5 Reasons Why I Dislike THE LION KING 2: SIMBA'S PRIDE

Ughhh. You knew that this day was coming, and here it finally is. Before anyone gets the idea that I am going to attack the "Lion King" fanbase and hurt their feelings, let me get one thing straight. I am a "Lion King" fan, and most of that fandom is for the first movie and some aspects of "The Lion Guard". There was just something about the first movie that worked so well. Whether that be in the fact that it was put together by a bunch of underdogs at the Disney Animation studios who wanted to showcase that their abilities were just as fluent as the big guns at the time, or the overall scope of the film and how massive everything felt, or even the vocal talent behind the film being superb, there is a reason "The Lion King" is highly regarded as one of the strongest Disney Renaissance films in many people's eyes. Most probably already know this but around this time, the first Disney sequel came onto store shelves, that one being "The Return Of Jafar", which paved the way for the people at Disneytoons Studios to make follow-ups to classic Disney films in order to either capitalize on their success or to make something to entertain young children at the time. Granted, I've really only seen a few of these (I mean, people have already set in stone that some of these sequels are worth skipping so I will easily take their word for it), but there is one Disney sequel I really dislike. A movie I think is one of the most overrated and overpraised films that I have ever seen in a lifetime. And in a twisted circumstantial event, it's a Disney sequel that so many people love to death and even rank as their all time favorite Disney sequel period. "The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride".

My experience with this movie starts around the end of 2012. During this time, I was really getting obsessed with "The Lion King" and anything about it. I only owned the first movie at the time, but I really wanted to check out the sequel as I had been sort of on the fence about it. I had only seen the first movie and "The Lion King 1 1/2" at this time but for some reason this film went past my radar as a child. This film was trailered on the 1998 "Lady And The Tramp" VHS which I owned, so I was familar with it, but never had an experience in watching it as a kid. It wasn't until December of 2012 when my desire to see this film peaked, and during the holiday season of that year, I traded in a DVD I already owned (ironically it was actually the first one), to get the Blu-Ray Combo Pak for this movie. And for a while, I did really like it. I mean, I didn't like it as much as other movies but it still kept me happy. It wasn't until later on when this movie's effect on me REALLY started to wear off. I started seeing people praise the living hell out of this movie almost as though it was the first movie itself, and I started realizing how popular it was amongst Disney fans compared to some other movies I'd loved. In some cases, it was the only Disney sequel they really enjoyed alongside "The Lion King 1 1/2". Even big house names like WatchMojo.com and Lindsey Ellis (formerly of Channel Awesome) have put this movie on lists that are devoted to their favorite Disney sequels. Everybody knows how the whole "overrated" idea works where you have a movie you don't like at all whereas everyone else is head over heels over it to the point where it helps you dislike it even more, and for me, this is one of the biggest cases yet. On this list we will go through the five biggest flaws that have kept me from liking this film long-term, and if you like this film, please read along because you may get a different point of view of a person who doesn't like it, but in a more mature and civil way. I don't encourage any fan to stop loving what they love, even if they just casually enjoy it. This is only MY opinion, and I think we're all cognizant of how the opinion ideal functions. Without further ado, let's take a look at the five reasons I dislike "The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride".

05. THE ANIMATION DOESN'T HAVE THE SAME PUNCH
I realize that this is an uber-typical flaw to a direct to video film, but there really could have been more effort in the animation and even in the transition work as well. Truth be told, there are scenes that are animated pretty solidly, like much of Kiara's character animation. Probably one of the things that sticks out in my head as where the animation works is one scene in the middle of the film where Kiara is laughing. I feel like the supervising animators and in betweeners did a good job here, and there are other scenes that I feel are animated just as solidly, such as the sequences for "Upendi" and "Love Will Find A Way". But looking at the rest of this film in terms of animation it is very clear that it's not up to par with the predecessor. Once again, I know it is outright impossible to match the first film as far as its larger than life animation goes, but they could have tried a little harder. Especially when it comes to the first scene in the film where at one point instead of zooming in it just cuts closer to a shot of Pride Rock. A majority of this film feels like it was a television series pilot of "The Lion King" done at Disney's television animation division and then sent to theaters. Don't get me wrong, this isn't "Belle's Magical World" or "Hunchback Of Notre Dame 2" material, but the animation in this movie definitely has more of a stiff nature. It's to the point where even scenes that allude to the previous movie look cheap, such as the end where Zira falls off of the ledge. That is a meme that is just WAITING to be made. There really isn't anything that comes across as special here although, once again, some of these characters are drawn well and have somewhat good expressions. But, even that has its problems because the character design of Simba is very lacking in appeal. Overall, it's definitely weak even though I do acknowledge that there are worse sketched animated films out there.

04. THE MUSICAL NUMBERS ARE MUCH WEAKER
Once again, here is a flaw that doesn't always reveal itself, but when it does, it really serves as something questionable. The songs in this movie are mostly watered down and don't have that much of a bite to them. Say what you want about how overrated you think some songs from the first film may be like "Hakuna Matata" and maybe even "The Circle Of Life", but all of the songs featured in the first film had a bigger feeling to them as just about everything else regarding it. This is why "The Lion King" still holds up. Only two or so songs stick out to me as having a real spark to them, those being "Upendi" and "Love Will Find A Way". While they are not the most epic or biggest sounding songs ever, these happen to have good enough rhythms to them that make them enjoyable. "He Lives In You" doesn't really count in my opinion as it was also featured in the Broadway version of the first film. The rest of the songs written for this movie are lifeless and monochrome. "We Are One" has a serviceable melody in the verses and some decent vocals from Cam Clarke and Charity Sanoy but there isn't much of a pulse in this song. "My Lullaby" sounds about as much of a cheap downgrade as you can possibly imagine. And finally, "Not One Of Us" is one of the most unneccessary musical numbers I've ever heard. That scene really could have done without it and nothing would have changed. It's proof that the music in this movie isn't as strong, even put side to side with other direct to video Disney sequel films. Well, at least the few that I actually cared about.

03. THE VOICE ACTORS AREN'T AS COMMITTED
No, I'm not talking about every voice actor in the movie. The original actors that came back to do this film definitely are a bit diluted here. This is probably the flaw that doesn't have as much of a grip on the final product as the others, but that doesn't mean the flaw is eliminated entirely. The original cast members from the first film, especially when it comes to Matthew Broderick's performance in the movie, feel as though they were just hired for a paycheck and were wanting to move onto other things. Not all of the voice acting is like this, since Robert Guilliame is definitely lively in his brief appearance. But, the voice acting is very plain when it comes to most of the returning cast. I'll say very quickly that the new voice talents like Neve Campbell, Jason Marsden, Lacey Chabert, and Suzanne Pleshette give good peformances, but why is it that the newer cast members care more about this movie than the returning ones? If a good sequel is in the intentions of the personnel, everyone involved should at least care? Oh wait, this was one of the rushed sequels that Disney put out to capitalize on the success of the original movie. Nevermind. So, yeah, this is a weird situation where half of the people putting on these performances through the microphone cared, and half of them didn't. Matthew Broderick probably didn't have a lot of time on his hands, and probably none of the other returning cast members did either.

02. THE WHOLE PLOT OF THE VILLAINS
Alright, now is where I start to take shots at this movie as an overall film with a story and a screenplay, rather than just how the film was made. Truth be told, the backstory of the villain characters of the movie is very nonsensical. OK, so apparently in the gap of time since the first movie ended and the second movie began a pack of lions who thought that Scar was still worthy of praise as an idol were sent by Simba to the "Outlands". I'm not exactly sure where this fits in the whole "Lion King" timeline at all. There was not a single indication that this even happened in the first movie. So, I'm guessing this was an idea that they came up with on the fly. That's not a bad thing since you do need material to work with, but the idea has to be conceived as good. It also turns out that the villains in this movie themselves, especially Zira, are also very poorly written in this story. Sure, Suzanne Pleshette was a good actress and her performance in this movie is very larger than life, but Zira is probably as cliched of a villain character as you can possibly get. What is also apparent is that both of Kovu's siblings aren't that interesting either. Vitani is pretty transparent as a character and even with the writers trying to make her into a watchout for her mother along with brother Nuka, there isn't anything there other than some decently done animation and a solid performance from Lacey Chabert (who is a very underrated actress). Nuka's character does have a little bit going for it as the comic relief of the trio, but his character design is very odd, and he passes away in the middle of the film so there's not much to really take away from this character either. All three of these as characters are all just bland and they aren't really tropes that people haven't seen before. I guess this movie is supposed to be about prejudice or something since it is borrowing from "Romeo And Juliet" similar to what the first film did with "Hamlet". There are better prejudice stories out there, even from Disney. So, yeah, this is a pretty big stain on the film.

01. EVERYTHING INVOLVING TIMON AND PUMBAA
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh boy. Now we're really getting started. Everything leading up to this was just a precursor. You know when you are making a list and the #1 choice seems to take longer to talk about than anything else? This is one of those moments. Timon and Pumbaa in this movie are one of the worst comic relief duos in film history. Worse than other controversial comic relief characters such as Skids and Mudflap in "Transformers 2". I would have rather had two Jar Jar Binks characters in "The Phantom Menace" than to have Timon and Pumbaa in this movie. And that is INSANE to think about. Two characters who have been executed well before are absolutely HORRIBLE in a movie and quite possibly more obnoxious and bigger scums of Planet Earth than some of the most popular bad characters in movies. First off, let me get one thing off of my chest about this. Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella are a solid comedy duo. They had good performances in the first one, and they have worked well in other things before. Even in the next sequel "The Lion King 1 1/2" where it seemed to make these two characters more humanized. In this movie, they are awful and aren't even necessary in the context of the story. The ONLY legitimately good scene with these two is in the aforementioned scene in the middle of the film where Kovu is teaching Kiara how to roar. That's it. That's where their comedy works because it's also being carried by another duo of actors who aren't doing anything comedic. But, in other scenes, they could easily be written out of this movie and the story would be a lot more fluid and free-flowing. The first scene with them in it is them reacting to Simba and Nala are having a girl cub and not a boy cub, which really sets the tone of their humor and the entire movie for the next 80 minutes. It's to the point in this movie where any of the scenes that are trying to be tense or emotional are ruined by these two bastards. Apparently Flip Kobler and Cindy Marcus, the two writers of this movie, thought that the "cry crocodile tears" bit at the end of the "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" scene in the first movie was the funniest thing in the world, so they decided to inject it into TWO otherwise alright scenes. First when Kiara is about to go on her first hunt, and another at the end. Also, when the Outsiders and the lions in the Pride Land are about to battle near the end of the film is where the absolute WORST scene takes place. I don't even know how to describe it without sounding like an idiot, but it is them doing this sort of booty-shaking taunt dance. This is interjected in between two tense moments, and it is so unnecessary and disgustingly obnoxious, and you can easily tell that the animation is weaker whenever it comes to this scene. Hell, If you look at both of these parts in terms of how they're actually animated, it's awful, and in some cases it looks out of place when put up next to some of the animation that is TRYING to be engaging. I'm not someone who doesn't enjoy humor being interjected into a serious scene or a intense action scene, but for goodness sake you need to actually try and make it work! Or at least make the humor funny. This pair of writers didn't know how to make any of their humor work well. At all. If Timon and Pumbaa were written out of MOST of this movie and it was taken in a much more serious direction, then maybe I would understand why so many people consider this their favorite Disney sequel and a worthy successor to the original. But no, we get them dancing in front of a bunch of lions, a scene that I am pretty sure was a studio note sent to the writers, or maybe they were just so poor of screenwriters they decided that they needed to intentionally ruin the drama of whatever is going on. I will admit though that Timon and Pumbaa do not ruin ALL of the serious moments, such as a good chunk of screentime we get from Kiara and Kovu. But they are still awful characters in this movie, and Nathan Lane really gives an obnoxious performance as Timon which is very saddening to see as I like Nathan Lane as an actor. Overall, if you were wondering why I really dislike like "The Lion King 2", Timon and Pumbaa are a good enough reason why and that is putting it lightly. It is even to the point where fans themselve admit they are annoying. That's something!

Overall, if you want my core opinion on "The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride" as a movie, it's definitely not the worst movie I have ever seen. There are parts about it that work such as Kiara's character as well as some solidly painted background, the newcomers in the voice acting department, and even some of the animation. These are things that have a little bit of effort behind them. But, man oh man are there flaws rampant throughout the entirety of this movie. This has NOTHING to do with the directors Darrell Rooney and Rob LaDuca, or even the producer Jeanine Roussel. Eventually after this movie, Rooney and Roussel would move on to a superior project, that being "Lady And The Tramp 2" which had personnel attached who knew what they were doing in making a consistent story and a more consistent film. It's really the writers I have to blame for much of my flaws surrounding this movie. They could have written Timon and Pumbaa out of this film, but they just didn't do that. But, I guess it is what it is, and nothing will change about it. If you enjoy this movie, please go ahead and enjoy it. That's the good part about forging opinions. If you don't like this movie and agree with me, make your voice heard. Thanks for reading, and I hope you had a good time reading this. This is Scamp4553, onto the next project.