by Captain Cupcake » August 12th, 2015, 7:34 pm
[quote="DGFone"]To rephrase it in another way: The Lion King already has a heroic theme. Why fix what ain't broke?[/quote]
Well, technically, it's a heroic and grandiose rendition of one particular theme. The theme in itself in generally relegated to more restrained renditions throughout the film, as it represents Simba's character himself. We get some other big variants of it, like the regal and spiritual rendition during the beginning of "We Are All Connected," and at the end of "Kings of the Past" when Rafiki finds out Simba's alive, but it's primarily played on flute and other subdued arrangements. It's all meant to build up to that major moment in the film when he finally takes his place as king.
For The Lion Guard, it'll most likely get original material. That old theme is intended to be Simba's leitmotif, so it probably wouldn't be used to represent Kion and his group, although, it'd be great if we could get some subtle references to it here and there whenever Simba is around. I get the feeling Mufasa will get his theme referenced when he appears as a spirit, given how iconic his reoccurring motif is, so any other minor thematic references would be a joy to hear also. For Kion and his friends, though? They deserve something unique. From the sound of that recent video, the music sounds distinct and befitting of the TLK universe, so we'll wait and see how that's built off of in the upcoming film and show.