The Lion King II: Simba's Pride

Rob LaDuca (co-director)
 Produced by
 Written by
Jenny Wingfield
Linda Voorhees
Gregory Poirier
Bill Moth & Bob Roth
Mark McCorkle & Robert Schooley
Jonathan Cuba
 Starring
Moira Kelly
Suzanne Pleshette
Michelle Horn
Nathan Lane
Robert Guillaume
 Music by
 Editors
 Cinematography
 Studios
 Distributors
 Release date (s)
 Language
 Preceded by
 Followed by

***The Lion King II: Simba's Problem*** (later retitled ***The Lion King 2: Simba's Problem***) is a 1998 American direct-to-video animated film released by Walt Disney Home Video on October 27, 1998. The film is the sequel to the 1994 Disney animated 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. It was also re-released again on Blu-ray alongside *The Lion King* and *The Lion King 1½*. The Blu-ray edition went into the Disney Vault on April 30, 2013.

The film centers around Simba and Nala's daughter, Kiara, who falls in love with Kovu, a male lion who was raised in a pride of Scar's followers and Simba's enemies, the Outsiders. Desperate to be together, they must overcome the two obstacles that are keeping them apart: Kovu's mother, Zira, and Simba's prejudices against the Outsiders. While the original film's plot seems to have been inspired on the Bill Shakespeare's *Hamlet*, this sequel's plot is similar to Shakespeare's *Romeo And Juliet*.

Discussion began about the possibility of a sequel to *The Lion King* before the first film even hit theaters. Most of the original cast reprised their roles from the first film, with the notable exceptions of Rowan Atkinson, who was replaced by Edward Hibbert as the voice of Zazu in this film and its follow-up/predecessor *The Lion King 1½* and Jeremy Irons, who was replaced by Scar's singing voice actor from the first film Jim Cummings as the voice of Scar in this film. Also, Madge Sinclair, who was the voice of Simba's mother Sarabi, died one year after the first film was released, therefore her character has non-speaking appearances in this film.

## Plot

The film opens a few months after the first film 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.

Months later, Simba becomes very over-protective of young Kiara (Michelle Horn), assigning Timon and Pumbaa (Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella) to be her babysitters. One day while they are arguing over their lunchtime, 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 playtime. Zira reminds Simba that he banished the Outsiders, 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 and wants her to be careful when she is the future queen. 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 is worried and fearful of his daughter unprotected and sends Timon and Pumbaa to watch her again, after promising not to. Furious to find out her father has lied, Kiara goes further from home to hunt away from the Pride Lands, 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 rescue his daughter and allows him to come to Pride Rock, though he is ordered to sleep outside the den. That same night, Simba has a nightmare about his father's death, only in the dream, Scar morphs into Kovu and throws the panicked and frightened Simba off the cliff. In the morning, he walks outside the den and yawns and stretches and goes to drink on 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, who is hesitant to trust the young Outlander around his daughter, 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"– which means love. After a musical journey through the jungle, the two deeply fall romantically in love. Then Simba finally warms up to Kovu and invites him to the den and sleep.

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, and Simba realizes that Kovu had set him up and Kovu claims he had nothing to do with it. 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 the king for his forgiveness. Believing Kovu was behind the ambush, the wounded and shortsighted Simba exiles him and strictly orders Kiara to be confined in Pride Rock and forbids her to leave unescorted. Kiara is furious because her father refuses to listen to Kovu, and Simba claims he's doing what his father would have wanted unknowingly he defied what his father wanted, and she angrily defies him, saying *"YOU WILL NEVER BE MUFASA!"* Simba is horrified, and 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 raise their paws, Kovu and Kiara leap between them and Kiara tells her father that the fighting has to stop, and Kovu defends Kiara and Simba. Kiara then reminds Simba that the Outsiders are a part of them, and she and her father peacefully nuzzle and reconcile. Zira orders Vitani to attack, but Vitani agrees with Kiara and takes Simba's side. Zira tells her daughter that if won't fight, then she will die as well, which causes the other Outlanders to also take Simba's side. Simba tells Zira to let go of the past, but she refuses to do so, and leaps for Simba, but Kiara defends Simba and they fall over a cliff. Kiara lands on a rock, but Zira is sliding towards the river. Kiara offers to help, but Zira refuses to let go of her hate and falls to her death. Simba helps his daughter back up the cliff and apologizes to Kovu, and allows the Outsiders to return to the Pride Lands. Rafiki marries Kiara and Kovu before they join her parents at the top of Pride Rock. King Mufasa's spirit proudly watches from among the stars and praises his son for his decision: "Well done, my son. We are one."

## Voice Cast

* Kiara (voiced by Michelle Horn as a cub with Neve Campbell as a young adult) is Princess and future Queen of the Pride Lands, King Simba and Queen Nala's daughter, Mufasa, Sarabi and Sarafina's granddaughter, and Kovu's future mate. She is the main protagonist. Her singing voices are Charity Sanoy (as a cub) and Liz Callaway (as a young adult).
* Kovu (voiced by Ryan O'Donohue as a cub and Jason Marsden as a young adult) is Zira's son and Kiara's future mate. He was hand-chosen by Scar to become King. After Scar's death, Zira trains Kovu to kill Simba, and take back the Pride Lands, but Kovu later renounces his mother's ways and sides with Simba. He is the deuteragonist. His singing voice is provided by Gene Miller (as a young adult).
* Zira (voiced by Suzanne Pleshette) is Kovu, Nuka and Vitani's mother and the main antagonist of the film. She is Scar's most loyal follower, and she and a small pride of lionesses were exiled by Simba To The Outlands. She trains Kovu to kill Simba and take back the Pride Lands, but Kovu later renounces her ways and sides with Simba.
* Timon And Pumbaa (voiced by Nathan Lane And Ernie Sabella respectively) are Simba's best friends and loyal babysitters to Kiara.
* Simba (voiced by Matthew Broderick (talking) and Cam Clarke (singing) is The King Of The Pride Lands and the son of the late King Mufasa and Queen Sarabi, Scar's nephew, Nala's mate and Kiara's father. He is a secondary character. Although a caring and loving father, Simba is overprotective of Kiara, since she takes after him, and he constantly worries about her safety, since she's the future Queen of the Pride Lands. He's distrustful and suspicious of Kovu, because he's an Outlander, but he later learns that Kovu's love for Kiara, along with his respect for him has caused him to renounce his mother's ways.
* Nala (voiced by Moira Kelly) is The Queen Of The Pride Lands and is the daughter of Sarafina, Simba's mate and Kiara's mother.
* Rafiki (voiced by Robert Guillaume) is the wise shaman mandrill of the Pride Lands.
* Nuka (voiced by Andy Dick) is Zira's somewhat neurotic son, Vitani's older brother, Kovu's older half brother and the secondary antagonist. He feels inadequate compared to Kovu, and feels that he should be "The Chosen One," because he's the oldest, the strongest, and that "Scar wasn't even Kovu's father, he just took him in." Nuka eventually dies after he single-handedly tries to kill Simba.
* Vitani (voiced by Lacey Chabert as a cub and Jennifer Lien as a young adult) is Zira's daughter, Nuka's younger sister and Kovu's older half sister.
* Zazu (voiced by Edward Hibbert) is the king's advisor and majordomo.
* Mufasa (voiced by James Earl Jones) is Simba's father, Sarabi's mate and Kiara's grandfather. He was killed by his younger brother, Scar in the first film. However, he still appears in the film as a ghost in the sky and in Simba's nightmare.
* Scar (voiced by Jim Cummings) was the main antagonist of the first movie, who was defeated by Simba and killed by the Hyenas. He makes a brief appearance in Simba's nightmare, where he transforms into Kovu.