Jungle Cubs

Disney's Jungle Cubs is an American animated series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation for ABC in 1996, serving as the prequel to the 1967 film The Jungle Book 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 on ABC from 1996 to 1998 before its syndication in re-runs on the Disney Channel. The show was broadcast on Toon Disney, but was taken off the schedule in 2001. Re-runs aired on Disney Junior in the US from 2012 to 2013. The show also aired in the United Kingdom on Disney Cinemagic and in Latin America.

The show's theme song is a hip hop version of the song, "The Bare Necessities" 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) is a fun-loving sloth bear. He likes to play with his friends and sometimes pulls pranks on Bagheera in order to snap the latter out of his uptight attitude.
 * Bagheera (voiced by Elizabeth Daily in Season 1 and Dee Bradley Baker in Season 2) is a sensible and level-headed panther who stays out of 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.
 * Louie (voiced by Jason Marsden in Season 1 and Cree Summer in Season 2) is an orangutan. He is very physically active, spending a great deal of his time in the 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. He often tries to intimidate the other animals, but his confidence 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 (voiced by Jim Cummings) is a young Indian python who wants to hypnotize other animals, but his skills at hypnosis are unpredictable.
 * Hathi (voiced by Rob Paulsen in Season 1 and Stephen Furst in Season 2) is an elephant who attempts to keep the group in order but is known to stammer when stressed. He has a huge crush on Winifred, who is his wife in The Jungle Book. 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 (voiced by Michael McKean) and Arthur (voiced by David Lander) are two vultures who are constantly hoping for one of the cubs to die so that they can eat them, but they are never seen as a threat.
 * Mahra (voiced by Tress MacNeille) is a ruthless baboon that lives in Pinnacle Rock within the wasteland. She and her three incompetent 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 the leader of Mahra's sons.
 * Fred (voiced by Jim Cummings) is the largest and most dull-witted 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.

Voice cast

 * Pamela Segall as Baloo
 * E.G. Daily as Bagheera (Season 1)
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Bagheera (Season 2)
 * Jason Marsden 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, Older Bagheera
 * David Lander as Arthur
 * Michael McKean as Cecil

Additional voices

 * Adam Wylie as Mungo
 * Andrew J. Ferchland
 * April Winchell as Mother Bird, Shrew, Old Monkey Lady
 * Bebe Neuwirth as LaasLa
 * Brandy Norwood as Latecia
 * Charlie Adler as Ned
 * Dorien Wilson as Yarren
 * Ed Gilbert as Older Baloo
 * Frank Welker as Crane, Crocodile, Frogs, Rhino
 * Gretchen Palmer as Old Monkey Lady
 * Jeannie Elias as Clyde
 * Jeff Bennett as McCoy
 * Jess Harnell as Toucan
 * Kath Soucie as Grandma Kahn, Mommie Mouse, Mother Duck, Winifred, Leah
 * Kenneth Mars as Buffalo
 * Mari Morrow as Juwanna
 * Susan Tolsky as Clarisse
 * Tony Jay as Older Shere Khan
 * Tress MacNeille as Mahra
 * Vanessa Williams as Trech
 * Vivica A. Fox as Lima
 * Yolanda Snowball as Beckie
 * Yvette Wilson as Kateri

Crew

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

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, Bagheera, Hathi, Kaa and Louie are voiced by Jim Cummings and Shere Khan is voiced by Tony Jay. 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 in Australia and New Zealand.

Digital releases
In 2016, the entire series was made available for purchase on digital in the United States through Amazon Instant Video, ITunes, and Google Play.

Titles in other languages

 * Italian: 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