What Happens In The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride | Screen Rant
Simba's Pride, the 1998 direct-to-video sequel to The Lion King, kept the original movie's Shakespearean influence, but emulated a different play.
Disney is officially making The Lion King 2, but they already told a sequel with The Lion King II: Simba's Pride in 1998 and here's what happened in that story. The sequel, while not up to the high standards of the original animated movie, was received more favorably than most of Disney’s home-video follow-ups from the era. And while the new Lion King sequel is unlikely to pull directly from Simba’s Pride, it still might offer some idea of where another story could go.
To understand The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride, it’s important first to understand the main narrative inspiration behind The Lion King - William Shakespeare's Hamlet. While there are certainly differences in the classic play about a troubled Danish prince and Disney’s African epic, the original movie still maps closely onto Shakespeare’s masterpiece. The King (Mufasa, or the Old King Hamlet) is murdered by his jealous brother (Scar, or Claudius). The death is made to look like an accident, and the old King’s son (Simba, or Hamlet) ends up in exile, where he is accompanied by a pair of silly comic-relief characters (Timon and Pumba, or Rosencrantz and Guildenstern). Zazu also stands in for the proverb-spouting Polonius. Ultimately, the Prince returns and kills his uncle, though in Shakespeare's version, Hamlet and nearly everyone else die too.
In Simba’s Pride, the writers stuck with the Shakespearean inspiration but went to another of the playwright’s famous tragedies – Romeo & Juliet. The sequel tells the story of Kiara, daughter to a grown up Simba and Nala, who falls in love with the roguish Kovu – heir to an exiled tribe of lions who were loyal to Scar. Kovu’s mother, Zira, conspires to overthrow Simba, and she uses her son’s budding relationship with him to create a false sense of trust. Kovu becomes a member Simba’s pride, with the secret mission of assassinating him. At the end, his feelings for Kiara and his own good conscience lead him away from the evil intention of his mother (who dies), and he and Kiara live happily ever after, uniting the two tribes in peace.
Like The Lion King, Simba’s Pride diverges in notable ways from its Elizabethan origins. Most notably, in Romeo & Juliet, the lovers both die, and it’s only in that death that the two warring families recognize the foolishness of their feud. But the movie remains, at its core, a similar, simpler story of forbidden love. While Simba’s Pride was considered a step above Disney’s usual direct-to-video fair when it came out, it has little of the magical charm that the visuals, music, and atmosphere of the first film brought to viewers. Most of the original voice cast returned, including Matthew Broderick as Simba, but the film remains, at best, a decent follow-up for kids.
For Disney to make the new Lion King 2 succeed on the global, theatrical level of the first movie, it’s going to need a lot more. However, there are some touches from Simba’s Pride that could still work well. Mufasa features prominently in the 1998 film as a spirit guide to Simba, and much of Simba’s arc revolves around him trying to live up to the legacy of his father. While simple, that’s a compelling core character arc, and there could be some fun parallelism between the father and son if the new movie, as rumored, is going to focus heavily on Mufasa’s backstory.
If a flashback-heavy route is the path the new sequel takes, fans could get a much more detailed glimpse into the relationship between Scar and Mufasa. If that happens, leaning into the aftermath of Scar’s reign, similar to how Simba’s Pride does, could be interesting as well. While a next-generation love story might not quite fit, Scar’s apparent devastation of the Pride Lands' ecosystem could lead to some interesting plotlines for a follow-up. Maybe Simba will have to tap into his father’s past and time as King to restore balance. Hopefully, at the very least, The Lion King 2 will garner a better fan reception than the 2019 film.