Mheetu

[QueenRalexia]

I think he is adorable & I wish he was in the movie

[KopaFan13]

I love Mheetu! They should have put him in the movie, it is not fair. Or they could have made a movie with him in it or something like that

[PrincessKiara]

Based on the concept sketches, he was a very cute character. He’s like a lion toddler.
Anyway, personally, I’ve never thought of him as a real character, seeing as he never made it past the sketching process.

I believe Disney took him out because they wanted to keep the number of characters as low as possible. You know, you have the hero, his parents and his love-intrest (Nala) and the villain... plus the comic relief characters (Timon and Pumbaa, and to some extent Zazu, as well as the Hyenas who acts as Scars servants and sidekicks.) And Rafiki, the wise/crazy shaman character.
And that’s it. Nalas mother Sarafina had one line in the entire movie, and her name isn’t even mentioned in the movie. If Mheetu was added, he wouldn’t be a important character at all.. From what I’ve heard, he was supposed to be Nalas little tag-along brother who tried to come along Simba and Nala on their adventures. In my opinion, he doesn’t sound like an interesting character at all, I don’t feel like he would have added anything to the story.. Sure he looks adorable, and Mheetu merchandise would probably have been a big hit, but the character itself would probably have been small and easily overlooked. (Like Sarafina.. Even Sarabi had a very small role in the movie..)

[thanigraphics]

Well, I believe you can't ever have too many characters in a movie. Characters make the fandom. The more characters, the more theories there can be about them. I think Mheetu could have gotten a bigger role than just the burden little brother.
He could have been around at Simba's fight for the throne with Scar, he could have been around in the song "Just can't wait to be King" too. And wouldn't his cute cubby appereance sell plushies and merch!

[PrincessKiara]

I see your point, thanigraphics, and I completly agree that the more characters, the more fun and interesting a story can be.

But when it comes to Disneys films, they prefer to keep relativly small casts.. It makes the story easier to follow for small kids. If there were a ton of different characters, the movies would have to be expanded in length to be able to give them all a part in the story.

At least, that’s what I think.

[thanigraphics]

I understand. But I hate little kids, and love to confuse them.
JK

[PrincessKiara]

I understand. But I hate little kids, and love to confuse them.
JK

Sometimes confusing kids is all that gets me through the day.

[shebu123]

aways iv'e had this idea that scar+sarafina=mheetu i plusabule

[SilverSimba01]

I don't much about this character, all what I know is that Mheetu is Nala's brother

[Akril]

Slight rambling ahead...

I found these two entries in The Unofficial Lion King Character Encyclopedia:

MEE-TOO: Male/Female lion cub. Playmate of young Simba and Nala, he was
dropped during initial storyboarding.
SOURCE: Walt Disney Corp.
REFERENCES: TAOTLK

MHEETU: Adult lion. A member of Simba's pride. Mheetu is brother to Nala,
and thus is evidently permitted to stay with the pride. He took the lost
and forgetful N'golo as his mate, and they bore three children: Mwathu,
Simala, and N'kamali. Unfortunately, the latter two perished in a fight
with Kisasian, along with their mother. The dedicated Mheetu raised his
surviving son Mwathu to adulthood, and it remains to be seen if he will
attempt to exact retribution against Kisasian.
SOURCE: Andreas Spring
REFERENCES: ALIL, SS, possibly TAOTLK(see note below)
*NOTE* This also may be the Disney character Mee-Too, a male lion cub,
who was dumped in the early planning stages of "The Lion King"(back when
it was known as "King of the Jungle"). The spelling of the name is
questionable, as it is spelled "Mee-Too" in "The Art of the Lion King,"
which is considered a canon Disney source, and "Mheetu" in "A Lioness's
Legacy," written by Andreas Spring. If this is simply the author's
decision to change the spelling to an Africanized version, then credit
for this character should go to Walt Disney Corp.

In the references section after each entry, TAOTLK stands for "The Art of the Lion King," ALIL stands for "A Lioness's Legacy", and SS stands for "Sweet Salvation". The last two sources are fan fiction, and Mheetu is said to be Nala's brother only in those two stories, not in "The Art of the Lion King".

I was about to draw the conclusion that perhaps Mheetu wasn't really Nala's brother and his name was really spelled "Mee-Too" and fans had unknowingly equated the semi-canon and fan-made characters and fabricated some of his history, especially since I couldn't find any people saying exactly where they had heard that Mheetu was originally used to lure Simba into the stampede.

Then I did a bit more digging and found these little tidbits from Tima's extensive TLK character guide:

Mheetu has been mentioned at least on TLK laserdisc version and in the books "Mouse Under Glass" and "The Art of the Lion King".

AoTLK calls the cub Mee-Too, laserdisc calls him Mheetu. "Mheetu" may have been an attempt to make the name sound more African.

Laserdisc version shows some concept images of Mheetu, bat-eared fox Bhati and other deleted characters:

[...]
Mheetu was Nala's "tag along", little brother who was always getting into trouble. In one version of the story, Scar lures Mheetu into wildebeest stampede so that adolescent Simba must risk his life to save the cub.

Then I found this on ye olde TLK Rumor Mill:

The book ["Mouse Under Glass"] also mentions a discarded plot involving some childhood friends of Simba and Nala's--among them "Nala's kid brother Mheetu and her wisecracking friend Bhati, a bat-eared fox."

So apparently Mheetu is Nala's brother and Mheetu and "Mee-Too" are one and the same. I guess the writer of The Unofficial Lion King Character Encyclopedia hadn't heard about the TLK Laserdisc and/or "Mouse Under Glass" and the authors of those two stories had.