DisneyToons Review: The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride

Disneytoons 9th film.

http://putlocker.is/watch-the-lion-king-2-simbas-pride-online-free-putlocker.html

My opinion right after watching movie

My opinion right after the film is that it is pretty darn good. Sure, there are some contrivances that I do have an issue with, and it is one of the most cheesy Disney film that I have ever seen, but there is a lot of effort that was put into this film, and I have to give props where props is due.

Production

Apparently this film was being planned before The Lion King was released (just like they did with the Aladdin series), and the plans for the sequel was revealed in January 1995, and it was supposed to be released in late 1995 but got pushed back years and years until its 1998 release. Scar’s son and Simba’s daughter were supposed to hook up, and the kids ended up being Kovu and Kiara, but their relationship was changed because of the familial connection (though that is how Lions run things biologically).

Story

The film starts off with the animals of the Pridelands gathering for the birth of Kiara (Neve Campbell), and while this is happening, we hear the song He Lives in You, which I personally feel is the only song in this film that can hold to The Lion King. A few years later, we see Simba (Matthew Broderick) become very overprotective of his daughter, and has Timon (Nathan Lane) and Pumbaa (Ernie Sabella) go after her when she goes for a walk. They bump into Kiara, and then they start to ramble on and on about eating bugs, which causes Kiara to walk away. I know I said in my other review that I am not really  fan of Timon and Pumbaa, and my  opinion most certainly has not changed from this film.

So Kiara ends up in the Outlands, and bumps into another lion her age named Kovu (Jason Marsden), who taunts her for being a daddy’s girl. Soon enough, they end up playing around, and both Simba, Nala (Moira Kelly) and his mother Zira (Suzanne Pleshette) shows up to stop that. We soon learn that Zira is a woman that was on Scar’s side during the battle, and that Simba banished an entire crew of Scar’s followers to the outlands. I honestly think this is a contrived plot point to have a plot for this film, since EVERY lion was unimpressed with Scar, and if there were lions who supported Scar in the final battle, they would have fought WITH the hyenas, and not AGAINST them.

Simba then talks to her about the Circle of Life stuff, and we learn that she does not want to be a queen, but he tells her that it is in her blood. We get another song called We are One, which is self explanatory by the title of the song.

We are taken to the outlands, where we see Kovu’s siblings Vitani (Jennifer Lien) and Nuka (Andy Dick) talk about how he left Kovu to wander by himself. Zira shows up with Kovu, and yells at her other children (who are also Scar’s children) for not watching over Kovu. She then yells at Kovu, who she is coercing to be the one to kill Simba and take over the pridelands. After what happened, she wants him to befriend Kiara to get closer to Simba. So after Zira sings about her golden child Kovu, we age a few years to see a teenage Kovu, prepared, trained, and ready to kill Simba.

So we see a teenage Kiara, who is about to go on her first hunt all on her own, which is a big deal. Simba again tells Timon and Pumbaa to go after her. The outlanders have a plan to trap Kiara in a fire, so Kovu can save her, which Simba will be forced to repay him by being nice to him. Kovu lies and tells them that he is a roue, and he does this, so he can be a part of the tribe. Everything goes closer to plan, and after Kovu tells Kiara that she would not last on her own, she tells him to train her to be a hunter. Simba has a bad dream about Kovu, and sees him as Scar, who throws him overboard to his death, like Scar did to Mufasa in the last film.

While Kovu and Kiara go on their hunt, Timon and Pumbaa soon bump into them, and they confuse Kovu for Scar. Soon enough, they all start having fun as they run from Rhinos, and start to hide in a compressed space, which is to set up the romantic chemistry between the two of them. They are looking at the stars, and Kovu is scared, since he is falling in love with the daughter of the man he is to kill. Rafiki (Robert Guillaume) shows up, and sings “Upendi”, which means love in Swahili I believe, and the two spend more time falling in love with one another.

The next morning, Kovu wants to tell Kiara the truth about Zira’s plan, and his love for her, but Simba wants to speak to Kovu. So they go on a walk, and he tells Kovu about Scar (who never saw that Scar let the power destroy him), but Zira and crew show up.

Zira is proud of her son (who did not set this up), and sends all of her animals to attack an Kill Simba. Simba is freaking out because he is in the area where Mufasa was killed, and does not want a repeat of that with him and Kovu. Nuka tries to kill Simba, but fails as a log falls on him and kills him. Zira slaps Kovu for Nuka’s death, and gives him a similar scar that Scar had. Kovu is sick of being compared to Scar, especially because he is not his father.

Timon and Pumbaa carry Simba back to their land, and he tells his daughter that Kovu is the reason why he is like this. After Kovu gets banished by his mother, he gets banished from the Pridelands as well. Kiara does not want him to go, and refuses to believe that Kovu had any part of this, even after Simba tells her that he used her to get closer to and to kill her father. He tells her that she is not going anywhere without his permission. Because she is a horny girl in love, she gets mad at her father, and tells him that he will never be Mufasa, right before running off. There is no reason for her to not believe this when all of the facts say otherwise.

So it is the night, and she runs off to find Kovu. They both have a little song, and after a moment, he asks her to run away, so they can start their own pride (the way it was said in the movie was so weird), but Kiara tells him that they need to go back, to unite the two prides. Simba goes to Timon and Pumbaa, who are arguing about losing Kiara again. Zira’s pride approaches Simba’s pride for the final climax, and the young couple arrive to see the both of them attack one another. After Kiara and Kovu tells everyone to stop, mostly everyone agrees with them but Zira, who is still on her vengeance trip. Right as she is about to attack Simba (for Scar), Kiara jumps in, and they both fall down a cliff, and when Kiara tries to save Zira from falling down into the river, Zira refuses, and drowns to her death. All of them become one, and they all join the Pride Lands to be happy.

I do not really have anything horrible to say about this film, and it insulted my intelligence the least. I do feel like the Zira/Kovu/Vitani/Nuka connection to Scar could have been written a lot better, and I am still confused as to who the protagonist is, but it is overall a good film.

Characters

If any of you know me, than you know that I have never really been impressed with any of the characters in this franchise, and in this film, it is not really any different. I do not care enough to give Timon and Pumbaa their own section.

SImba is a bit more interesting in this film I guess. He is trying really hard to be his father, but his wife often tells him that he is a hypocrite. I do like what they were trying to do in this film with him.

 

Nala is just the supportive wife, though she is a bit more reasonable and understanding with her daughter and what is going on around them.

 

I understand her, but all she is is the daughter who wants more freedom, wants peace, and wants her father to loosen up. I am confused if she is supposed to be the protagonist or not.

He was groomed by his mother to be the successor of Scar (who is not his father) to kill Simba. He falls in love with Kiara, and everything changes. He never seemed interested in being a leader anyways.

Zira is definitely the one that impressed me the most in this movie, thoughs he is pretty much defined as a scorned lover. If we learned a but more about her relationship with Scar, and how she dealt with the events of the first film, she would have been even better. She is impressive though.

He is the child that wants to be remembered by his mother, and not be tossed aside, since he is the oldest.

The only thing I remember about her is that she is snarky with her brother.

Animation

The animation is actually pretty good, and it almost looks like it was something from the WDAS canon. The designs and backgrounds were consistent from the first movie, and the color was very vibrant. You can tell that the animation was not just thrown together like most of the other films in this canon.

Music

The music is good enough, but something about it is just a bit off to me. It sounds much more broadway than the african themed music of the first film, It does the job good enough I guess. The only memorable song is the introduction song in the beginning of the film.

Reception at Release

When the film was released on October 27th, 1998, it received a lot of negative reviews, and received the same complaint that the other Disney sequels got. Many stated that it is better than the other Disneytoon films though.

Reception Today

It has the same reputation today that it had when it came out, though I found from the online blogs that a lot of people are seeing it as being overrated. It is still known by many to be THE best film in this canon.

Final Score

Story: 7.5/10

Characters: 6.5/10

Animation: 7.5/10

Music: 7/10

28.5/40 = 71%

Next time…

Review: March 9th, 2015

Advertisement