The Lion King II: Simba's Pride

The Lion King II: Simba's Pride
The original 1998 VHS cover of the film
Directed by	Darrell Rooney Rob LaDuca (co-director)
Produced by	Jeannine Roussel
Written by	Flip Kobler Cindy Marcus Additional Writing: Mark McCorkle Jonathan Cuba Bill Motz Gregory Poirier Bob Roth Robert Schooley Linda Voorhees Jenny Wingfield
Based on	Characters by Jonathan Roberts
Starring	Neve Campbell Jason Marsden Jennifer Lien Matthew Broderick Nathan Lane Ernie Sabella Suzanne Pleshette Robert Guillaume Andy Dick Moira Kelly
Music by	Nick Glennie-Smith Jerry Goldsmith (Uncreated)
Editing by	Peter Lonsdale
Studio	DisneyToon Studios
Distributed by	Walt Disney Home Video
Release date(s)	October 27, 1998 (1998-10-27)
Running time	81 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (later retitled The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride) is a 1998 American direct-to-video animated film released by Walt Disney Home Video on October 27, 1998. The film is the sequel to the 1994 Disney animated film The Lion King. It was later re-released as a special edition DVD (which altered the original title's "II" into "2") on August 31, 2004.

The film centers around Simba and Nala's daughter, Kiara, who falls in love with Kovu, a male lion who was raised in a pride of Scar's followers, the Outsiders. Desperate to be together, they must overcome the two obstacles that are keeping them apart: Kovu's mother, Zira, and Simba's prejudices against the Outsiders. While the original film's plot seems to have been inspired on the Shakespearean play Hamlet, this sequel's plot is similar to another Shakespearean play, Romeo and Juliet.

Discussion began about the possibility of a sequel to The Lion King before the first film even hit theaters. Most of the original cast reprised their roles from the first film, with the notable exceptions of Rowan Atkinson, who was replaced by Edward Hibbert as the voice of Zazu in this film and its follow-up/predecessor The Lion King 1½ and Jeremy Irons, who was replaced by Scar's singing voice actor from the first film Jim Cummings as the voice of Scar in this film. Also, Madge Sinclair, who was the voice of Simba's mother Sarabi, died before this film was released, therefore her character was written out.

Plot

The film opens as Simba and Nala present their newborn daughter Kiara to the animals of the Pride Lands. As Kiara grows older, her father becomes very overprotective of her and assigns Timon and Pumbaa to be her babysitters. Kiara manages to escape the duo's attention, however, and enters the "Outlands", where she meets a cub designated to be the heir of Scar, Kovu. Kiara and Kovu quickly befriend each other, but once they are found by their parents the mood becomes tense. Kovu's revenge-bent mother Zira and Simba face off, with Zira reminding Simba of how he exiled her and the other Outlanders. She also tells him Kovu was hand-picked to be Scar's successor, but Simba decides to ignore her and returns to the Pride Lands with Kiara, lecturing her on the dangers the Outlanders pose. Kovu returns to his family, which includes Nuka and Vitani, his jealous older brother and sister. Zira decides she should use Kiara and Kovu's budding friendship to her advantage.

Now a young adult, Kiara heads out for her first solo hunt, but Nuka and Vitani trap her in a fire, allowing for Kovu to rescue her. Simba is forced to accept Kovu's request to come to Pride Rock now that Kovu saved his daughter, though he is very reluctant. Kovu contemplates attacking Simba as he was instructed to, but he goes out to hunt with Kiara instead and finds himself bewildered by the emotions she raises in him. Kovu eventually reveals to Kiara he was never Scar's real son. Meanwhile, Simba seeks his ancestor's guidance on his current situation, but Nala helps him see that Kovu is not Scar. Kovu attempts to confess his mission to Kiara, but instead visits the jungle with Kiara, where Rafiki introduces them to "Upendi" - love. Ultimately, Kovu and Kiara indeed fall in love.

Kovu's guilt drives him to confess about his mission to Simba. Before he can do so, Simba informs him of the real story of Scar, which Kovu had never heard. They fall into an ambush set up by Zira's pride, however. Simba manages to escape, but Nuka is killed during the chase. Zira blames Kovu for his brother's death and slashes him across the face, marking him with an identical scar to Scar's. Kovu attempts to return to the Pride Lands, but Simba responds by exiling him. Kiara is not allowed to go after him either, and she cannot convince her father Kovu was but a pawn in Zira's plot, as he did not know of Zira's ambush. Kiara eventually tells her father he will never be Mufasa in anger and runs off to find Kovu. Just when Simba notices Kiara has gone missing, he is informed of an upcoming attack by the Outlanders.

The Outsiders and Simba's pride clash and a battle ensues. Zira and Simba face off, but Kovu and Kiara intervene and tell them to cease their hostilities. Kiara reminds Simba, by his own words, that "we are one". Although Zira ignores the plea, the rest of the Outsiders accepts it and falters. Zira stands alone and finally attacks Simba, but Kiara jumps before her, sending them both over a cliff dangling over a storm-swollen river. Kiara comes into safety quickly enough, but Zira is in need of assistance. Zira refuses Kiara's help, however, and falls to her death. Simba allows the Outlanders and Kovu to rejoin the Pride Lands, and even accepts Kovu as his son-in-law. Simba looks up at the sky to hear his deceased father's approval.

Voice cast

Main article: List of The Lion King characters

• Neve Campbell as Kiara, Simba and Nala's daughter. As a cub, she is voiced by Michelle Horn, with Charity Savoy providing her child singing voice as a cub and Liz Callaway providing her adult singing voice.
• Jason Marsden as Kovu, Zira's son and Scar's adopted heir. Gene Miller provides Kovu's singing voice. As a cub, he is voiced by Ryan O'Donohue.
• Matthew Broderick as Simba, the King of the Pride Lands. Cam Clarke provides his singing voice.
• Moira Kelly as Nala, the Queen-consort of the Pride Lands.
• Suzanne Pleshette as Zira, the leader of the Outsiders and Scar's most loyal follower.
• Nathan Lane as Timon, Simba's meerkat friend.
• Ernie Sabella as Pumbaa, Simba's warthog friend.
• Robert Guillaume as Rafiki, mandrill shaman of The Pride Lands.
• Andy Dick as Nuka, Zira's son, and Vitani's and Kovu's older brother.
• Jennifer Lien as Vitani, Zira's daughter, and Kovu and Nuka's sister. As a cub, she is voiced by Lacey Chabert, with Anna Shaughnessy providing her singing voice.
• Edward Hibbert as Zazu, Simba's hornbill adviser.
• James Earl Jones as Mufasa's spirit the father of Simba and late husband of Sarabi and grandfather of Kiara killed by Scar
• Jim Cummings as Scar's spirit Mufasa's evil brother and Simba's evil uncle and Zira's mate killed by the hyenas

Release

In 1998, Disney believed that The Lion King II: Simba's Pride would be so popular that it shipped 15 million copies to stores for the October 27 release date. Disney sold 3.5 million copies in three days. Thirteen million copies were sold while it was still in print in the late 90s. The film was first released on VHS in the United States on October 27, 1998 and on DVD as a limited issue on November 23, 1999. The DVD was placed into moratorium on January 19, 2000. It was not released again on DVD until August 31, 2004, when it was a two-disc special edition. It went into moratorium in January 2005. The film has been rendered in high definition and, from October 4th, 2011, became available in a trilogy set with the other two films. The Blu-Ray edition for The Lion King II is scheduled for release on March 6, 2012. The release is set to be released in two different packages, a two-disc package with Blu-Ray and DVD and a DVD edition. The release has also been attached with a new Timon & Pumbaa short, in which the two friends gaze at the night sky as the star constellations resemble their favorite meal, insects.

Reception

The film received mixed to average reception. Walter Chaw of Film Freak Central stated that the film was "born of a desire to make money off of children who don't know any better and their indulgent parents who should." Siskel & Ebert gave the film a "two-thumbs up" and said it was a "satisfactory sequel to one of the most popular films of all time, The Lion King". However, they also said it was best that it went to video, citing that the music was lacking and not remotely equal to the original's soundtrack.

TV Guide gave the film 2½ stars out of four, claiming that, despite being of slightly higher quality than Disney's previous direct-to-video animated sequels, "comes nowhere near the level of its big-screen predecessor", either musically or artistically. The review later went on to say that "Though most of the original characters and their voices are back, they all sound bored, apart from the zesty addition of Suzanne Pleshette as the scheming Zira. The overall result is OK for kids, who will enjoy the low humor provided by the comical meerkat Timon and the flatulent warthog Pumbaa, but it could have been so much better."

Music

Songs

The songwriters were Marty Panzer, Tom Snow, Kevin Quinn, Randy Petersen, Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin, Jack Feldman, Scott Warrender and Joss Whedon.

• "He Lives in You" - This is an original song by Lebo M and his African choir. This song represents Kiara's birth and is also the equivalent of "Circle of Life". The song can also be a reference to when Rafiki told Simba in the first film that Mufasa "lives" in him. Also appears in the Broadway version of the first film. It was considered as the only song to be composed by Hans Zimmer, the man who composed the original film.
• "We Are One" - Sung by Cam Clarke and Charity Sanoy. Following Kiara's encounter with Kovu and Zira, which puts herself in danger, Simba explains how important she is to the pride and that the pride is one. The musical equivalent to the first film's talk about the Great Kings of the Past with Mufasa and Simba.
• "My Lullaby" - Sung by Suzanne Pleshette, Andy Dick, and Crysta Macalush. Zira's lullaby to Kovu, which outlines her plot for him to kill Simba and how proud it would make her. The equivalent to "Be Prepared" as the song is talking about how they plan to murder Simba just like how Scar's song talked about killing both him and Mufasa in the previous film. The song's ending is similar to the end of "Be Prepared" with Zira towering over the Outlanders mirrors Scar towering over the hyenas at the end. They are even standing on similar structures; For Scar, forms of rock that suddenly came out of the ground during the song, and, for Zira, a massive termite mound that is part of the group of termite mounds that the Outsiders live in. Zira's treatment of Nuka during the song also resembles Scar's abuse of Shenzi, Banzai and Ed.
• "Upendi" (Swahili for "love") - Sung by Robert Guillaume, Liz Callaway, Gene Miller, and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Rafiki's song to Kiara and Kovu about love and happiness. Sung by Rafiki and his animal friends. Also the equivalent to "Hakuna Matata", from the first film, as well as "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" visually.
• "One of Us" - Sung following Kovu being banished by Simba for supposedly betraying Simba in an attempt to assassinate him. This was the first time the animals outside of the main characters (they talk in Lion King 1½) and the lions in both films (they congratulate Kiara when she hunts) have been seen talking. Only song to not have an equivalent to the first film, but lyrically, may reflect on Mufasa's death.
• "Love Will Find a Way" - Kiara and Kovu's first encounter following Kovu's banishment where they decide their love is too strong for their differences to keep them apart. Similar to "Can You Feel the Love Tonight". Liz Callaway and Gene Miller provide the singing voices for Kiara and Kovu in the film. The end title is performed by R&B artists Kenny Lattimore and Heather Headley.

Return to Pride Rock

An audio CD entitled Return to Pride Rock: Songs Inspired by Disney's The Lion King II: Simba's Pride was released on September 8, 1998. Although not promoted as a soundtrack to the film, it contained all the songs from the film and some additional songs inspired by it by Lebo M. (Tina Turner recorded a version of "He Lives in You" for the film, which is not included on this album). On August 31, 2004, Disney released an "enhanced soundtrack" to coincide with the release of the film's 2-Disc Special Edition DVD. However, the CD only contains the songs featured in the film, without any of the inspired songs in The Lion King.

1. "He Lives in You"
2. "We Are One"
3. "Upendi"
4. "One of Us"
5. "My Lullaby"
6. "Love Will Find a Way"
7. "We Are One"
8. "She Believes in You"
9. "Song for the Children"
10. "I Want to See the Moon"
11. "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"
12. "Love Will Find a Way" (End Title)

External links

• The Lion King II: Simba's Pride at AllRovi
• The Lion King II: Simba's Pride at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• The Lion King II: Simba's Pride at the Internet Movie Database