The Lion Guard

**The Lion Guard** is an American television series created by Ford Riley. It is based on the 1994 film The Lion King.

It focuses on Kion, the son of Simba, who leads his friends known as the Lion Guard to protect the Pride Lands.

The series premiered on Disney Channel on January 15, 2016 and aired for three seasons on Disney Junior until November 3, 2019.

## Plot

The series centres on Kion, Simba and Nala's son and Kiara's younger brother who, as second-born to the throne, has been gifted with a power called the Roar of the Elders and becomes the leader of the Lion Guard, a team who protects the Pride Lands and defends the Circle of Life. Despite the tradition that the Lion Guard has always been made of lions, Kion appoints his friends Bunga the honey badger, Beshte the hippopotamus, Fuli the cheetah, and Ono the egret, and together, they set out to keep their homeland safe and protect it from animals who do not respect the Circle of Life.

Starting in season two, the Lion Guard's mission becomes harder when Scar returns as a fiery spirit and plans to destroy the Pride Lands, while forming an army consisted of animals from the Outlands. This eventually leads to an all-out battle between the Pridelanders and the Outlanders.

At the beginning of season three, the Lion Guard have become teenagers and defeat Scar, and then must leave the Pride Lands traveling out of Africa to get to the Tree of Life in Asia to cure Kion and Ono’s battle injuries. Kion's team also gets a new member, a martial eagle named Anga who replaces Ono's position as the keenest of sight after Ono temporarily loses his eyesight, while he gains a new position as the smartest.

Once reaching the Tree of Life, the Lion Guard assists in defending the haven from intruders together with the Night Pride, the group and family who protects the Tree of Life. After Kion and Ono are healed and their enemies are defeated, hyenas Jasiri and Janja come looking for them and alert them that Zira and her pride are back. The Lion Guard returns to the Pride Lands, only to find out that the conflict has already been settled. Zira's daughter, Vitani, has formed her own Lion Guard in their absence, causing an argument between them and Kion's Lion Guard. However, after seeing Vitani's confidence in becoming a leader even without the Roar, Kion allows Vitani's Lion Guard to succeed his Guard as defenders of the Pride Lands. Kion and his friends return to the Tree of Life where Kion marries the Night Pride’s leader, Queen Rani, and is crowned King of the Tree of Life with his family and friends attending.

## Episodes

See Also: List of The Lion Guard Episodes

 2 | 29
 3 | 19

## Production

The series was announced by Disney on June 9, 2014 on the run-up to the first film's 20th anniversary. Disney Junior general manager Nancy Kanter stated: "It's kind of like The Lion King meets The Avengers." The series' announcement came after a meeting between Kanter and Disney chief executive Robert Iger. Iger suggested to Kanter that Disney Junior should consider producing content to celebrate the 20th anniversary of The Lion King in 2014. Disney had shown early footage to young test audiences, who were able to make suggestions, such as adjusting the look of the hyenas. Disney Consumer Products launched a line of toys to tie into the television series, as well at book titles based on the series such as Return of the Roar, Can't-Wait to be Queen, Bunga the Wise, Meet the New Guard, Fuli Finds Her Place, Join the Lion Guard! and Kion's Animal Alphabet. A sneak peek of The Lion Guard was shown at the 2015 D23 Expo. On August 12, 2015, a sneak peek was shown, with new information that the television movie was scheduled to air in November 2015 to be titled The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar. On October 9, 2015, it was announced that Return of the Roar would premiere on November 22, 2015, on Disney Channel.

On coming up with the idea, the series' creator and executive producer Ford Riley noted that at the end of The Lion King the presentation of Simba and Nala's new-born cub is seen. In The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, it is revealed that the cub in question is Kiara and that she will be the future queen. Riley was interested in the idea of a second-born cub and what his role would be if Kiara is destined to become queen. Additionally, he was inspired by his 8-year-old son, who would visit the park with friends and pretend to be a superhero team.

Riley confirmed the timeline of the series; in Simba's Pride there is a years-long time gap, The Lion Guard takes place during the years in-between Kiara's first meeting with Kovu as a cub and her first hunt as an adult. Riley also noted the inclusion of Swahili into the series, which is used for names of characters, locations, songs and catchphrases.

Classic mythology is used as inspiration for the show. Riley stated "We want it to feel epic and so we're trying to draw from as many epics in classical literature and classical television in addition to (The Lion King) itself." Riley noted that protecting the Circle of Life is the main theme of the series; "The animals who respect it don't eat too much, allow for the grass to grow, and larger animals to eat smaller animals. Our bad guys come from those that don't respect the Circle of Life. They just want to eat and wreak havoc."

In terms of giving The Lion Guard the same look as the original film, director Howy Parkins stated that they were mindful to keep the essence of The Lion King. To that end, the crew did extensive research on the look of the backgrounds and characters and were able to obtain some original model sheets. In addition, Barry Atkinson and Mike Surrey, background painter and supervising animator for Timon on the original film respectively, were brought in to consult with the series' background artists, animators and storyboard artists.

Speaking on the show's educational aspect, Parkins stated that research was done on animals and habitats in the Serengeti, and that this information is woven into storylines without being overt.

## Release

Like its American counterpart, Return of the Roar premiered on November 22, 2015 on Disney Channel in Canada, while the series premiered on January 17, 2016 on Disney Junior, two days after its American premiere. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, Return of the Roar premiered on Disney Junior on February 8, 2016, while the series premiered on April 13, 2016. In Australia and New Zealand, the pilot debuted on February 6, 2016 and the series began airing on February 28, 2016 on Disney Junior. In Southeast Asia, the pilot premiered on March 20, 2016 on Disney Channel (April 11 on Disney Junior) and the series itself on April 17 on the Disney Junior block on Disney Channel.

## Reception

Max Nicholson from IGN gives the pilot episode score of 7.7, describing the special as "a fun-filled, if younger-skewing, hour television." He praised the pilot for introducing more of the Lion King lore, and also the animation, music, and performance of the new voice actors. However, he found Janja and his clan lacked the appeal to make a compelling villain.

Ed Power of The Daily Telegraph scored the pilot two stars out of five, labelling it a "Soggy, Sentimental throwback."

Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media gives the series four out of five stars, stating "With its strong messages about courage, responsibility, and friendship, this series is a fun pick for kids, and parents who watch with their kids will enjoy seeing the original The Lion King gang, including Timon, Pumbaa, and the eccentric Rafiki, in cameos throughout the series."