My Lion King Forum

Nuka??? Yes it is!
Most of us would recognise this as Nuka, because it is Nuka. Many people believe its not and hate the design. Others love the design. I do I think it is so cute!!!... But... I still wonder why its Nuka.
So here is the knowledge i have gained about him:
1) Before the movie came out Nuka was originally going to make him a cub. But due to the fact that he dies they didn't want to keep him as a cute little cub but rather a stupid older lion.
My answer) If so... then why wouldn't they keep the design and just make him look older?
2) It isn't Nuka
My answer) Really? I'm pretty sure it is!
3)Designers got it wrong
My answer) that is probably most correct, is that why they took the series of plushies off the market?

What do you think? Is it Nuka? Do you like it anyway?
I'm so curious!!!

Don't some people say it's Vitani's son or something. I'm pretty sure I heard that somewhere.

Haha really??!!! Actually on DeviantArt CapricornFox has that theory! She has pictures about it

I've sometimes wondered why the Nuka beanie tag has such a different design from the Nuka in SP. The pictures of Kiara, Kovu and Vitani that come with their beanies look pretty close to their movie counterparts (although they all have large pupils). To me, it looks like there was no existing art of cub Nuka, so the artist gave him a design using the beanie itself as a reference (the Kovu and Vitani beanies look fairly different than their movie counterparts -- here they are [with Kiara on the left]).

(Interestingly, the cub Nuka design has "mane fluff" on his cheeks, while movie-Nuka has none...yet every single piece of merchandise featuring teen or adult Nuka shows him with mane fluff. Maybe the artist that designed that tag was inspired by that art?)

Very nice and detailed comment!
Using the beanie as a cub reference itself... that's pretty cool!
As for the cheek mane fure, i hadn't noticed that until you pointed it out, but yeah! He only has those fluffy cheeks that all the other outsiders have.
Maybe they were inspired by other art, I'll go check that out!

I find his design cute!