1. Walt Disney originally selected Phil Harris to do Baloo's voice because Disney LIKED Harris' voice. Harris was not suppose to alter his voice to match Disney's image of what Baloo should sound like. Baloo was Phil Harris, plain and simple.
2. When Phil Harris was called back in the late 80's to try to recreate Baloo, he could not. He was simply too old. Jymn Magon knew that whoever replaced Phil Harris had to do an excellent job of recreating Harris' voice while simultaneously updating it for the 90's. Ed Gilbert eventually got the job, but only after he had studied Harris' voice and perfected it.
3. What we have now for The Jungle Book 2 is another example of a celebrity doing a voice for an animated feature. There usually is nothing wrong with that. Usually the celebrity uses his/her's natural voice, or perhaps a slight variation, to voice a character that will mostly be remembered not for his/her's part in the movie, but because of the celebrity that provided his/her's voice. However, now John Goodman is not trying to sound like Phil Harris, Ed Gilbert or Baloo at all. He is just John Goodman being John Goodman. So whether or not John Goodman is a talented voice actor is not what is in question. The fact of the matter is when we watch The Jungle Book 2 and hear Baloo's voice we are ONLY hearing John Goodman, not Baloo at all.
4. My point? Why have a second Jungle Book movie if Disney is going to completely alter Baloo's color - he's now dark blue with yellow eyes, and change his voice completely so that he is unrecognizable? Disney should have stopped after Talespin or else have created a new character for Goodman. How can I be excited about seeing Baloo on screen again when he looks and sounds totally different? Phil Harris was the orginal and Ed Gilbert did a terrific job of updating Harris' voice while staying true to the original. Goodman is neither.
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