Like me, I’m sure many people were very excited for the long-awaited sequel to Disney’s Classic, ‘The Lion King.’ The circle of life continues…Simba is now the new Lion King and is a proud father to Kiara, his daughter. Like Simba once was at her age, Kiara is a very mischievous and adventurous cub who just can’t help getting into all kinds of trouble. One day, while exploring the Pridelands Simba asks Timon & Pumbaa to keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn’t get hurt. She manages to escape them both while they’re quarrelling over their lunch and runs off to the Outlands which are strictly off limits to all Pridelanders. Once there, she befriends another young lion cub named Kovu who was chosen to follow in the pawprints of Scar and one day take over as King. The problem is, Kiara and Kovu are not allowed to be friends because their families are at war against each other. As time goes by, Kovu & Kiara begin to slowly fall in love. Will their love be strong enough to end the feud between their warring families? You’ll have to watch the movie to find out…
‘The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride’ is a beautifully drawn, painted and animated movie. I don’t think anyone could have made the sequel to such a wonderful Disney Classic any better than this. You may also be interested to know that grown up Kiara’s voice is done by Neve Campbell from the ‘Scream’ movies and she’s a wonderful voice actress for Simba’s daughter.
However, my only disappointments about this DVD are that there are no special features to offer you. You get language and chapter selections as well as seeing a few other Disney titles available to buy. But apart from this, that’s all there is.
In addition, the story itself somehow lacks the spirit and feeling to the original ‘Lion King’ movie. The soundtrack to ‘Simba’s Pride’ has been completely changed with no resemblance to the first movie whatsoever. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a terrific soundtrack and the new songs are ssoooo cool! It just would have felt a lot more like ‘The Lion King’ if they’d kept the original background music in the sequel. In other words, it would really have felt like the second movie was continuing from where the original left off rather than a completely different story all together.
Also, Zazu’s voice has been changed and is no longer done by Rowan Atkinson. However, the replacement is very close to the original voice so I’m not too disappointed there. Except for Zazu, all the original voice actors from ‘The Lion King’ have returned for the second movie.
Despite the disadvantages to the sequel, it’s still a very good story and you really should try and watch it sometime. Don’t take my word for it, watch it and judge how good you think it is for yourself…
