...a rather tame pant next to the roar of its illustrious progenitor.
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"The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride" is the 1998, direct-to-video sequel to Disney's enormously successful "Lion King" of 1994. It was followed more recently by the stage musical of "The Lion King" and yet another direct-to-video, "The Lion King 1 1/2," so Disney is capitalizing on this lion-sized moneymaker for everything it's worth.
Besides which, the release under review is the second instance of "LK 2" to appear on DVD, this time in a two-disc, special-edition set, presumably meant to complement the two-disc editions of the "LK" and "LK 1 1/2." They're supposed to make a nice trilogy. To assuage the minds of those folks who haven't seen "The Lion King 2," I can assure you it's neither as good as the original "Lion King" nor as bad as "The Lion King 1 1/2."
At least "The Lion King 2" makes a genuine attempt to follow up on the story begun with its predecessor and not make a completely juvenile, song-and-dance circus of the "Lion King" name as "LK 1 1/2" did. Unfortunately, that's not saying a lot, because "The Lion King 2" is a rather tame pant next to the roar of its illustrious progenitor.
If you recall, when we left the story Simba's father had died, as had Simba's rival, Scar, and Simba was the new head of the pride, or group of lions. As we take up our tale, we learn that Simba (again voiced by Matthew Broderick) and Nala (Moira Kelly) now have a daughter, Kiara (voiced as a child by Michelle Horn and as an adult by Neve Campbell), who is exploring her new world and questioning her parents' authority. Meanwhile, Scar's old mate, Zira (Suzanne Pleshette), and her brood, an evil lot, have been exiled to the outer lands. But Zira is plotting a triumphal return to take over the Pride Lands from Simba. She is grooming Scar's adopted son, Kovu (voiced as a youngster by Ryan O'Donahue and as an adult by Jason Marsden), to kill Simba and become the new leader of the lion community.
So, we've got rival families who have been taught to hate each other, with a young son and a young daughter in each family. How long do you think it is before Kiara and Kovu meet? And what do you think happens when they do meet? Or haven't you read "Romeo and Juliet"?
The usual cast of characters from the first movie turn up to lend their distinctive personalities to the proceedings, and as expected they steal the show. Timon the meerkat (Nathan Lane) is back, as is his best friend, Pumbaa the warthog (Ernie Sabella), to handle the comic relief. At least they're not the whole show as they would become in "LK 1 1/2." Zazu, the snooty bird (Edward Hibbert and Paul van Gorcum replacing Rowan Atkinson), returns; Rafiki, the wise and prophetic monkey (Robert Guillaume), continues to try and counsel the clan; and in flashback Mufasa, Simba's father (James Earl Jones), is heard. New to the story is Nuka, Zira's obsequious son (Andy Dick), and several others.
The trouble with all this is that lions aren't inherently very interesting creatures. I mean, they all look and act pretty much alike, so it's a challenge for Disney to give a few of them clear-cut identities. In the case of Simba and Kovu, they are made physically different by their having different color manes. But I had a hard time telling the lion cubs apart and even distinguishing among the adult female lions. The Disney artists and writers attempt to personify each character, making the cubs act like typical human children, for instance, but in most cases I found the cubs cloyingly cutesy and oversweet.
The story line and characters are predictable, and the ending is so hopelessly exaggerated and sentimentally mawkish that only very young children may appreciate it. Which leaves the music and the animation for adult enjoyment. Unfortunately, the music is almost entirely forgettable. The opening song, "He Lives in You," is downright boring. The next number, "We Are One," is bland. The third song, "My Lullaby," at least has the distinction of being ironic and mean-spirited, which is a nice change of pace. The fourth tune, the upbeat, Jamaican-inflected "Upendi," sung by Rafiki as he takes the youngsters on a lively song trip, is the only segment of the movie with any real spirit. It's as if the whole film were fashioned around it. The fifth song, "One of Us," is a downer; and the final song, "Love Will Find a Way," comes as no surprise.
The animation is good, of course; this is, after all, a Disney cartoon. Background landscapes have that gentle, pastel watercolor effect that renders them so beautifully lifelike; but background animals seem perfectly static, unchanging, as though painted on a board, and close-ups of the main characters are exceptionally simple, showing very little nuance or detail and few facial features.
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[release]12111[/release]