''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 ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

in 1996, serving as the prequel 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. The show was broadcast on Toon Disney, 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 y ...

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 ...

" performed by Lou Rawls. ''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 (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 (voiced by Elizabeth Daily 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 So ...

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 North American English regional phonology is the study of variations in the pronunciation of spoken North American English (English of the United States and Canada)—what are commonly known simply as "regional accents". Though studies of regional ...

in the series. Bagheera is usually second in command of the group. * Louie (voiced by

Jason Marsden Jason Christopher Marsden (born January 3, 1975) is an American actor, director, producer and YouTuber, who has done numerous voice roles in animated films, as well as various television series and video games. He has been the official voice of ...

in Season 1 and then Cree Summer 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 (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 in ...

. 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 ...

(voiced by Jim Cummings) is a young

Indian python The Indian python (''Python molurus'') is a large python species native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It is also known by the common names black-tailed python, Indian rock python, and Asian r ...

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 in Season 1, Stephen Furst 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 Elephantidae ...

who attempts to keep the group in order but is known to

stammer Stuttering, also known as stammering, is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words, or phrases as well as involuntary silent pauses or blocks in which the ...

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 '' ...

and

David Lander David L. Lander (born David Leonard Landau, June 22, 1947 – December 4, 2020) was an American actor, comedian, musician, and baseball scout. He was best known for his portrayal of Andrew "Squiggy" Squiggman in the ABC sitcom ''Laverne & Shirl ...

) 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) 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 (Dreamworld ...

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 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 Quicksand is a colloid consisting of fine granular material (such as sand, silt or clay) and water. It forms in saturated loose sand when the sand is suddenly agitated. When water in the sand cannot escape, it creates a liquefied soil that los ...

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 subspec ...

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 (King of the Hill), Bobby Hill in the animated comedy series ''King of the Hill'' (1997–2010), for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for ...

as Baloo *

E.G. 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 Grown ...

as Bagheera (Season 1) *

as Bagheera (Season 2) *

as Shere Khan, Louie (Season 1), Benny * Cree Summer as Louie (Season 2) * Rob Paulsen as Hathi and Akela (Season 1) * Stephen Furst as Hathi (Season 2) * Jim Cummings as Kaa, Fred, Jed, Older Louie Older Hathi Older Kaa and Older Bagheera *

as Arthur *

as Cecil

Additional voices

Adam Wylie Adam Augustus Wylie (born May 23, 1984) is an American actor, magician and a former Crayola spokesman. Wylie is known most for playing Zack Brock, the youngest son of Doctor and Sheriff Brock's children, on ''Picket Fences'' from 1992 to 1996. Ea ...

as Mungo * Andrew J. Ferchland * April Winchell as Mother Bird, Shrew, Old Monkey Lady * Bebe Neuwirth 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 * Charlie Adler as Ned *

Dorien Wilson Dorien Leon Wilson (born July 5, 1963) is an American actor known for his role as Professor Stanley Oglevee on the UPN sitcom '' The Parkers'' (the spin-off series of ''Moesha'', which ran from 1999 to 2004), his recurring role as Terrence Winn ...

as Yarren * Frank Welker as Crane, Crocodile, Frogs, Rhino * Gretchen Palmer as Old Monkey Lady *Jeannie Elias as Clyde * Jeff Bennett as McCoy *

Jess Harnell Jess Harnell (born December 23, 1963) is an American voice actor and singer. His notable roles include Captain Hero in the animated TV series '' Drawn Together'', Wakko Warner in '' Animaniacs'', Ironhide in the first three ''Transformers'' fil ...

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 Kenneth Mars (April 4, 1935 – February 12, 2011) was an American actor. He appeared in two Mel Brooks films: as the deranged Nazi playwright Franz Liebkind in '' The Producers'' (1967) and Police Inspector Hans Wilhelm Friedrich Kemp in ''Youn ...

as Buffalo *

Mari Morrow Mari Eulanda Morrow (born July 21, 1968) is an American film and television actress, model and realtor. Morrow is best known for her roles as Rachel Gannon on the ABC daytime soap opera ''One Life to Live'' (1994–96), Oneisha Savoy on the AB ...

as Juwanna *

Susan Tolsky Susan Gaye Tolsky (April 6, 1943 – October 9, 2022) was an American actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Tolsky began acting in high school and later studied nursing at the University of Texas at Austin before switching her major to the ...

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 Vivica Anjanetta Fox (born July 30, 1964) is an American actress, producer, and television host. Fox began her career on ''Soul Train'' (19821983). She eventually continued her career with roles on the daytime television soap operas ''Days of O ...

as Lima *Yolanda Snowball as Beckie *

Yvette Wilson Yvette Reneé Wilson (March 6, 1964 – June 14, 2012) was an American comedian and actress. She was known for her role as Andell Wilkerson, the shopkeeper of the local hangout on the UPN sitcoms ''Moesha'' (1996–2001); and restaurant owner an ...

as Kateri

Crew

* Lou Rawls - 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 (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 Jim Cummings and Shere Khan is voiced by

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

TaleSpin ''TaleSpin'' is an American animated television series first aired in 1990 as a preview on Disney Channel and later that year as part of '' The Disney Afternoon''. It features characters adapted from Disney's 1967 animated feature ''The Jungle Bo ...

''.

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, 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
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