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
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. It is the first film produced by DisneyToon Studios using Toon Boom.

Based loosely on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, 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.

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 with Rafiki (Robert Guillaume) gathering the animals of the Pride Lands together for the presentation of Simba (Matthew Broderick) and Nala’s (Moira Kelly) new daughter Kiara. Mufasa's spirit (James Earl Jones) watches over the ceremony. Later, Simba becomes very over-protective of an older Kiara (Michelle Horn), and to her dismay, he assigns Timon and Pumbaa (Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella) to be her babysitters. One day while they are arguing, Kiara sneaks into the "Outlands" where she meets Scar's heir, a young cub named Kovu (Ryan O'Donohue). After escaping a river filled with crocodiles, the two become friendly, but Simba and, Kovu's mother, Zira (Suzanne Pleshette), find them and quickly end their playing. During a tense face-off, Zira reminds Simba that he exiled the Outsiders, and notes that if he wants to punish them, Kovu is Scar's hand-chosen successor. Unwilling to harm the cub, Simba orders them to leave and later scolds Kiara for endangering herself. In the Outlands, Zira's elder son, Nuka (Andy Dick), complains to his younger sister Vitani (Lacey Chabert) about Kovu's status as "the Chosen One" — the cub chosen by Scar to lead the pride after he was gone. At that moment, Zira returns and scolds both of her sons, but then decides that she can use Kovu's new friendship with Kiara to get her revenge against Simba.

Now a young adult, Kiara (Neve Campbell) heads out from home to do her first solo hunt; however, Nuka and Vitani set fire to the plains where Kiara is hunting, causing her to faint and giving Kovu (Jason Marsden) the chance to rescue her. Drawn by the smoke, Simba finds them together and reluctantly accepts Kovu's request to come to Pride Rock, though he forces Kovu to sleep outside. Later, Simba goes outside to a watering hole where Kovu contemplates attacking him, but Kiara interrupts and they go off together so Kovu can help her learn to hunt. During the lesson, they run into Timon and Pumbaa struggling with some birds, so the two lions help them chase the birds off. Together, they have fun playing, something Kovu notes he has never experienced before. That night, Kovu tells Kiara that he is not Scar's real son, but "was a part of him". Meanwhile, Simba seeks guidance from the "Great Kings" and Nala advises him to give Kovu a chance because he is not Scar. Kovu decides to leave after trying to confess his real intentions, but Rafiki stops and invites the young lions to experience "Upendi" — love. After a musical journey through the jungle, the two fall in love.

In the morning, Kovu, feeling guilty for being in Zira's plot, decides to take responsibility by explaining the truth to Simba and Kiara, despite knowing that it will outrage them. Before he can tell the truth, Simba invites Kovu for a walk and tells him the true story of Scar, which Kovu had never heard. However, their walk is interrupted by an ambush by Zira and her pride. After a brief fight, Simba manages to escape by scaling a wall of logs in a gorge but is wounded. In chasing after him, Nuka slips and is killed by falling logs. Zira blames Kovu for Nuka's death, slashing him across his face and giving him a scar identical to Scar's. Fleeing from his mother, Kovu returns to the Pride Lands and begs forgiveness from Simba. Still believing Kovu knew about the ambush, Simba exiles him and the Pride Land animals begin to drive him out. Kiara tries to reach Kovu but the lionesses hold her back. She pleads with her father to reconsider, but he refuses, saying that Kovu only used her to get to him and that he knows that Kovu is following in Scar's pawprints. Angered, Kiara tells him that he will never be Mufasa, horrifying her father, she then goes to Pride Rock crying. She later sneaks away from Pride Rock and eventually finds Kovu and convinces him to come back. Meanwhile, at Pride Rock, Simba discovers that Kiara is gone just when Zazu warns him that the Outsiders are coming. Knowing that it meant war, Simba sends him to find Kiara while he prepares the pride for battle.

Meanwhile, Zira leads the Outsiders towards the Pride Lands, and a fierce fight breaks out. As Zira and Simba face off, Kovu and Kiara leap between them and Kiara tells Simba the fighting has to stop. Kiara reminds her father that, by his own words, "we are one". Zira ignores her, but the rest of the outsiders falter after Vitani takes Kiara's side. Surprised and outraged, Zira threatens to kill her, which only causes the rest of the Outlanders to desert her. Now alone, Zira attempts to attack Simba but Kiara jumps in the way, sending them both over a cliff. Kiara lands on a rock, but Zira is dangling off a rock face and is sliding towards a storm-swollen river. She refuses Kiara's offer of help, and slips and falls to her death. Simba allows the Outlanders, including Kovu, to return to the Pride Lands, and Kovu is allowed to stand with Kiara at the top of Pride Rock. Simba looks up into the sky and smiles as he hears the spirit of Mufasa say, "Well done, my son. We are one."

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
• Jim Cummings as Scar's spirit

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