The Lion King II: Simba's Pride

The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride is a 1998 American animated drama romance musical film directed by Darrel Rooney and Rob LaDuca and produced by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the sequel to Disney's 1994 animated feature film, The Lion King and the second installment of The Lion King franchise. It focuses on Simba's daughter, Kiara, falling in love with Kovu, the son of Simba's old enemy and Scar's girlfriend Zira. 
Matthew Broderick, Moira Kelly, Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella and Robert Guillaume reprise their roles from the first film with Rowan Atkinson and Jeremy Irons being replaced by Edward Hibbert and Jim Cummings. 
Despite getting negative reviews from film critics, this film was well welcomed from the fans that called it a decent sequel to the original movie. 
==Plot==
Taking a few months after the events of the first film, Simba and Nala, the new King and Queen of the Pride Lands, have become the proud parents of a daughter named Kiara, who is presented to the other Pride Land animals and Mufasa's spirit by the mandrill shaman Rafiki.
Months later, Kiara (now a young cub) leaves Pride Rock to explore the Pride Lands. Before she leaves, an overprotective Simba tells Kiara to stay away from the Outlands, which is home to the Outsiders (a group of former Pridelander lions, who were banished from the pride by Simba for remaining loyal to his uncle Scar), and warns her to never turn her back on an Outsider. Despite Nala assuring him that Kiara will be fine on her on, Simba sends his friends and childhood guardians Timon and Pumbaa to keep an eye on her. However, Kiara is able to sneak away from the duo as they argue about bugs. Kiara ends up at the border of the Pride Lands and the Outlands and meets an Outsider cub named Kovu, who at first teases her for following her father's rules, before escaping with her from crocodiles. Kiara tries to encourage Kovu to play tag with her, but before anything else can happen, Simba appears with Nala, Timon, Pumbaa and two lionesses to Kiara's defence, just as Kovu's mother and the Outsiders leader Zira emerges from the grass to her son's defence. Zira reveals that Kovu was hand chosen by Scar to be the next King of the Pride Lands, before Simba returned and banished those who were loyal to Scar to the Outlands.
After Simba sends Zira and Kovu away, Nala and the others return to Pride Rock, whilst Simba scolds Kiara for putting herself in danger before saying that they are part of each other. Meanwhile in the Outlands, Kovu's teenage brother Nuka complains to his sister Vitani, about how Kovu got to be Scar's heir instead of him. Just then, Zira returns with Kovu and scolds Nuka for not keeping an eye on his brother. Zira then scolds Kovu for trying to befriend Kiara, but gets an idea that if Kovu befriended Kiara, he could gain Simba's trust and be able to kill him and become King, thus avenging Scar's death. After putting Kovu to bed, Zira plans to train him to overthrow and kill Simba. One night, Rafiki is contacted by Mufasa, who wants Kiara and Kovu to be together in order to end the feud between the Pridelanders and Outsiders.
Years later, a now adolescent Kovu is finally ready to kill Simba and avenge Scar. Meanwhile back in the Pride Lands, Kiara prepares for her first hunt and is given encouragement by Nala and the other lionesses. Kiara tells Simba to promise to let her hunt on her own, to which he agrees. However as soon as Kiara leaves, Simba sends Timon and Pumbaa after her. Nuka and Vitani go to the Elephant Graveyard and collect fire, which they use to set fire to the area Kiara is hunting, after she runs away from Timon and Pumbaa after finding out that Simba broke his promise. Zira watches the fire from afar, before sending Kovu into it to save Kiara. He finds Kiara unconscious after climbing up a rock to safety and places her on his back and carries her to safety. After regaining consciousness, Kiara is at first annoyed that her hunt was disturbed, but changes her mind when she discovers that her saviour is Kovu. Just then, Simba and Nala (who had seen the fire from Pride Rock) arrive, with Simba, forbidding Kiara from anymore hunts, in fear of losing her. Upon learning that the lion who saved Kiara was Kovu, Simba is at first angered, but Nala and Zazu remind him of Mufasa's law that debts must be paid, resulting in Simba reserving judgement.
After returning to Pride Rock, a suspicious Simba has Kovu sleep outside away from the pride whilst Kiara thanks him for saving her and makes an agreement with him to learn to hunt, unaware that Zira and Nuka are spying on them, with Nuka believing that Kovu isn't sticking to the plan, but Zira thinks otherwise. That night, Simba has a nightmare about trying to save Mufasa from falling into the stampede, only to be stopped by Scar, who turns into Kovu and throws Simba into the stampede after Mufasa. The next morning, Kovu prepares to attack Simba whilst he is drinking from a waterhole, but Kiara arrives for her hunting lessons. During the lesson, the two run into Timon and Pumbaa who are trying and failing to chase birds away from the bugs they are trying to eat. Kiara and Kovu are able to get rid of the birds by roaring at them and chase them, only for them to be chased by a herd of rhinoceros. That night, Kiara and Kovu stargaze and talk about the Great Kings of the Past, with Kovu wondering if Scar is one of them. Kiara tells Kovu that Simba had told her that there was a darkness in Scar that he couldn't escape, making Kovu wonder if there's a darkness in him too. Watching the two from afar, Simba asks for guidance from Mufasa about Kovu and is told Nala to give him a chance. Kovu, having begun to develop feelings for Kiara, tries to tell her about Zira's plan, but can't. Rafiki arrives and takes the two young lions to a place called Upendi (which means love) and the two begin to fall in love. After returning to Pride Rock, Simba (having took Nala's advice) allows Kovu to sleep inside with the pride. Vitani spies on the two and is angered when Kovu doesn't attack Simba and reports this to Zira.
The next day, Simba takes Kovu out for a talk about the true story of Scar. Just then, Zira and the Outsiders appear and ambush the two, with Zira "congratulating" Kovu for going with the plan of getting Simba alone, causing Simba to lose trust in Kovu, despite the young lion's pleas that he had nothing to do with it. The Outsiders attack Simba, with Vitani knocking Kovu unconscious when he tries to interfere. After falling into a gorge, Simba begins to scale a pile of logs. When Kovu refuses Zira's orders to attack Simba, Nuka (wanting to prove himself to his mother) climbs up the logs after Simba, but loses his footing and falls and is crushed to death by the falling logs. A badly hurt Simba is able to escape and is carried back to Pride Rock by Timon and Pumbaa. Back in the gorge, a devastated Zira scars Kovu across the eye and blames him for Nuka's death. After Kovu renounces his destiny as Scar's heir and flees to the Pride Lands, Zira tells Vitani and the other Outsiders that Simba has corrupted Kovu and they will take the Pride Lands by force.
Kovu returns to the Pride Lands, but is banished by Simba who still believes that he was in on the ambush. Simba forbids Kiara to ever leave Pride Rock without an escort and says that Kovu is following in Scar's pawprints and that he himself must follow his father's, only for Kiara to say that he will never be Mufasa, before she runs away from Pride Rock to look for Kovu. After finding him, Kiara convinces Kovu to return with her to try and reunite their prides. Meanwhile the Outsiders travel into the Pride Lands to battle the Pridelanders, just as Simba learns from Timon and Pumbaa that Kiara had ran away. The two prides begin their battle, with the Outsiders gaining the upper hand. Just before Simba and Zira can fight, Kiara and Kovu arrive and convince the prides to stop fighting and that they are one. Only Zira refuses to surrender and tries to attack Simba, only to be block by Kiara, causing the two lionesses to fall down the gorge, just as the log dam gives way. Kiara tries to help Zira back up the cliff, but the older lioness refuses to be saved by her sworn enemy's daughter and loses grip and falls into the river below and drowns.
Simba helps Kiara back up the cliff and welcomes Kovu and the Outsiders back into the Pridelanders. Back at Pride Rock, Simba, Nala, Timon, Pumbaa, Zazu and the reunited pride look on as Rafiki blesses the union of Kiara and Kovu. The now married Kiara and Kovu join Simba and Nala in roaring at the peak of Pride Rock before the animals of the Pride Lands as Mufasa congratulates Simba and says that they are one.
==International Versions==
=== Danish ===
* Simba: Peter Jorde
* Unge Kiara: Amalie Dollerup
* Voksen Kiara: Mille H. Lehfeldt
* Unge Kovu: Jasper Spanning
* Voksen Kovu: Johnny Jørgensen
* Zira: Edith Guillaume
* Nuka: Søren Ulrichs
* Nala: Pernille Højgaard
* Timon: Henrik Koefoed
* Pumba: Lars Thiesgaard
* Rafiki: Peter Belli
* Unge Vitani: Annevig Schelde Ebbe
* Voksen Vitani: Anne-Grethe Bjarup Riis
* Mufasa: Aage Haugland
* Zazu: Peter Zhelder
* Scar: Stig Hoffmeyer
==== Additional Voices ====
* Donald Andersen
* Jette Sievertsen
* Annette Heick
* Peter Holst-Bech
* Vibeke Hastrup
* Mads Lumholt
==Cast==
*Matthew Broderick as Simba
*Neve Campbell as Adult Kiara
*Jason Marsden as Adult Kovu
*Suzanne Pleshette as Zira
*Moira Kelly as Nala
*Nathan Lane as Timon
*Ernie Sabella as Pumbaa
*Robert Guillaume as Rafiki
*Andy Dick as Nuka
*James Earl Jones as Mufasa
===Additional Voices===
*Lacey Chabert - Young Vitani
*Cam Clarke - Simba (ADR)
*Jim Cummings - Scar
*Edward Hibbert - Zazu
*Michelle Horn - Young Kiara
*Meredith Scott Lynn - Adult Vitani
*Ryan O'Donohue - Young Kovu
===Uncredited===
*Zoe Leader
*Frank Welker - Crocodiles, Zira's Minions, Rhinos, Birds
Category:Disney films
Category:Films featuring anthropomorphic characters
Category:The Lion King
Category:Sequels
Category:Direct-to-video sequel films
Category:1998 direct-to-video films
Category:1998 animated films
Category:Disney direct-to-video films
Category:Films without Humans
Category:Animated films about revenge
Category:DisneyToon Studios animated films
Category:Films starring Matthew Broderick
Category:Films starring James Earl Jones
Category:Films starring Jim Cummings
Category:Films starring Nathan Lane
Category:Films starring Ernie Sabella
Category:Rated G
Category:Films starring Edward Hibbert
Category:Disney Renaissance