IN RECENT years, Disney has supplemented its output of full length animated features by producing straight to video sequels for a number of its most popular films, and even television series for the likes of Aladdin, Tarzan and Hercules.

With The Jungle Book 2, the studio looks back to its hugely popular 1967 reinvention of Rudyard Kipling, notable for its infectious jazzy musical numbers and larger than life characters.

The sequel recycles the story almost to the letter and quickly wears out The Bare Necessities with three separate renditions.

Most of the characters are back, from Mowgli the boy and Baloo the bear to Shere Khan the tiger and slippery serpent Kaa, with the one noticeable exception of King Louie of the Apes.

All of which begs the question: why make a follow up if all you are going to do is make an inferior facsimile of the original? Money.

Invariably, money speaks louder than creative excellence or originality, and as long as Disney can continue to churn out these feature length animations for a meagre $20m or so, and rake in three or four times than at the box office, the studio will continue to dip into the archives.

Having returned to his village and his young sweetheart Shanti (voiced by Mae Whitman), Mowgli (Haley Joel Osment) grows restless and yearns to reunite with his jungle friends.

Unfortunately, Mowgli's father (David Ogden Stiers) is afraid that his son will lead Shanti and her little brother Ranjan (Connor Funk) astray, and he forbids the boy to cross the river dividing the village from the surrounding wilderness.

Sure enough, temptation gets the better of Mowgli, and he travels back into the jungle to find his old friends Baloo and Bagheera.

However, old adversary Shere Kahn is on the prowl, and he's hungry for revenge against the mischievous man cub.

Rating: 5/10