The Lion King II
Simba's Pride
Film Information
Directed by
Darrell Rooney Produced by Jeannine Roussel Written by Flip Kobler Cindy Marcus Music by Nick Glennie-Smith Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures Language English | The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (later retitled The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride) is a 1998 American direct-to-video animated film released by Walt Disney Pictures on October 27, 1998. The film is the sequel to the 1994 film The Lion King. It was later re-released as a special edition DVD (which altered the original title's "II" into "2") on August 31, 2004.
The film centers around Simba's daughter, Kiara, who falls in love with Kovu, a male lion who was raised in a pride of Scar's followers, who are Simba's enemies. Desperate to be together, they must overcome the two obstacles that are keeping them apart: Simba and Kovu's mother, Zira. While the original film's plot seems to have been inspired on the Shakespeare play Hamlet, this sequel's plot is similar to another Shakespeare play, Romeo and Juliet. |
Plot
The film opens where the previous film ended where Rafiki (Robert Guillaume) gathers the animals of the Pride Lands together for the presentation of King Simba (Matthew Broderick) and Queen Nala’s (Moira Kelly) new daughter Kiara. Mufasa's spirit (James Earl Jones) watches over the ceremony. Sometime later, Simba becomes very overprotective of the young Kiara (Michelle Horn), assigning Timon and Pumbaa (Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella) to be her babysitters. One day while they are arguing, Kiara sneaks into the "Outlands" where she meets a young cub named Kovu (Ryan O'Donohue). After escaping a river filled with crocodiles, the two become friendly but Simba and Kovu's mother, Zira (Suzanne Pleshette), quickly end their playing. Zira reminds Simba that he exiled the outlanders, and notes that if he wants to punish them, Kovu is Scar's hand-chosen successor. Unwilling to harm the cub, Simba orders them to leave and later scolds Kiara for endangering herself, then sings to her. In the Outlands, Zira's eldest son, Nuka (Andy Dick), complains to his younger sister Vitani (Lacey Chabert) about Kovu's status as "the Chosen One". At that moment, Zira returns and scolds both of her sons, but then decides that she can use Kovu's new friendship with Kiara to get her revenge against Simba.
Now a young adult, Kiara (Neve Campbell) heads out from home to do her first solo hunt, however Simba again sends Timon and Pumbaa with her, after promising not to. Furious to find out her father has lied, Kiara goes further from home to hunt, though is still unsuccessful in her efforts. Nuka and Vitani (Jennifer Lien) set fire to the plains where Kiara is hunting, causing her to faint and giving Kovu (Jason Marsden) the chance to rescue her. Drawn by the smoke, Simba finds them together and reluctantly thanks Kovu for the rescue and allows him to come to Pride Rock, though he must sleep outside. That same night, Simba has a nightmare about his father's death, only in the dream Scar morphs into Kovu and Simba takes his father's place falling off the cliff. He goes outside to a watering hole where Kovu contemplates attacking him, but Kiara interrupts and they go off together so Kovu can help her learn to hunt. During the lesson, they run into Timon and Pumbaa struggling with some birds, so the two lions help them chase the birds off. Together, they have fun playing, something Kovu notes he has never experienced before. That night, Kovu tells Kiara that he is not Scar's real son, but "was a part of him". Simba seeks guidance from the "Great Kings" and Nala advises him to give Kovu a chance, because he is not his father. Kovu decides to leave after trying to confess his real intentions, but Rafiki stops and invites the young lions to experience "Upendi"–love. After a musical journey through the jungle, the two fall in love.
In the morning, Simba invites Kovu for a walk and tells him the true story of Scar, which Kovu had never heard. However, their walk is interrupted by an ambush by Zira and her pride. After a brief fight, Simba manages to escape by scaling a wall of logs in a gorge. In chasing after him, Nuka slips and is killed by falling logs. Zira blames Kovu for Nuka's death, swiping a paw across his face, leaving a scar across his eye that resembles Scar's. Breaking from his mother, Kovu returns to the Pride Lands and begs forgiveness. Believing Kovu was behind the ambush, the wounded Simba exiles him and orders Kiara never to leave Pride Rock. Kiara is angered because Simba claims he's doing what his father would have wanted and she tells him off, saying he is not and will never be Mufasa. Later that night, Kiara escapes and reunites with Kovu far from home.
Meanwhile, Zira leads her pride in a war against the Pride Lands, and a fierce fight breaks out. As Zira and Simba face off, Kovu and Kiara leap between them and Kiara tells Simba that the fighting has to stop. She then tells him that the Outsiders are part of the pride. Zira ignores her, but Vitani agrees with Kiara. Zira tells her daughter that she will die too if she will not fight, which turns the other Outlanders against her and they go to Simba's side. Now alone, Zira leaps for Simba, but Kiara pushes her away and they fall over a cliff. Kiara lands on a rock, but Zira is sliding towards a storm-swollen river. Kiara offers to help, but Zira, like Scar, is unable to let go of her hate and falls to her death. Simba helps his daughter back up the cliff and allows the Outlanders, including Kovu, to return to the Pride Lands, and Kovu is allowed to stand with Kiara at the top of Pride Rock. Mufasa's spirit proudly watches over from among the stars and praises his son for his decision.
Now a young adult, Kiara (Neve Campbell) heads out from home to do her first solo hunt, however Simba again sends Timon and Pumbaa with her, after promising not to. Furious to find out her father has lied, Kiara goes further from home to hunt, though is still unsuccessful in her efforts. Nuka and Vitani (Jennifer Lien) set fire to the plains where Kiara is hunting, causing her to faint and giving Kovu (Jason Marsden) the chance to rescue her. Drawn by the smoke, Simba finds them together and reluctantly thanks Kovu for the rescue and allows him to come to Pride Rock, though he must sleep outside. That same night, Simba has a nightmare about his father's death, only in the dream Scar morphs into Kovu and Simba takes his father's place falling off the cliff. He goes outside to a watering hole where Kovu contemplates attacking him, but Kiara interrupts and they go off together so Kovu can help her learn to hunt. During the lesson, they run into Timon and Pumbaa struggling with some birds, so the two lions help them chase the birds off. Together, they have fun playing, something Kovu notes he has never experienced before. That night, Kovu tells Kiara that he is not Scar's real son, but "was a part of him". Simba seeks guidance from the "Great Kings" and Nala advises him to give Kovu a chance, because he is not his father. Kovu decides to leave after trying to confess his real intentions, but Rafiki stops and invites the young lions to experience "Upendi"–love. After a musical journey through the jungle, the two fall in love.
In the morning, Simba invites Kovu for a walk and tells him the true story of Scar, which Kovu had never heard. However, their walk is interrupted by an ambush by Zira and her pride. After a brief fight, Simba manages to escape by scaling a wall of logs in a gorge. In chasing after him, Nuka slips and is killed by falling logs. Zira blames Kovu for Nuka's death, swiping a paw across his face, leaving a scar across his eye that resembles Scar's. Breaking from his mother, Kovu returns to the Pride Lands and begs forgiveness. Believing Kovu was behind the ambush, the wounded Simba exiles him and orders Kiara never to leave Pride Rock. Kiara is angered because Simba claims he's doing what his father would have wanted and she tells him off, saying he is not and will never be Mufasa. Later that night, Kiara escapes and reunites with Kovu far from home.
Meanwhile, Zira leads her pride in a war against the Pride Lands, and a fierce fight breaks out. As Zira and Simba face off, Kovu and Kiara leap between them and Kiara tells Simba that the fighting has to stop. She then tells him that the Outsiders are part of the pride. Zira ignores her, but Vitani agrees with Kiara. Zira tells her daughter that she will die too if she will not fight, which turns the other Outlanders against her and they go to Simba's side. Now alone, Zira leaps for Simba, but Kiara pushes her away and they fall over a cliff. Kiara lands on a rock, but Zira is sliding towards a storm-swollen river. Kiara offers to help, but Zira, like Scar, is unable to let go of her hate and falls to her death. Simba helps his daughter back up the cliff and allows the Outlanders, including Kovu, to return to the Pride Lands, and Kovu is allowed to stand with Kiara at the top of Pride Rock. Mufasa's spirit proudly watches over from among the stars and praises his son for his decision.
Release
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. The film was first released on VHS in the United States on October 27, 1998 and on June 8, 1999 on Laserdisc. It was first released on DVD as a limited issue on November 23, 1999, and placed into moratorium on January 19, 2000. It was not released again on DVD until August 31, 2004, when it was a two-disc special edition. It went into moratorium in January 2005.