Der König der Löwen 2: Simbas Königreich

The lion king 2 is probably my favorite Disney sequel. Its one of the movies where the first time around its okay, and then if you see it again, you're like..wow, this is great! Same goes for the songs. I actually love this movie. Compared to the first movie, it isn't all that bad. They didn't ruin anything from the first movie, like the characters personalities, as they do in so many other sequels (like little mermaid 2. puke.) I'd say more of the problem is they kind of down play a lot of characters that had bigger roles. Zazu and Nala are barely in this. Timoon and Puumba are still cute and funny. Kiara, their daughter, is a little flat, But the evil villains are very, very good. Zira is excellent, and Kovu is very complex and interesting. The ending is a little flat as well, but its still a touching movie. Its on par with Aladdin and the king of thieves, which is the only other excellent Disney sequel. (for the record, toy story 2 is Disney and pixar-but is not Disney made. pixar makes it, Disney distributes. thanks.) This sequel actually has depth and every (major) character in this movie has their own personal struggle. Its not simple and happy go lucky like most Disney sequels. I would highly recommend it.

A very powerful sequel to a very powerful and the best Disney movie. Kovu and Kiara teach us how powerful and strong the love is. Like TLK 1, TLK 2 bring us good songs, especially Love Will Find A Way and He Lives In You. The new characters are very good, the villain Zira is cruel, the poor Nuka dies trying to prove his braveness and Vitani...well she's not a real villain like all the other outlanders. Unfortunately, they didn't give a good number of lines to Zazu and Nala, especially Zazu - he have less lines than Nala. But every good movie sometimes commit little mistakes. Well, The Lion King 3 is confirmed (2002) and I can't wait to watch this new movie, and I hope TLK 3 being so good like TLK 1 and TLK 2.

Of course, it isn't as good as the stunning original, but it's definitely better than the Little Mermaid, Jungle Book and Cinderella sequels which ranged from disappointing to lame. It's also in my opinion in the top 3 of the better DTV sequels, which are The King of Thieves(Aladdin)and Enchanted Christmas(Beauty and the Beast).

What makes it good is the welcome return of Timon and Pumbaa, who brought great comic relief, although they weren't as funny. The songs, while not as outstanding as the original, were actually not that bad at all. He lives in You is wonderfully uplifting. Zira was also very convincing, much better than Morgana. I don't think though that she was as convincing a villain as Scar, who to me is on of the best Disney villains along with Jafar, Ursula, Frollo, Maleficent, The Wicked Queen and Ratigan oddly enough. The animation actually wasn't that bad either, though sometimes fell flat in the darker scenes, but it was colourful, crisp and lively on the whole.

The negatives are very few actually. In the Little Mermaid sequel, I put more cons than pros, but not here. Kiara and Kuvu are a little unconvincing, likewise with Simba, they just lacked depth. And the story isn't quite as gripping and is sometimes a little on the predictable side. But of course, the sequel is hardly ever better than the original, with the exception of perhaps Toy Story.

In conclusion, a flawed but enjoyable sequel to a cinematic masterpiece, though the original isn't as good as Beauty and the Beast. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Simba's Pride may be the first of Disney's sequels with a soundtrack worth purchasing. The music was very good and the art was also most impressive. The only voice I wasn't completely satisfied with was Edward Hibbert as Zazu. Even I could have made a better clone for Rowan Atkinson. The script was somewhat rough, and some of the scenes had some unnecessarily dark undertones, but I still believe this to be the best made sequel yet - thanks largely to some very good songs. Keep it up, Disney!

The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride is the movie that i had hard time rating it. It tries to respect the original and in some extend - it succeeds, but there are still some parts that are not very good and unfortunately because of them, it makes the movie very weak and not unique at all. It suffers from a story that we've seen many times and also at the same time serves as a perfect narrative for the sequel, but the way it's told is too weak and bit cliché; some of the old characters are here and act the same, while others have new roles, especially Simba, who is given the role of a father to the main protagonist and being overprotective and also being the best character in the movie. Aside from Simba, Kiara, Kovu and Rafiki, the villain and the other characters are weak or don't have enough screen time and they drag the movie down for me; the way the story is told, you'll expect the same with the dialogue; the music is forgettable with the exception of three songs (He Lives In You is the best song without a doubt and makes the opening of the movie amazing) and one track that they played two times and has become memorable; the animation is bit rough in some places, but still looks nice and you can tell it doesn't look like low-budget; the cinematography is very mixed in my opinion; the sound is great; the acting is great, but that may depends on the country you live in, since i watched a dubbed version and the english version is mixed for me after trying it. After watching it again, i can understand what they where trying to do, but i feel like they didn't give 100% of themselves to make a perfect sequel to one of the greatest movies of all time. With those problems aside, i still respect everyone, who was involved with the making of it and it's one of those movies that i'll be happy watching it again.