, is Shere Khan: he spends a lot of time hunting, as Bagheera and Kaa do, and as the series progresses, begins to become more annoyed with the other cubs than before. He even attempts to overthrow Louie at one point, using Kaa (who did not really get a choice in the matter) as a henchman. Kaa, as well as Baloo (with the exception of his friendship with Louie), does not really change much. He still remains sneaky and uses his hypnotism power.
Characters
- Baloo (voiced by Pamela Adlon): A friendly and laid-back bear. He likes to play with his friends and sometimes plays tricks on Bagheera in order to snap the latter out of his conservative attitude.
- Bagheera (voiced by Elizabeth Daily in Season 1, Dee Bradley Baker in Season 2): He is an intelligent and mature panther who rarely gets into trouble. He has a preoccupation with being clean. Bagheera is affectionately known as "Baggy" or "Bags" and is the youngest in the group. Despite having a Trans-Atlantic accent in the original film, Bagheera speaks with an American accent in the series.
- Louie (voiced by Jason Marsden in Season 1, Cree Summer in Season 2): Baloo's best friend, an orangutan. He is very physically active, spending a great deal of his time in trees and eating bananas, and wants to become king of the jungle one day, and when any man made objects turn up he immediately shows great interest.
- Shere Khan (voiced by Jason Marsden): An obnoxious and aggressive Bengal tiger. He often tries to lord over the other animals, but his confidence sometimes suffers when faced with actual problems. He is often called "Khannie" by Baloo and Louie. Despite having a smooth English accent in the original film, Shere Khan speaks with an American accent in the series.
- Kaa (voiced by Jim Cummings): A young Indian python who wants to hypnotize other animals, but his skills at hypnosis are currently erratic at best.
- Hathi (voiced by Rob Paulsen in Season 1, Stephen Furst in Season 2): An elephant who attempts to keep the pals in order but is known to stammer when under stress. He is quite narrow-minded about many things. Later, he develops a huge crush on Winifred, who is his wife in The Jungle Book. He is often called "Little Peanut" by Baloo. Despite having an English accent in the original film, Hathi speaks with an American accent in the series, like Bagheera and Shere Khan.
- Cecil and Arthur (voiced by Michael McKean and David Lander) - Two vultures who are constantly hoping for one of the cubs to die so that they can eat them. However, they are never seen as a real threat. Cecil and Arthur resemble two Disney villains Jasper and Horace from One Hundred and One Dalmatians visually or Buzzy, Dizzy, Flaps, and Ziggy from the original film.
- Mahra (voiced by Tress MacNeille) - A ruthless baboon that lives in Pinnacle Rock within the wasteland. She and her idiotic sons have often antagonized the Jungle Cubs when they enter the wasteland. One particular instance is when she and her sons return from a long journey and she wants a new animal skin blanket after her old one is destroyed.
- Ned (voiced by Charlie Adler) - One of Mahra's sons.
- Jed (voiced by Jim Cummings) - One of Mahra's sons.
- Fred (voiced by Jim Cummings) - One of Mahra's sons.
Locations
- The Cub House, a small temple that the gang and friends use as a club house.
- The Wasteland, a huge area surrounding The Jungle. Not many animals live out here, except for birds of prey, insects, porcupines and baboons, such as Mahra and her three sons, who live there. It is also where an evil dictator turtle lives.
- Pinnacle Rock, a tall pinnacle-shaped rock in The Wasteland. This large rock is the lair of Mahra and her sons.
- The River, a large river that is where a lot of animals drink at and live at. Arthur & Cecil's nest and cliff are near here.
- The Man Village, a large village inhabited by humans.
- Wangjanga Gorge or The Honey Cliffs, an enormous gorge with a stream running through it. It is also called "The Honey Cliffs" because a lot of bees nest on the gorge's cliffs. It appears to have a bad reputation, since it is mentioned by Louie that no one had been down here and lived to tell the tale, but during the red dog invasion, Baloo and Kaa managed to survive when they were chased by the resident bees.
- The Middle Jungle, a deeply hidden area with only one entrance, the throne in The Cub House. Once the snake-like lever has been pulled, the throne moves to reveal a hidden doorway going underground. Once one has travelled down the underground river, they emerge from a large crack in the ground which is in The Middle Jungle. There are the ruins of an old city up ahead and that is where the treasure is hidden, but it is being guarded by a giant, white cobra named Whitehood.
- The Quicksand Bog is mentioned in Fool Me Once....
- Creepy Deepy Swamp, a dark and scary looking swamp near the heart of The Jungle. A sarus crane lives here.
- The Mountains, tall, high, snowy mountains that provide The River with water. It is also where a female bighorn sheep lives.
- The Western Jungle, the west side of The Jungle. This is where a sloth and his woodpecker friends live.
- Baboon Lagoon, a lagoon where some baboons live. These particular baboons are friends with the water buffalo.
- The Great Lost Temple, an old temple that is used as a music concert.
Episodes
Series overview
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||
| 1 | 13 | October 5, 1996 | December 28, 1996 | |
| 2 | 8 | October 11, 1997 | January 10, 1998 | |
Season 1 (1996)
| # | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "A Night in the Wasteland" | October 5, 1996 |
|
Attempting to prove his courage after a joke by Louie and Baloo, Shere Khan vows to travel to Pinnacle Rock in the wasteland unaware that the ruthless baboon Mahra and her sons Ned, Jed, and Fred have returned and Mahra wants a new fur blanket. Note: This episode features the song, "Take Your Sweet Sweet Time". | ||
| 2 | "How The Panther Lost His Roar / The Humans Must Be Crazy" | October 12, 1996 |
|
"How The Panther Lost His Roar": Bagheera's feelings of inadequacy when compared to Khan are worsened when he loses his voice. "The Humans Must Be Crazy": Bagheera becomes convinced that an old pocket-watch will make him a great hunter. | ||
| 3 | "Hathi Meets His Match / Buffaloed" | October 19, 1996 |
|
"Hathi Meets His Match": A young female elephant named Winifred is separated from her family – owned by humans – after a fire in their village, and runs into Hathi. "Buffaloed": Khan is tricked into fighting against a water buffalo by Cecil and Arthur. When he finds out, he gets help from Baloo to get even with the vultures. | ||
| 4 | "Mondo Mungo / Bare Necessities" | October 26, 1996 |
|
"Mondo Mungo": Kaa befriends a young mongoose named "Mungo" and the pair strike up a friendship despite being natural enemies. "Bare Necessities": The cubs' attempts to prepare for the monsoon season are hampered by Baloo's laziness, but he soon becomes their only hope when they are trapped in a cave as the monsoons begin. | ||
| 5 | "Who Wants To Be A Baboon?" | November 2, 1996 |
| After being the victim of one too many jokes, Louie leaves the Cubs and becomes Mahra's assistant. | ||
| 6 | "Red Dogs" | November 9, 1996 |
|
Louie tricks Kaa into believing that Baloo's sleepwalking is the result of his attempts at hypnosis, sending Kaa out after Baloo just as the lethal red dogs return to The Jungle, with only Baloo to save the day. Note: This episode was inspired by "Red Dog", a chapter from Rudyard Kipling's The Second Jungle Book. | ||
| 7 | "The Great Kaadini" | November 16, 1996 |
| Kaa accidentally hypnotizes the vultures, turning them into competent hunters totally obedient to his commands. | ||
| 8 | "Hulla Baloo / Shere Bliss" | November 23, 1996 |
|
"Hulla Baloo": Louie becomes jealous when Baloo begins to spend more time with another bear after he saved his life. "Shere Bliss": When Khan becomes a more fun-loving cat after a bump on the head, the Cubs find themselves trying to bring him back to normal. | ||
| 9 | "Treasure Of The Middle Jungle" | November 30, 1996 |
|
When a shrew tells the animals about the long-lost 'Treasure of the Middle Jungle', the group - minus Bagheera and Hathi - set out to find it, only to come face-to-face with the massive cobra Whitehood. Note: This episode was inspired by "The King's Ankus". a chapter from Rudyard Kipling's The Second Jungle Book. This episode features the song, "When We Find Our Treasure". | ||
| 10 | "Feather Brains / Benny & Clyde" | December 7, 1996 |
|
"Feather Brains": Cecil falls in love with a female vulture named Clarice and kicks Arthur out of the nest. Arthur then, unsuccessfully, tries to bond with Khan. "Benny & Clyde": Louie is forced to look after his younger cousins. | ||
| 11 | "Splendor in the Mud" | December 14, 1996 |
| When the boys play a few pranks, Winifred's uncle gets very upset and tells Hathi that he will never see her again. After her uncle gets hurt by a mother rhinoceros he feels very ill, and he wants to find the red clay in the wasteland for him to recover, the cubs become his only hope. Includes the song "Jungle Cub Love" | ||
| 12 | "Trouble on the Waterfront / Fool Me Once..." | December 21, 1996 |
|
"Trouble on the Waterfront": The cubs break out into violent arguments when a drought destroys almost their entire water supply. Note: This segment was inspired by "How Fear Came", a chapter from Rudyard Kipling's The Second Jungle Book, in which there is a drought in the jungle and a limited water supply. "Fool Me Once...": After a particularly harsh prank by Baloo and Louie, a sad and depressed Bagheera fakes his death to get even. | ||
| 13 | "The Coming of the Wolves" | December 28, 1996 |
| The cubs find themselves caught between two runaway wolves: Akela, his pregnant mate Leah who hide at the temple to evade their pack led by villainous alpha wolf Cain. | ||
Season 2 (1997–98)
| # | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Ape Who Would Be King" | October 11, 1997 |
|
The Cubs learn of a prophecy that states that Louie will some day be king of the jungle, but Khan wants the role for himself. Note: Includes the song "Everything's Gonna Be Right with the World." | ||
| 2 | "Trunks For The Memories / Kasaba Ball" | October 18, 1997 |
|
"Trunks for the Memories": Hathi's best friend Johar may have to part ways with him when the elephant herd breaks in two due to a food shortage. "Kasaba Ball": The Cubs divide into teams- Louie, Bagheera and Baloo against Khan, a monkey, and the inappropriately-named rhinoceros 'Tiny'- in a game of 'Kasaba Ball' (the jungle's equivalent of football). | ||
| 3 | "Hathi's Makeover / Curse Of The Magnificent Melon" | October 25, 1997 |
|
"Hathi's Makeover": Hathi tries to become a different kind of animal after he becomes ashamed of being an elephant. "Curse Of The Magnificent Melon": After stealing Hathi's prized melon, Baloo finds himself apparently followed by a mass of frogs accusing him of the crime. | ||
| 4 | "The Five Bananas / Birthday Snake" | November 1, 1997 |
|
"The Five Bananas": The cubs form a band for an upcoming talent show, but split before the show starts because each of them believes they are the most important instrument in the band. "Birthday Snake": Kaa resorts to hypnosis when he thinks that the others have forgotten his birthday. | ||
| 5 | "Old Green Teeth / The Elephant Who Couldn't Say No" | November 8, 1997 |
|
"Old Green Teeth": Louie suffers a crisis of confidence when the Five Bananas are invited to perform for an old idol of his. "The Elephant Who Couldn't Say No": Hathi's inability to say 'no' during a game of shadow puppets with Winifred to anyone results in him being forced to take care of a basket full of crazy woodpeckers that was passed from a sloth to a bighorn sheep to a crane to a warthog and into Hathi's possession | ||
| 6 | "Hair Ball / A Tail Of Two Tails" | November 15, 1997 |
|
"Hair Ball": Bagheera runs away from the jungle in embarrassment after coughing up a hair ball in front of the entire jungle, resulting in him joining the 'Embarrassment Club', consisting of various animals who unintentionally humiliated themselves in public. "A Tail Of Two Tails": Kaa and Khan take advantage of Louie's kindness after they sustain "injuries" to their tails while saving him. | ||
| 7 | "Waiting For Baloo / Tree For Two" | November 22, 1997 |
|
"Waiting for Baloo": Baloo is entrusted with delivering a bunch of bananas to the baboons and the buffaloes. "Tree For Two": Bagheera and Louie have difficulty getting along when they are forced to live together after a storm destroys their old homes. | ||
| 8 | "Nice Tiger / Sleepless In The Jungle" | January 10, 1998 |
|
"Nice Tiger": Khan tries to convince the other cubs that there's nothing nice about him, but they all think differently. "Sleepless in the Jungle": Baloo has difficulty sleeping due to his concerns about the potential water shortage. Note: This is the first and only episode to have "The Bare Necessities" sung, outside of the opening sequence. | ||
VHS releases
US releases
Two VHS releases containing 6 episodes of the series were released in the United States.
| VHS name | Episode titles | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| Cub House Fun | "Hathi Meets His Match" "A Night in the Wasteland" "Mondo Mungo" | June 12, 1996 |
| Crazy Congo Capers | "The Great Kaadini" "How the Panther Lost His Roar" "Who Wants to be a Baboon?" | April 13, 1997 |
Australia and New Zealand releases
Three VHS releases containing 11 episodes of the series were released in Australia and New Zealand.
| VHS Name | Episode Titles | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| Jungle Cubs (Volume 1): Born to be Wild | "A Night in the Wasteland" "How the Panther Lost His Roar" "Red Dogs" | August 15, 1997 |
| Jungle Cubs (Volume 2): Once Upon a Vine | "Who Wants to be a Baboon?" "The Humans Must Be Crazy" "Hathi Meets His Match" "Mondo Mungo" "The Treasure of the Middle Jungle" | February 27, 1998 |
| Jungle Cubs (Volume 3): Monkey Business | "The Great Kaadini" "Benny & Clyde" "The Coming of the Wolves" | May 15, 1998 |
DVD releases
On September 8, 2003, one DVD containing three episodes of the series was released in the United Kingdom.[1]
| DVD Name | Episode Titles | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| Born to Be Wild | "A Night in the Wasteland" "How the Panther Lost His Roar" "Red Dogs" | September 8, 2003 |
Australian and New Zealand releases
On September 12, 2003, three DVDs containing eleven episodes of the series was released.
| DVD Name | Episode Titles | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| Born to be Wild | "A Night in the Wasteland" "How the Panther Lost His Roar" "Red Dogs" | September 12, 2003 |
| Once Upon a Vine | "Who Wants to be a Baboon?" "The Humans Must Be Crazy" "Hathi Meets His Match" "Mondo Mungo" "The Treasure of the Middle Jungle" | September 12, 2003 |
| Monkey Business | "The Great Kaadini" "Benny & Clyde" "The Coming of the Wolves" | September 12, 2003 |
References
- ↑ "Jungle Cubs [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Film & TV". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-11-14.
External links
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