Movies - The Lion King II: Simba's Pride

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	Movies - The Lion King II: Simba's Pride

The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (later retitled The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride) is a direct-to-video movie released by the Walt Disney Company on October 27, 1998 as a sequel to The Lion King
and was re-released as a special-edition DVD (which altered the original title's "II" into "2") on August 31, 2004. As of August 2004, it is the highest grossing direct-to-video animated feature release of all time, with tallies of US$286 million to that point. While the original film's plot was based on the Shakespearean play Hamlet, this sequel's plot is similar to another Shakespearean play, Romeo and Juliet.

Plot

In this movie, King Simba and Queen Nala have a daughter named Kiara. She falls in love with Kovu who happens to be raised in the Outlanders, a group of lionesses who were former followers of Scar, and the lion chosen to be the heir of the deceased villain (although he is not his son). Zira, Kovu's adopted mother and Scar's widow, is desperate to avenge Scar's death, and so she trains Kovu to be a killer. Zira then hatches an elaborate plan involving setting the Pride Lands ablaze while Kiara is out on her first hunt. Kovu saves Kiara from the ensuing fire and asks to join the Pridelanders, stating that he is a rogue. Simba allows him to join the pride as Mufasa's law means that he is in debt to Kovu. Meanwhile, Rafiki recieves a sign from Mufasa's spirit that could help prevent war between the two prides by bringing Kovu and Kiara together. Rafiki's matchmaking plans take effect and Kovu and Kiara start to fall for each other. It is Kovu's love for Kiara that suppresses his killer instincts and keeps him from assasinating Simba as he was sent to the Pridelands to do.

However, after the fire when Simba begins to trust Kovu, they are surrounded by Zira and the Outlanders. In the following chase, Nuka, Kovu's older brother, attempts to impress his mother by killing Simba, but Nuka is crushed underneath some logs and dies trying. Kovu returns to the Pride Lands after Zira blames him for Nuka's death. Simba believes that Kovu was part of Zira's plot and banishes him, which upsets Kiara. Kiara flees from the Pride Lands and is reunited with Kovu; together they decide to go back together to stop the warring prides.

The tensions between the Outlanders and Simba's pride escalate into a fierce battle which is interrupted by Kovu and Kiara. Simba sees that fighting is not the way and the Outlanders abandon Zira and her plans. Zira becomes gripped by a burning rage and leaps at Simba. Kiara knocks Zira out of the way and both Zira and Kiara tumble off the cliff into the gorge. While Kiara lands safely on the ledge, Zira is left dangling by her claws. Kiara tries to help Zira but Zira swats at Kiara and refuses aid. Zira's grip eventually loosens and the lioness falls from the ledge into the rushing river below, where she drowns. The Outlanders now freed of Zira's rule are welcomed back into Simba's pride and they become one again. In the final scene of the movie Kiara, Kovu, Simba and Nala roar out to the kingdom to commemorate the reunion of the two prides. The

More About the Film

Based on the behavior of actual lion infanticide when prides are taken over, some more science-minded viewers presumed Nala had been one of Scar's cubs in the first movie. Although the movie makes no reference to this "real life" situation, some fans thought Kovu had originally been designed to be Scar's son, but that the idea was dismissed to avoid a possible suggestion of incestual dilemma, as it would mean that Kiara would be falling in love with her father's cousin. A line was given to Nuka to make this clear; his delivery, however, suggests that he might in fact be Scar's son by Zira, and was simply dismissed for leadership due to his ineptitude.

In the original version of the film, Zira did not just fall to her death, but let go of the ledge deliberately. Whilst Kiara offered Zira her paw, Zira growled "Never." and let go of the rock. This was edited, as suicide was considered too dark for a Disney movie.

The movie was criticized for a lack of originality, of following the same theme of a lion trying to take over a kingdom, and of having a boring and highly predictable plot. There were also a few glaring mistakes with the characters, such as the fact that Queen Nala's eye color was changed (in the first movie, her eyes were a soft pale green; in the sequel, they became bright blue). The movie was also criticized for the fact that the songs were of a lower quality than the award-winning songs from The Lion King. The only character alive in The Lion King is Tanabi

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