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George of the Jungle 2

  • ️Tue May 23 2023

George of the Jungle 2 (Film)

Swinging into adventure once again!

George of the Jungle 2 is a Direct-to-Video sequel to the 1997 movie George of the Jungle, released in 2003. It replaces Christopher Showerman as George and Julie Benz as Ursula, which is lampshaded in a graceful manner in the film itself ("Me new George. Studio too cheap to pay Brendan Fraser.")

Some years have passed since the events of the first movie. George and Ursula have been Happily Married, and their son George Jr. is a healthy (if also mischievous) child. However, Ursula's ex-boyfriend Lyle has been unable to get over his feelings towards her, and Beatrice failed to stick with her blessing of her daughter's marriage; so these two characters plan to sabotage that union so Lyle can get back Ursula and forcefully marry her.

George, George, George of the Jungle, Strong as he can be. (yell) Watch out for that tropes! ("Oooh!")

  • Bamboo Technology: How George's treehouse operates. In this movie, they're even shown to be using a snake as a drainpipe for their sink.
  • Big Damn Kiss: Taken up to eleven when George restores Ursula's memory with one, shifting the background to church bells, fireworks, a rocket launch and flowers blooming. Also counts as a Call-Back, as earlier in the film, Ursula claims she'd hear the first two when she kisses the man she loves.
  • Big "NO!": Lyle, when the Narrator gets fed up with him and literally pulls him out of the story into the sky.
  • Blatant Lies: George arrives home, very late for lunch.

    George: Sorry George late, but George had important royal duty to tend to.
    Ursula: In other words... you were playing coconut ball.

  • Bridal Carry: Subverted when George is about to carry Ursula out the window, but knocks her out on the wall when turning around momentarily.
  • Call-Back: The movie directly re-enacts scenes, jokes and other elements from the first George of the Jungle movie. All while lampshading them.
  • Cannot Spit It Out:
    • They don't bother hypnotizing Junior into believing Lyle is his dad, yet it takes him nearly the whole movie to tell his mother the truth.
    • A deleted scene shows Junior telling his fellow Boy Scouts that Lyle is lying about being his real dad.
  • Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Ursula's father makes no appearance in this movie, implying her parents have since divorced or separated.
  • Circling Birdies: Shep charges a bulldozer and gets stars spinning around his forehead as a result.
  • Company Cross-References: George Jr. at one point is seen reading a Disney Tarzan book.
  • Continuity Nod: The movie is packed with them, most notably the scene where George and his family are shipped to Africa in a very large crate, thanks to "a tip from Brendan Fraser."
  • Deus ex Machina: The climax of the movie is more or less wrapped up when the narrator becomes annoyed with Lyle and literally reaches down and pulls him from the story's world.
  • Diegetic Soundtrack Usage: Like in the first film, the original show's theme song is incorporated into the score in this film. George cites it as Ursula's favorite song and has a polka band play it for her.
  • Faint in Shock:: The sight of an elephant wearing New Balance causes Ursula to faint dead away.
  • Flanderization: The movie takes certain aspects of the characters and dials them up to eleven:
    • George made a lot dumber.
    • Beatrice's villainy is amped up. In the first film, she doesn't approve of Ursula and George's relationship, but seems to relent. In the sequel, she stops at nothing to break them up.
    • Betsy - in the first film, she jokes once about hooking up with George. In the sequel, she willingly ignores her best friend getting knocked out in hopes of finding out if George has a brother, then later, forces herself on him to help break her hypnosis.
  • Foregone Conclusion: The version of the theme song that kicks off the sequel subtly spoils the resolution of the plot.
  • Hammered into the Ground: Lyle's evil henchwomen Sally and Kowalski are trying to destroy the jungle with a bulldozer. Rocky the Kangaroo saves the day by kicking them across the jungle, into a clearing. As they struggle to get up, Rocky has an idea and jumps on their shoulders five times each, each jump making the women grunt and squeal in pain seeing their bodies disappear. Rocky leaves them knocked out and trapped with a pile of mud around them. It’s unknown what becomes of them.
  • Hard Head: George gets hit by a falling coconut, but is unfazed over it:

    George: George lucky man. He has Ursula, and Junior (coconut falls on his head, unfazed)...and really strong head.

  • Heel–Face Turn: By the time this movie's story rolls around, Beatrice changing her mind on Ursula marrying George turns out to be a subversion, as she plots with Lyle to break up their marriage and have Ursula wed Lyle.
  • Human Mail: In a nod to the previous film, George does get a bigger box! Big enough to hold him, along with Ape, Ursula, Junior, and Rocky!

    Narrator: After getting a tip from Brendan Fraser, who was cramped during the first pic, this time, George managed to get an even bigger crate.

  • Idiot Ball: The villains have Ursula hypnotized into believing she's married to Lyle, but they never think of hypnotizing Junior too. Also, Junior never thinks of telling his mother that George is his real father until near the end.
  • Incessant Music Madness: In the sequel, the dealer at the Vegas poker game is a Kenny Rogers impersonator, who sings a rather on the nose rendition of "The Gambler" when he deals out the cards. Ape politely asks him to stop the first time, then physically attacks him when he starts singing again. The next time we see them, the dealer's mouth has been taped shut.
  • Interactive Narrator: Like the first film, this one is narrated by an external character. During the climax, Lyle gets into an argument with the narrator. The infuriated narrator calmly reaches down and plucks him off to the sky while the heroes stare in complete bemusement.
  • Limited Wardrobe: George packs a couple dozen of extremely identical loincloths, which Lyle and his goons unfortunately must search through to find the deed to Ape Mountain.
  • Logo Joke: The sequel opens with a silhouetted George swinging and crashing into the castle in the Disney logo, leaving an Impact Silhouette.
  • Mythology Gag:
    • George Jr. is seen reading a Tarzan book (specifically the Disney version).
    • The movie references the Disney Tarzan film by having George "vine surf" at the end (or rather surfing on tree branches) as Tarzan did in that film.
  • No Fourth Wall:
    • The beginning of the movie, where George explained, at the behest of the narrator, "Me new George. Studio too cheap to hire Brendan Fraser."
    • Taken up to eleven in the climax, where the narrator completely gets rid of Lyle by physically reaching in and plucking him out of the movie!
  • Non Sequitur, *Thud*: As animals are launching coconuts at impending bulldozers

    George: George will stand here just as long as George's name is [two coconuts fly at his head] ...Herb... [falls over]

  • No-Sell: Lyle is kicked in the shin by Junior. In a later encounter, he tries it again, only Lyle has shin guards hidden by his pants. This doesn't prevent Junior from stomping on his foot afterward.
  • Once Done, Never Forgotten: When Lyle is reintroduced during the story, the narrator gleefully reminded him of the time he fell into a pile of elephant poop in the first film. Lyle is less than amused.
  • Parting-from-Consciousness Words: Ursula comments on seeing Shep wearing New Balance shoes before fainting:

    Ursula: Oh, the elephant's wearing New Balance. [faints]

  • Product Placement: Lampshaded in the sequel, as Shep sports some New Balance sneakers.

    Narrator: Uh, see if you can spot our discreet product placement.

  • Rage Against the Author: This ends up defeating Lyle in the second film, where he pisses the narrator off so much, he plucks him out of the film.
  • Recycled Soundtrack: Much of the musical score from the first movie is repurposed here.
  • Shoo Out the Clowns: In the sequel, Ursula (though not a comic relief character) is put to sleep just before to the big fight at the end, waking up just as it ends. This is odd, considering she actually contributed to the fight at the end of the first movie.
  • Shout-Out:
    • Betsy and two other of Ursula's friends engage in a brief spoof of Charlie's Angels.
    • Ape latches on to the top of a pointed building in Vegas, à la King Kong. The local news shows this on the TV, and Beatrice convinces a hypnotized Ursula that it really is King Kong, only colorized. Lampshaded of course:

      Ape: You didn't think we were gonna pass up this parody?

  • Slept Through the Apocalypse: Ursula remains unconscious during the entire fight, waking just when it ends. George comments:

    George: Sure, George care about family. Even half of family sleeping through best part of movie.
    [cut to Ursula, snoring in a hammock]

  • The Stinger: At the end of the credits of the movie, The Narrator seemingly begins a relationship with the narrator from Mulan.
  • True Love's Kiss: A kiss from George is all it takes to bring Ursula and her friends out of their hypnotic states.
  • Turn Out Like His Father: Played with George Jr., who prefers vine surfing to vine swinging, which he finds dangerous. George isn't too thrilled, and comments about it to his wife Ursula.