Duke's Wild Adventure

Duke's Wild Adventure is a 2022 American animated feature film produced by DisneyToon Studios destined to be released by Walt Disney Pictures in December 1, 2022.

Plot
The story begins with a lion cub named Simba being taken into the Bronx Zoo by Griffin Keyes and introduced to other animal children that inhabit the zoo: Glen the young Galapagos tortoise, Carlos the baby American alligator, Shi Shou the giant panda cub, T-Bone the baby Tasmanian devil, Keisha the young Southern hairy-nosed wombat, Platter the baby platypus, Baby Jambo, the African elephant calf, Godfry the hippopotamus calf, Thomas the giraffe calf, Dot the plains zebra foal, Skeeter the baby green anaconda, Joanna the red kangaroo joey, Bongo the grizzly bear cub, Penny the ostrich chick, Stanley the tiger cub, Sammy the harbor seal pup, Claudia the leopard cub, Cub the snow leopard cub, and Jaana the jaguar cub, who develops an immediate crush on Simba. Nights later, when the zoo closes, all the animals go to the turtle curling championship, except for Simba, who is taken away by two teenage animals: a red kangaroo named Duke (Joanna's oldest rambunctious and mischievous brother) and a hippopotamus named Eze (Godfry's oldest brother). During the game, Simba accidentally scares a herd of Thomson's gazelles into a stampede, which ruins the game. Samson, Simba's adoptive uncle, accuses the lion cub for putting the animals in danger, and they have a falling-out, which ends when Simba runs off right before Samson can apologize. Meanwhile, Joanna and Duke's father, Red, berates Duke for ditching the game and chains him in a jail outside the zoo. Red then leaves angered and irritated after giving Duke a heavy telling-off, saying that he is a part of this zoo, whether he likes it or not, and until he starts acting like it, he can just get used to being in the jail every single night. Later that night, when the zoo is completely silent, Duke breaks free from his chain and hops off. He at first tries to join a herd of zebras at the Pride Lands, but eventually gets kicked out by a zebra named Thabo. Duke then travels into the forest, where he finds a beautiful wolf named Aleu and the two go to the territory of a different wolf pack that Aleu has not joined. Meanwhile, Faloo, Joanna and Duke's mother, goes into the zoo jail to reconcile with Duke. Realizing that he is gone, she alerts Red and the zoo animals to start a search party.

Duke attempts to join the wolf pack, but their tough leader and Aleu's rival, Niju, demands that he pass a series of tests first. During the first test, Duke sneaks up on a savage mountain lion, and steals a bone from his cave. Although the mountain lion chases him, Duke manages to evade the cat and watches him get caught by a poacher named Percival McLeach. Later, one of Niju's wolves tells a colorful story about how Red, a former wild kangaroo that Niju and his wolves worshipped, once escaped a horde of poachers. Niju angrily reminds them that Red then ran off with Faloo to become a zoo animal. Duke is surprised but does not believe that his father used to be a wild kangaroo.

In another part of the forest, Duke talks to himself about his father’s decision to leave the wildlife. He was then interrupted by Aleu who questions him about his family. She then reveals that she once was a house pet when she was born to Balto and Jenna, before she ran away and joined her own pack of wolves instead of Niju's. She tells him not to mention this to Niju or he will kick her out of his society. A bear appears and they run for their lives until they reach a steep cliff. Left with no choice, Aleu and Duke both jump into the river below. Meanwhile, Duke's family and friends are searching for him in Central Park, and Red thinks he ran away because he was too harsh with him, and regrets what he had done.

Duke and Aleu survive and are unharmed, but realize that their friendship has now blossomed into romance. They then have a romantic stroll in a park and have dinner similar to the spaghetti scene in Lady and the Tramp. They wind up near the Bronx Zoo and they encounter his family searching for him. When he evades them, Aleu is disgusted that he would choose living in the wild over a safe zoo, as she herself used to be a house pet before she moved into her pack of wolves. At a picnic, Niju sees Duke's kangaroo family. Realizing that Duke is Red's son, Niju orders Duke to steal fifteen steaks from the zoo's pantry. Determined to prove that himself as a wild wolf, Duke complies. Red follows Duke to a cave, where Red confronts him and asks him to come home, but Duke refuses and decides to stay with Niju, much to Red's dismay. Upon Duke's refusal, Niju officially declares Duke as a member of his wolf pack by throwing a wolf vial he had stolen from the zoo's laboratory on Duke and transforming the kangaroo into a wolf.

While celebrating, Aleu scolds Duke for what he did to Red. After Niju mockingly asks Duke if he wants to be a zoo animal, Duke snaps and accidentally reveals that Aleu used to be a house pet. Niju then kicks her out of the pack and she leaves, becoming upset with Duke and breaking off their relationship. Duke searches for her to apologize, but she hides from him and returns to her wolf pack. Niju, still wishing revenge on Red, sets up a trap that causes Duke to get caught by McLeach. Alone and scared in the cage back of McLeach's bushwhacker, Duke suddenly realizes how selfish he has been. Feeling guilty for what he has done, he wishes that he was at his zoo with his family. Meanwhile, Aleu, encouraged by her mate Akela to apologize to Duke for breaking off their relationship, returns to the part of the forest where Duke had been searching for her and, using her sense of smell, realizes Duke is captured by McLeach and runs to the Bronx Zoo to alert Duke's family.

Meanwhile, Duke is placed in a cage with the mountain lion, who wants revenge on Duke for letting the cat get caught by McLeach. Red, arriving just in time, manages to fight off the mountain lion and save his son from death. McLeach tries to capture them but is bitten in the rear by Aleu and falls unconscious. Then the animal trio place McLeach in the cage with the mountain lion, where the poacher is presumably mauled by the big cat. Before they head home, Duke apologizes for running away and Red apologizes for being too harsh with him. They go to the Bronx Zoo's laboratory, where they take a kangaroo vial. Then they head to Niju's territory, where Duke changes back into a kangaroo and traps Niju under piles of rocks. The pack members temporarily abandon Niju and go to kill a moose on their own. Red and Duke return to the Bronx Zoo, where they say goodbye to Aleu and she leaves, but not before Duke hugs and licks her. Then Red and Duke reunite with their friends and family, while Aleu reunites with her wolf pack, and Niju's wolf pack uses the moose carcass they killed to pull him out of the rock pile.

Main Cast

 * Miles Marsico as Duke, the protagonist of the film. He starts out as a frisky, yet stubborn and selfish kangaroo, but in the end, he returns changed and well-behaved
 * Jeff Bennett as Red, the father of Duke, Toby, and Joanna. Portrayed as a loving, but firm father, he has become accustomed to living in a zoo during his time as a zoo animal, although he has a few wild smarts to fall back on, due to his near-old age.
 * Ryan ODonohue as Simba, a lion cub who has become accustomed to living in the Bronx Zoo ever since Griffin took him in. After an accidental gazelle stampede, he and 19 other zoo children join Duke's family on a search to find him.
 * Frank Welker as Percival McLeach, a poacher who chases after wild animals, determined to capture them and sell them for money.
 * Jodi Benson as Faloo, the mother of Duke, Toby, and Joanna. She views Duke's behavior in a more understanding light than Red does.
 * Lacey Chabert as Aleu, a gray wolf who was once a pet before she became leader of her wolf pack and Duke's temporary love interest.
 * Mark Hamill as Niju, a gray wolf, an arch rival of Aleu, and leader of his wolf pack.
 * Jim Cummings as Scar Snout, a gray wolf member of Niju's pack.
 * Corey Burton as King, a gray wolf member of Niju's pack who used to know Red, and tells a colorful but untrue tale of how he abandoned the wildlife.
 * Tress MacNeille as Princess, a gray wolf member of Niju's pack who seems to have a soft spot for kangaroos.
 * Frank Welker as Scrawny, a gray wolf member of Niju's pack.
 * Hayden Panettiere as Joanna, Red and Faloo's youngest well-behaved and polite daughter.
 * Jason Donovan as Toby, Red and Faloo's middle well-behaved and polite son, like his youngest sister Joanna and unlike his oldest brother Duke.
 * Kevin James as Griffin Keyes, zookeeper of the Bronx Zoo who took Simba in.
 * Jeff Bennett as Bernie Shackelford, a zookeeper of the Bronx Zoo and Griffin's assistant.

Songs

 * Wild Society Rag - performed by Mark Hamill, Tress MacNeille, Jim Cummings, Frank Welker, and Corey Burton. Niju sings about the wild in which he and his pack make their home and about their life, with the others also offering their opinions.  The sequence features them traveling through their territory and interacting with their surroundings.
 * I Didn't Know That I Could Feel This Way - performed by Miles Marsico and Lacey Chabert. This is the love song of the film, showing the blossoming romance between Duke and Aleu.  It features them walking through the the forest.  At the end, a scene similar to the spaghetti scene from Lady and the Tramp occurs, but with Duke and Aleu guzzling sandwiches (one with meat for Aleu and one with grass for Duke) down instead.

Script
Coming Soon!