''Disney's Jungle Cubs'' is an American

animated series An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have eith ...

produced by

Walt Disney Television Animation Disney Television Animation (DTVA), formerly known as Walt Disney Pictures Television Animation Group and Walt Disney Television Animation, is the television animation production arm of Disney Branded Television, a sub-division of the Disney Ge ...

for ABC in 1996, serving as the

prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term ...

to the 1967 film ''

The Jungle Book ''The Jungle Book'' (1894) is a collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, w ...

'' as it's set in the youth of the animal characters years before the events of the film. The show was a hit, running for two seasons in syndication before its re-runs to the

Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Comp ...

. The show was broadcast on

Toon Disney Toon Disney was an American multinational pay television channel owned by Disney Channels Worldwide, a subsidiary of Disney-ABC Television Group. The channel's target audience was children ages 2–11, and children ages 6–13 during the Jetix ...

, but was taken off the schedule in 2001. Re-runs aired on

Disney Junior Disney Junior is an American pay television network owned by the Walt Disney Television (part of Disney General Entertainment Content) unit of The Walt Disney Company through Disney Branded Television. Aimed mainly at children two to seven ...

in the US from 2012 to 2013. The show also aired in the United Kingdom on

Disney Cinemagic Disney Cinemagic was a European television brand that consisted of a group of television channels owned by Walt Disney Company Limited (UK) plus two programming blocks by Disney Channels Worldwide. It used to be broadcast on most countries in Wes ...

and in Latin America. The show's theme song is a hip hop version of the song, "

The Bare Necessities "The Bare Necessities" is a jazz song, written by Terry Gilkyson, from the animated 1967 Disney film ''The Jungle Book'', sung by Phil Harris as Baloo and Bruce Reitherman as Mowgli. Background Originally, it was written for an earlier draft o ...

" performed by

Lou Rawls Louis Allen Rawls (December 1, 1933 – January 6, 2006) was an American record producer, singer, composer and actor. Rawls released more than 60 albums, sold more than 40 million records, and had numerous charting singles, most notably his s ...

. ''Jungle Cubs'' was animated by Walt Disney Television Animation (Australia) Pty. Ltd., Wang Film Productions Co., Ltd., Thai Wang Film Productions Co., Ltd., Toon City Animation, Inc., and Sunmin Image Pictures Co., Ltd., with Studio B Productions, as the animation pre-production studio of the series.

Characters

Baloo Baloo (from hi, भालू ur, بھالو ''bhālū'' "bear") is a main fictional character featured in Rudyard Kipling's ''The Jungle Book'' from 1894 and ''The Second Jungle Book'' from 1895. Baloo, a sloth bear, is the strict teacher of ...

(voiced by

Pamela Adlon Pamela Fionna Adlon (; ; born July 9, 1966) is an American actress. She is known for voicing Bobby Hill in the animated comedy series ''King of the Hill'' (1997–2010), for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award. She also voiced Baloo in '' Jung ...

) is a laid-back

sloth bear The sloth bear (''Melursus ursinus'') is a myrmecophagous bear species native to the Indian subcontinent. It feeds on fruits, ants and termites. It is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, mainly because of habitat loss and degradation ...

. He likes to play with his friends and sometimes plays pranks on Bagheera in order to snap the latter out of his uptight attitude. He is the unofficial leader of the friends. *

Bagheera Bagheera ( hi, बघीरा / ''Baghīrā'') is a fictional character in Rudyard Kipling's Mowgli stories in ''The Jungle Book'' (coll. 1894) and ''The Second Jungle Book'' (coll. 1895). He is a black panther (melanistic Indian leopard) who ...

(voiced by

Elizabeth Daily Elizabeth Ann Guttman, (born September 11, 1961) better known as E. G. Daily and Elizabeth Daily, is an American actress and singer. Daily is best known for her animation voice roles as Tommy Pickles on '' Rugrats'' and its spin-off ''All Grow ...

in Season 1 and then

Dee Bradley Baker Dee Bradley Baker (born August 31, 1962) is an American voice actor. Much of Baker's work features vocalizations of animals and monsters. Baker's roles include animated series such as '' Avatar: The Last Airbender'', '' Codename: Kids Next Door'' ...

in Season 2) is a sensible and level-headed

panther Panther may refer to: Large cats * Pantherinae, the cat subfamily that contains the genera ''Panthera'' and ''Neofelis'' **'' Panthera'', the cat genus that contains tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards. *** Jaguar (''Panthera onca''), found in S ...

who rarely gets into trouble. He has an obsession with maintaining good personal hygiene. Bagheera is affectionately known as "Baggy" or "Bags" and is the youngest of the group. Despite having a Home Counties English accent in the original film, Bagheera speaks with an American accent in the series. Bagheera is usually second in command of the group. * Louie (voiced by Jason Marsden in Season 1 and then

Cree Summer Cree Summer Francks (born July 7, 1969) is a American-Canadian actress and singer. She has worked extensively in animation, voicing long-running characters such as Susie Carmichael in '' Rugrats'' and Elmyra Duff in ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' and ...

in Season 2) is an

orangutan Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genu ...

. 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 Shere Khan (Hindi- शेर खान/ English pronunciation) is a fictional Bengal tiger and the main antagonist of Rudyard Kipling's '' Jungle Book'' and its adaptations. According to The Kipling Society, the word ''shere'' (or ''shir'') t ...

(voiced by Jason Marsden) is an arrogant and hot-tempered

Bengal tiger The Bengal tiger is a population of the '' Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies. It ranks among the biggest wild cats alive today. It is considered to belong to the world's charismatic megafauna. The tiger is estimated to have been present i ...

. He often tries to intimidate the other animals, but his flair suffers when faced with actual problems. He is often called "Khannie" by Baloo and Louie. Despite having a well-spoken English accent in the original film, Shere Khan speaks with an American accent in the series. *

Kaa Kaa is a fictional character from ''The Jungle Book'' stories written by Rudyard Kipling. He is a giant snake who is 30 feet long. In the books and many of the screen adaptations, Kaa is an ally of main protagonist Mowgli, acting as a friend a ...

(voiced by

Jim Cummings James Jonah Cummings (born November 3, 1952) is an American voice actor. Since beginning his career in the 1980s, he has appeared in almost 400 roles. Cummings has frequently worked with The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros., including as t ...

) is a young Indian python who wants to hypnotize other animals, but his skills at hypnosis are currently erratic at best. *

Hathi Hathi is a fictional character created by Rudyard Kipling for the Mowgli stories collected in ''The Jungle Book'' (1894) and ''The Second Jungle Book'' (1895). Hathi is a bull elephant that lives in the jungle. Kipling named him after ''hāthī' ...

(voiced by

Rob Paulsen Robert Frederick Paulsen III (born March 11, 1956) is an American voice actor, known for his roles in numerous animated television series and films. He received a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program and three Anni ...

in Season 1,

Stephen Furst Stephen Furst (born Stephen Nelson Feuerstein; May 8, 1954 – June 16, 2017) was an American actor, director and producer. After gaining attention with his featured role as Kent "Flounder" Dorfman in the comedy film ''National Lampoon's An ...

in Season 2) is an

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantida ...

who attempts to keep the group in order but is known to stammer when stressed. He is also very stubborn. Later, he develops a huge crush on Winifred, who is his wife in ''

''. He is often called "Little Peanut" by Baloo. Despite having a strong southern English accent in the original film, Hathi speaks with an American accent in the series. * Cecil and Arthur (voiced by

Michael McKean Michael John McKean (; born October 17, 1947) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, composer, singer, and musician known for various roles in film and television such as Lenny Kosnowski in ''Laverne & Shirley'', David St. Hubbins in ''T ...

and David Lander) are two

vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...

s who are constantly hoping for one of the cubs to die so that they can eat them. However, they are never seen as a threat. * Mahra (voiced by

Tress MacNeille Teressa Claire MacNeille (née Payne; born June 20, 1951) is an American voice actress, whose credits include voicing Dot Warner on the animated television series '' Animaniacs'', Babs Bunny on ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', Chip and Gadget Hackwrenc ...

) is a ruthless

baboon Baboons are primates comprising the genus ''Papio'', one of the 23 genera of Old World monkeys. There are six species of baboon: the hamadryas baboon, the Guinea baboon, the olive baboon, the yellow baboon, the Kinda baboon and the chacma ...

that lives in Pinnacle Rock within the wasteland. She and her dim-witted 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 Charles Michael Adler (born October 2, 1956) is an American voice actor and voice director. He is known for his roles as Buster Bunny on ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', Ed and Bev Bighead on '' Rocko's Modern Life'' and Ickis on '' Aaahh!!! Real Mon ...

) is one of Mahra's sons. ** Jed (voiced by Jim Cummings) is one of Mahra's sons. ** Fred (voiced by Jim Cummings) is 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 Lair may refer to: __NOTOC__ * Secret lair * Lair, Kentucky * ''Lair'' (novel), a 1979 novel by James Herbert * ''Lair'' (video game), a 2007 video game * '' The Lair'', 2007-2008 American gay-themed vampire television series * The Lair (Dreamw ...

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 A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency to cu ...

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 A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

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 The bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') is a species of sheep native to North America. It is named for its large horns. A pair of horns might weigh up to ; the sheep typically weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates three distinct subsp ...

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 1 (1996)

Season 2 (1997–98)

Voice cast

Pamela Segall Pamela Fionna Adlon (; ; born July 9, 1966) is an American actress. She is known for voicing Bobby Hill in the animated comedy series ''King of the Hill'' (1997–2010), for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award. She also voiced Baloo in ''Jungl ...

as Baloo * E.G. Daily as Bagheera (Season 1) *

as Bagheera (Season 2) * Jason Marsden as Shere Khan, Louie (Season 1), Benny *

as Louie (Season 2) *

as Hathi and Akela (Season 1) *

as Hathi (Season 2) *

as Kaa, Fred, Jed, Older Louie Older Hathi Older Kaa and Older Bagheera * David Lander as Arthur *

as Cecil

Additional voices

* Adam Wylie as Mungo * Andrew J. Ferchland *

April Winchell April Terri Winchell (born January 4, 1960) is an American actress, writer, and radio host. She is prehaps best known as the second and current voice of Clarabelle Cow, having voiced the character since 1996. Early life Winchell was born in 1 ...

as Mother Bird, Shrew, Old Monkey Lady *

Bebe Neuwirth Beatrice "Bebe" Jane Neuwirth ( ; born December 31, 1958) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. On television, she played Dr. Lilith Sternin, Frasier Crane's wife, on both the TV sitcom ''Cheers'' (in a starring role) and its spin-off '' ...

as LaasLa *

Brandy Norwood Brandy Rayana Norwood (born February 11, 1979), better known by her mononym Brandy, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, actress and model. She is known for her distinctive sound, characterized by her peculiar timbre, voice-layer ...

as Latecia *

as Ned * Dorien Wilson as Yarren *

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American voice actor. He began his career in the 1960s, and holds over 860 film, television, and video game credits as of 2022, making him one of the most prolific voice actors of all time. With ...

as Crane, Crocodile, Frogs, Rhino *

Gretchen Palmer Gretchen Palmer (born December 16, 1961) is an American television and film actress. Biography Born in Chicopee, Massachusetts, Palmer regards Ludlow as her hometown.

as Old Monkey Lady *Jeannie Elias as Clyde *

Jeff Bennett Jeffrey Glenn Bennett (born October 2, 1962) is an American voice actor who voiced Johnny Bravo in the eponymous television series, Dexter's Dad in ''Dexter's Laboratory'', Brooklyn in '' Gargoyles'' and Kowalski in the '' Penguins of Madagasca ...

as McCoy * Jess Harnell as Toucan *

Kath Soucie Kath or KATH may refer to: * Kath (city), the historical capital of Khwarezm * Kath (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname * KATH-TV, the NBC TV station in Juneau, Alaska * KATH (AM), a radio station in ...

as Grandma Kahn, Mommie Mouse, Mother Duck, Winifred, Leah * Kenneth Mars as Buffalo * Mari Morrow as Juwanna * Susan Tolsky as Clarisse *

Tony Jay Tony Jay (2 February 1933 – 13 August 2006) was a British actor. A former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he was known for his voice work in radio, animation, film, and video games. Jay was particularly noted for his distinctive bari ...

as Older Shere Khan *

as Mahra *

Vanessa Williams Vanessa Lynn Williams (born March 18, 1963) is an American singer, actress, and fashion designer. She gained recognition as the first African-American woman to receive the Miss America title when she was crowned Miss America 1984. She resign ...

as Trech * Vivica A. Fox as Lima *Yolanda Snowball as Beckie * Yvette Wilson as Kateri

Crew

- Singer *Jamie Thomason - Voice Casting Director & Dialogue Director

Home media

VHS releases

US releases

Two VHS releases containing 6 episodes of the series were released in the United States.

UK, Australia and New Zealand releases

Three VHS releases containing 11 episodes of the series were released in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. These international releases included newly-animated wraparounds set at unspecified points during the original film with

Mowgli Mowgli () is a fictional character and the protagonist of Rudyard Kipling's ''The Jungle Book'' stories. He is a feral boy from the Pench area in Seoni, Madhya Pradesh, India, who originally appeared in Kipling's short story "In the Rukh" (c ...

(voiced by Tyler Mullen) interacting with the characters as adults, as they recall events from their childhood through the series' episodes. In these segments, Baloo is voiced by

Ed Gilbert Edmund Francis Gilbert (June 29, 1931 – May 8, 1999) was an American actor, with extensive credits in both live-action roles and voice work in animation, although he was better known for the latter. He is also credited, under his birth name (E ...

, Bagheera, Hathi, Kaa and Louie are voiced by

and Shere Khan is voiced by

. Gilbert, Cummings and Jay reprised their roles from '' TaleSpin''.

DVD releases

On September 8, 2003, one DVD containing three episodes of the series was released in the United Kingdom.

Australian and New Zealand releases

On September 12, 2003, three DVDs containing eleven episodes of the series was released.

Digital releases

In 2016, the entire series was made available for purchase on digital in the United States through

Amazon Instant Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming and rental service of Amazon offered as a standalone service or as part of Amazon's Prime subscription. The service pr ...

ITunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mu ...

, and

Google Play Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store and formerly the Android Market, is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certified devices running on the Android operating sy ...

. As of 2022, the series has yet to be released on

Disney+ Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...

Titles in other languages

* it, Cuccioli della giungla *Brazilian Portuguese: Filhotes da Selva *Castilian Spanish: Los Cachorros del Libro de la Selva *French: Le Livre de la jungle, souvenirs d'enfance *Latin American Spanish: El Librito de la Selva *Svenska: Lilla Djungelboken *German: Dschungelbuch Kids *Russian: Детёныши джунглей

Notes

References

External links

''Jungle Cubs'' Official Website
* *

at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

Archived
from the original on October 22, 2016. {{Children's programming on the American Broadcasting Company in the 1990s 1990s American animated television series 1990s American children's comedy television series 1996 American television series debuts 1998 American television series endings ABC Kids (TV programming block) American Broadcasting Company original programming American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated comedy television series American children's animated fantasy television series American prequel television series Disney Channel original programming Disney Junior original programming The Jungle Book (franchise) Animated television series about bears Animated television series about cats Animated television series about elephants Television series about snakes Animated television series about apes Television series about tigers Animated television series about children Television series based on Disney films Television series based on adaptations Television series by Disney Television Animation Television shows set in India Child versions of cartoon characters English-language television shows