Greetings, Kemosabes.

This is your friendly group contributor here with another thread.

Today, 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".

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

I haven't seen this one.

7293689
Love this one. I think I actually like it better than the first one.

This movie was very fun to watch. I use this as a measuring stick for other Disney sequels.

7293753
Out of curiosity...what is it about this movie that you believe make it better than the first? Any why?