by Squeely » November 17th, 2016, 2:13 pm
Huh, could've sworn I had replied to this thread. I know I've read it before. They "why" has been answered - were it not for the success of Return of Jafar, I doubt TLK would have gotten a sequel at all. Which would have been a huge shame, but Disney was doing roughly one animated film per year, and I don't really see that changing. Unless perhaps, in their struggling "Home on the Range" days, they thought it better to focus their efforts on their golden franchise. It's a shame, really, that theatrical sequels weren't anywhere near as popular in the 90s and early 2000s as they are today.
I would love to see where the original writers and directors went with everything. The possibilities are pretty much endless. One thing's for certain, Timon and Pumbaa's jokes would have been far, far better from the lows that were their jokes in SP. Working within the boundaries of SP, perhaps Kovu would have been Scar's son. I know Romeo and Juliet needs the forbidden romance, but I could see the original crew eschewing that for something a little more original. The subject matter of the songs would probably be about the same, but the songs themselves would be better-written. I'd assume Upendi would be scrapped, though, because it's kinda weird and unneeded (I love it, but still). There would be a proper score <3 And everything would just be better-written all-around.
1 1/2 would be pretty great if done by the original crew as well. I'd imagine we'd get a more serious take on Timon and Pumbaa's origins, with none of the walking-through-scenes-from-TLK thing. I'd have liked 1 1/2 so, so much better if it hadn't spent so much of its runtime going back through the first movie. Show us Timon growing up and getting bullied (Timon was bullied as a kid in one of the deleted scenes). Show us Pumbaa's troubles in his sounder. A more serious take doesn't have to be devoid of comedy, though - it could add a lot of fun new characters. Keep, or even build upon, Timon's character progression from 1 1/2, as that was the best part of the film for me. Give Pumbaa equal amounts of progression. End it on the two finding Simba, because we know what happens next.