I got in contact with a "Lion King II" producer

[Carl]

[quote="MooLion"]I'm glad they changed the name from Bianca to Zira as it didn't sound very in keeping with the other African-ish names.[/quote]

While I agree that Zira is a much better name for her, I just wanted to point out that Vitani as a name rather than just a word is actually Italian, meaning "demon of war." And Nuka as a name is actually Native American and Greenlandic, meaning "younger sister." In Swahili, neither of those are names, vitani is a word meaning "ducks" or "linens, flax," while -nuka is a suffix meaning "smell bad, stink."
Several of the other names are completely made up to sound African. Most people probably already know this, but I just wanted to comment on it, lol.

Anyway, as for the rest of the topic, it was interesting to read. Good work getting this info, TLP!

[Bloodspill]

Yeah, and Bianca had to be pale/white/creamy. It would be interesting to see this sketch (if it ever existed), cause Zira probably would also have different look...