With the exceptions of King Louie the Orangutan, Winifred the Elephant (Colonel Hathi's mate), and the wolf pack, all the characters from The Jungle Book (1967) return in this sequel. The character of King Louie was cut, because Disney would have had to pay the estate of voice actor Louis Prima had the character appeared in the film in any form. This problem was later resolved, and Louie appeared in The Jungle Book (2016).
When Shanti goes to get water for the first time, and Mowgli and Ranjan sneak out to follow her, she seems to be humming the song that first lured Mowgli into the village in the first place in The Jungle Book (1967), "My Own Home".
Like in The Jungle Book (1967), the two cats, Bagheera and Shere Khan, never meet during the course of the film.
HIDDEN MICKEY: During the Bear Necessities musical number, three prickly pears land on and stick to Kaa's head, making him look like Mickey Mouse.
John Goodman recorded his voice work in New Orleans, while Haley Joel Osment recorded his in California.
Jim Cummings: [voice] When doing the voice of Kaa, Cummings is copying Sterling Holloway original voice. Like in The Jungle Book (1967), Kaa's voice is identical to that of Winnie the Pooh, who shares the same voice actors past and present.