The Lion King II: Simba's Pride

The Lion King II: Simba's Pride is a 1998 American direct-to-video animated movie and the sequel to The Lion King. It is about Simba and Nala's cub, Kiara, who meets a cub named Kovu. The first movie was based on the Shakespeare play Hamlet, this movie is similar to another Shakespeare play, Romeo and Juliet. It was later called The Lion King II: Simba's Pride when it was re-released as a special edition DVD on August 31, 2004. In 1998, Disney believed that Simba's Pride would be so popular that it shipped 15 million copies to stores for the October 27 release date. Disney sold 3.5 million copies in three days. Thirteen million copies were sold while it was still in print in the late 90s. In 2004, another sequel was released, a part prequel-part midquel (called an "in between-quel" by its teaser trailer), The Lion King 1½.

The Lion King II: Simba's Pride
Directed by	Darrell Rooney
Screenplay by	Flip Kobler Cindy Marcus
Produced by	Jeannine Roussel
Starring	Matthew Broderick Neve Campbell Jason Marsden Suzanne Pleshette Nathan Lane Ernie Sabella Moira Kelly Robert Guillaume Andy Dick Jennifer Lien
Edited by	Peter Lonsdale
Music by	Nick Glennie-Smith
Production company	Walt Disney Pictures
Distributed by	Buena Vista Pictures Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Release date	October 27, 1998
Running time	81 minutes
Country	United States
Language	American English

The story

Simba and Nala have a daughter, Kiara. Timon and Pumbaa are made to be her babysitters, but she easily escapes their care and ventures into the forbidden lands. There she meets a lion cub named Kovu and they become friends. What she and her parents do not know is that Kovu is the son of Zira - a banished follower of the now-dead Scar. She plans to raise Kovu to overthrow Simba and become the king of the Pride Lands. This tests not only Kiara and Kovu's relationship as they grow, but Simba's relationship with his daughter.

Cast

• Matthew Broderick as Simba, son of Mufasa and Sarabi, King of the Pride Lands, Nala's mate, and Kiara's father. Cam Clarke provided his singing voice.
• Neve Campbell as Kiara, daughter of Simba and Nala, heir to the Pride Lands, Kovu's love interest and later mate. Liz Callaway provided older Kiara's singing voice.
  • Michelle Horn voiced young Kiara, while Charity Sanoy provided her singing voice and Ashley Edner provided her lion growls.
• Jason Marsden as Kovu, Zira's son, Nuka and Vitani's younger brother, and Kiara's love interest and later mate. Gene Miller provided Kovu's singing voice.
  • Ryan O'Donohue provided the voice of young Kovu.
• Suzanne Pleshette as Zira, the leader of the Outsiders, Scar's most loyal follower and the matriarch of Kovu's family. Kathleen Turner had originally been cast as Zira. Turner talked about the role and even sang a portion of her character's song (stating the film would be her singing debut) during an interview on The Rosie O'Donnell Show on March 10, 1998.
• Moira Kelly as Nala, daughter of Sarafina, Queen of the Pride Lands, Simba's mate, daughter-in-law of Mufasa and Sarabi, and Kiara's mother.
• Nathan Lane as Timon, a wisecracking and self-absorbed yet somewhat loyal meerkat who is Pumbaa and Simba's best friend.
• Ernie Sabella as Pumbaa, a naïve warthog who is Timon's and Simba's best friend.
• Robert Guillaume as Rafiki, an old mandrill who serves as the shaman of the Pride Lands.
• Edward Hibbert as Zazu, a red-billed hornbill who serves as the king's majordomo.
• Andy Dick as Nuka, Zira's son, Vitani and Kovu's older brother and the oldest male of Zira's family.
• Meredith Scott Lynn as Vitani, Zira's daughter and Nuka and Kovu's sister.
  • Lacey Chabert voiced young Vitani while Crysta Macalush provided her singing voice.
• James Earl Jones as Mufasa, Simba's late father, Kiara's grandfather, Nala's father-in-law and the previous King of the Pride Lands.
• Jim Cummings as Scar, Mufasa's younger brother, Simba's uncle, Kiara's great-uncle, and Kovu's mentor who appears in a brief cameo.

Key characters

• Simba - Mufasa and Sarabi's son, Scar's nephew, Nala's husband, Kiara's father and the current King of The Pride Lands.
• Princess Kiara - Simba and Nala's daughter Mufasa and Sarabi's grandaugther, Kovu's wife, heir to the throne and the main character.
• Nala - Simba's wife, Kiara's mother and the current Queen of The Pride Lands.
• Zira - Kovu, Nuka and Vitani's mother, Scar's former mate, the leader of the Outsiders. She wants to avenge the death of Scar against Simba and his pride.
• Kovu - Zira's son, Nuka and Vitani's younger half brother, Scar's stepson. He was chosen by Scar to become king of the Pridelands.
• Vitani - Zira's (and Scar's) daughter and second in command, Nuka's younger sister and Kovu's older half sister. She sides with her mother. At the end, Vitani goes against Zira's wishes when she realizes that she is no different than Simba and his pride. She is only seen twice in the movie.
• Nuka - Zira (and Scar's)son, Vitani's older brother and the older half brother of Kovu who dies in an attempt to murder Simba.
• Rafiki - Mandrill who encourages Kiara and Kovu to fall in love in Upendi.
• Timon and Pumbaa - A comical duo who babysit Kiara and unsuccessfully try to teach her the philosophy of Hakuna Matata.

Soundtrack

An audio CD called Return to Pride Rock: Songs Inspired by Disney's The Lion King II: Simba's Pride was released in 1999. Although not promoted as a soundtrack to the movie, it contained all the songs from the movie and some additional songs inspired by it by Lebo M. The complete track list of the CD:

1. "He Lives in You" - Lebo M
2. "We Are One" - Cam Clarke, Charity Sanoy, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Chorus
3. "Upendi" - Robert Guillaume, Liz Callaway, Gene Miller, Ladysmith Black Mambazo
4. "One of Us" - Chorus
5. "My Lullaby" - Suzanne Pleshette, Crysta Macalush, Andy Dick, Chorus
6. "Love Will Find a Way" - Liz Callaway, Gene Miller, Chorus
7. "We Are One" - Angelique Kidjo
8. "She Believes in You"* - Lebo M
9. "Song for the Children"* - Lebo M
10. "I Want to See the Moon"* - Lebo M featuring Sharon Dee
11. "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"* - Lebo M
12. "Love Will Find a Way (End Title)" - Kenny Lattimore, Heather Headley

(A * indicates songs inspired by the movie)

On August 31, 2004, Disney released an "enhanced soundtrack" to coincide with the movie's 2-Disc Special Edition DVD. However the CD contained everything from the Return to Pride Rock CD except the "inspired songs".

Other websites

• The Lion King II: Simba's Pride at AllMovie
• The Lion King II: Simba's Pride at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• The Lion King II: Simba's Pride on IMDb
• The Lion King II: Simba's Pride at Rotten Tomatoes