My Movie Review on The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride

Greetings, Kemosabes.

This is your friendly film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.

Today, for my 110th film analysis and first installment of my "February Festivity", I'm gonna give you guys my take of "The Lion King II: Simba's Pride".

Here's the summary of this tale:

Kovu and Kiara are two lions who live in separate prides. Kiara is the adventurous daughter of Simba and Nala and royal heir to the Pridelands, and Kovu is the hand-chosen heir of the late Scar, son of the equally malicious Zira, and future leader of the Outlanders.

With the two prides at war, Kovu and Kiara are forbidden from seeing each other. That is, until Zira comes up with a plan to take back the Pridelands by having Kovu infiltrate the Pridelanders.

As time passes, though, something special begins to develop between Kovu and Kiara. Something that can very well hold the future of their prides in their paws.

And so one question comes to mind for them:

Are their prides really better off split apart? Or perhaps...the opposite of that?

Will Kiara and Kovu's newfound love for one another truly prevail?

I'd like to start by saying this:

Out of all of the direct-to-video sequels Disney released during the Michael Eisner-era, this one is by far the best I've ever seen.

The only thing I can't help but feel critical towards is the difference in coloring on some of the characters compared to their appearance in the first film, such as with Nala and Pumbaa. I didn't think it was that big of a problem, though. As a matter of fact, Nala's fur and eye color in this movie was particularly beautiful.

The overall animation was extremely awesome for a direct-to-video feature.

It certainly may not have reached the high-quality beauty of the first film, but it's gorgeous and marvelously accomplished all on its own. Out of all of the animated elements, the fire was perhaps what I found to be the film's crown jewel.

The direction by Darrell Rooney and Rob LaDuca, and the story by Flip Kobler and Cindy Marcus, were brilliant.

The significant thing about this movie was that, unlike so many other ventures in Disney's direct-to-video unit, the filmmakers clearly put tons of passion, thought, and creativity into making it. They created a film that deeply honored the legacy of the first movie while helping it stand apart and be its own thing. Plus, there was powerful emotion and drama, fun humor and wit, and the filmmakers did a great job at making it romantic. Along with that, the film even had magnificent morals that helped it be full of meaning.

The music by Nick Glennie-Smith, and the songs by Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin, Lebo M., Tom Snow, Marty Panzer, Jack Feldman, Thomas Sanzer, Joss Whedon, Scott Warrender, Kevin Quinn, and Randy Petersen, were magnificent.

They weren't the same team from the movie's mighty predecessor, but the songs made by the lyricists were fun and memorable in the best way, and Smith was able to amazingly capture the same kind of spirit originated by Hans Zimmer in the first movie while making the music his own.

Finally, the voice acting, casting, characters, and character development were nicely-done as well. The characters and performances were even accompanied by handsomely creative dialogue.

Neve Campbell, Jason Marsden, and Suzanne Pleshette were literally born for the roles of Kiara, Kovu, and Zira. I love how the three of them threw themselves into their characters and made them as distinguished and fresh as possible, and their characters had incredible development that helped them be all-the-more alive. And, while I'm not much of a fan of Andy Dick, I thought he portrayed the character of Nuka perfectly.

The original cast, might I add, gave their characters astounding performances. Matthew Broderick did a remarkable job at emotionally throwing himself into the character of Simba for this movie, and Moira Kelly made wonderful use of her material for Nala despite her character not being the most recurring. And as always, Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella marvelously stole the show as Timon and Pumbaa, and the two characters themselves didn't stop putting a smile on my face or earning genuine laughter yours truly.

In conclusion, "The Lion King II: Simba's Pride" is a surprising sequel that beautifully succeeds the original. The overall concept is also one that I can't help but favorably compare to Disney's "Pocahontas", which I apologize for not reviewing yet, by the way.

So, I rate "The Lion King II: Simba's Pride" five out of five stars.

Comments

[Jade Dawn]

Call me a heretic, but I think I actually like this movie better than the first Lion King movie. (le )

Seriously, this is one of my favorites. The story is great. "My Lullaby" and "Not One of Us" are some of the best songs Disney's churned out. Kovu and Kiara are an adorable couple. Zira is one of my most favorite underrated Disney villains, and Vitani's become quite the Ensemble Dark Horse in the fandom.

My only complaints are that the animation quality isn't as good as the first one, and whenever it isn't a musical number, the soundtrack is rather subpar in my opinion.

But other than that, me likey. :)

P.S. Okay, this feels really weird to admit, but...I kid you not, there are times where I look up at the sky and say "God, why couldn't I have been born with a body as good-looking as Kovu?" And that sounded even worse in this comment than it did in my head. And it was already weird then.

[MarioBrony]

I agree a great part of the lion king trilogy!

[Vigriff]

This was an awesome movie.

[HolyCross9]

I really enjoyed the ending of the film when Simba finally accepted Kovu as an in law.

[Jade Dawn]

BEHOLD: Every single TLK2-related meme I have made with MemeGenerator thus far.

i.ibb.co/yffp4yF/3ni3mm.jpg
i.ibb.co/ygv1Fv7/3nq674.jpg
i.ibb.co/kSGmmTq/3nq5c0.jpg
i.ibb.co/jgX4Dh5/3nq5ru.jpg
i.ibb.co/SmckdjV/3lg8ld.jpg
i.ibb.co/bB4Nm6L/3ii1h2.jpg

[A Man Undercover]

5196071
👍🏻Nice.

Were the fourth and fifth memes made to be in reference to something?

[Jade Dawn]

5196089
Nothing in particular.

[MLPFollower]

I agree. This film was epic and just like the previous movie. My only complaint was that the Lion Guard show would’ve taken place after this movie.

[Jade Dawn]

Man, why weren't these scenes in the movie??

[A Man Undercover]

5226183
I read that the part where Zira commits suicide was changed to her just being unable to hold on because the team considered it too intense and adult for the film. As for the part with Nuka, I think his last words were just cut off for time. The same with the others, might I add.

But man, even though the first scene likely wouldn’t be able to fit in, I wish it could’ve stayed. It gave so much explanation regarding Zira’s role, and I always suspected she was Scar’s mate from the start.

[Jade Dawn]

5226188

I read that the part where Zira commits suicide was changed to her just being unable to hold on because the team considered it too intense and adult for the film.

I read that too, but I think it's a little ridiculous considering that TLK had Scar get mauled to death by hyenas.

[A Man Undercover]

5226189
Technically the outcome, while clear, was also covered by the fire.