Deleted Scenes

[CommandoTheLion]

hmm i saw i diffrent cut scene but it was in sketch.....

Nuka and Vitani comes running to Zira and telling That Nala gave birth to Kiara but thats all i remember O.o

[Losty006]

Kovu's Bug - I liked

Nuka's Last Word's - This definitely should have been in the movie. It wouldn't have taken up that much screen time, but the emotional response was so deep...

Another Cub - I don't think it was needed in the movie.

Simba's Cub - I love this scene, we needed more Outlanders scenes, so this would have been nice.

Zira's Suicide - This scene should have been in there, in my opinion. It was so creepy, and cemented Zira's insanity so well.

[LeonKFox]

Besides the Rafiki scene at the start, all of these should have been kept in my opinion, as much as I adore Lion King II how it is, they added alot more character to every single character in the film, particulary Zira.

[SimbaKovu]

Out of the four or so scenes that were deleted, I believe the first two (i.e. the scenes w/ Kovu and the fly and Rafiki at the tree) were properly cut, mainly because I felt they acted as filler, while the two deleted scenes near the end (i.e. Nuka's last words and Zira's suicide) should have been kept in because even though in total they only add up to about 30 seconds of material for us fans to chew on, those are a powerful 30 seconds! Nuka's last words are a tear-jerker if you've ever seen it and Zira's suicide is something that could have even earned SP a PG rating and it knocks some realization into the audience as Mufasa's death was so revolutionary in the first movie in the way it had characters deal with death in an on-screen manner for the first time. I hope I'm not alone in this assessment. haha

[Akril]

I've known these deleted scenes for a long time, and most of them are pretty interesting. The "Kovu and the Bug" scene and "Nuka and Vitani Bring News" scene are especially good, since they show how Zira actually training Kovu and more interaction between Nuka and Vitani.

However, there's one major problem with these two scenes. If they were meant to take place just after baby Kiara's presentation (which is what Nuka and Vitani's words seem to imply), that puts a really big age gap between Kiara and Kovu. In fact, Kovu and Vitani look and act just as old as they appear when Kovu and Kiara first meet! They must have grown really, really slowly as cubs...

In light of this, perhaps it's for the best that these scenes were taken out. It's not as if SP didn't have enough plot holes in it already.

EDIT: Oh, and by the way, Moka, the links to the SP movie gallery don't appear to be working. I get a 404 error when I click on them. I can't get there from the main site either.

[Moka]

Yes, I'm currently working on the theatre. All the videos can still be accessed here: http://www.mylionking.com/theatre/old/
While that link works, the direct links to the albums will not work right now. You'll have to use the link above to navigate to the album/video you wish to see. All of the SP deleted scenes are still available.

[RoxMad]

Here's my take on the deleted scenes, which I really enjoyed!

"Kovu's Bug"- I kind of like this one because I think that it shows another dimension to cub Kovu's personality and upbringing. We get a little bit of a mothering/teaching side to Zira. It would've really helped in the movie because the only time we really see a "mothering" Zira in the movie is at the time of Nuka's death. Her frenzy to dig Nuka out seems almost fake and very out of place for her otherwise hateful character. This would've provided a link to that scene to make it fit better. I like that we see a bit more of Kovu before his final transformation (when we first see adult Kovu), to show the dramatic effects of Zira's training. It would show a more dramatic transformation if we got to see some of Kovu's personality by himself.

"Nuka's Real Last Words"- This one doesn't do anything for me. It's already implied that this is the only time Zira shows any love for her oldest son. In Nuka's statement before his death: "I'm doing this for you and I'm doing this for me," the audience understands that this will be when Nuka gets Zira's attention, we just don't anticipate that the way he gets it will be in the form of his death. I think having that extra line in there would restate the obvious and perhaps even lessen the magnitude of his death. Letting the audience develop that final statement itself and come to that realization, I believe, is a more powerful way to leave the scene. The fact that Zira smiles in a motherly way after he says this further reduces the impact of his words. They might have worked better if Zira had shown signs of being truly remorseful and realizing that she'd let her son die without really ever giving him any attention. The fact that, even in the final cut, a sad face and a hung head are all she leaves Nuka with before returning to hate and anger in going after Kovu doesn't give the audience the sense that she really had any feeling for her son at all. Vitani's tone of voice and dramatic body slump after Nuka's death mirror her grief over her brother's death well, and we can tell she is distraught at the death of her brother. With Zira, we feel like she may have been somewhat upset, but still too obsessed with her revenge to stop and grieve over her son. Although an obsession with revenge is key to Zira's character, I think many agree that she did have a mothering side to her and did love all of her cubs equally, but just gave extra attention to Kovu. I think that she did love Nuka and felt genuine sorry at his death, but I don't believe either scene reflects it well. Soo...to wrap that up, I say no to this scene.

"Another cub"-I think this scene is really cheesy. I'm glad it was left out, since it kind of degrades Rafiki's character, as does the "Upendi" scene. Rafiki isn't a frivolous monkey; he is a wise baboon with a solemn purpose behind witty, but lesson-teaching behaviors. Depicting Mufasa as having more wisdom and insight than Rafiki is a mistake, since when he was alive, Mufasa turned to Rafiki for help. Mufasa may have known things such as another cub being in the outlands, etc. things Rafiki physically could not have known. I think that the scene in the movie where Rafiki is guided towards the idea of Kovu and Kiara being together and replying in such a manic fashion makes him appear not as wise. From the first movie, he is supposed to be a wise character with insight beyond what others can see. In SP, Disney kind of gave that role to Mufasa and Rafiki was more of the one to carry out Mufasa's plans and ideas. So, another no go.

"Simba's cub"- I didn't like this one. I think the Zira talking to Scar part was odd, and the reference to her being Scar's queen would throw another wrench in the frenzy over who Kovu's father was. I don't think of Zira as Scar's mate, but more as being extremely loyal to him and the leader of the outlanders because of her personality. I think that when Scar was around, she held no higher status over other lionnesses. I also agree that if news of Kiara's birth were to come when Kovu was that old, there would be an entire unexplained age difference that wouldn't make sense later in the movie. Of course, as adults this wouldn't cause any issue, but the part where Kovu and Kiara meet would not make any sense. I also don't believe Zira was after any power. I think she wanted Kovu as king in order to fulfill Scar's wishes and enable her pride to get out of the fruitless outlands. The one thing I do like here is Zira's display of motherliness towards her cubs. Especially where she is motherly towards Nuka, which shows that she has some feeling for her son. Throughout the movie, she is repeatedly smacking and degrading Nuka, leading the audience to believe she really could care less about him. Although she rejects Nuka's idea in this scene, she does it with patience (despite calling him a fool) and explains things to him in a motherly tone. However, because of the additional confusion over Kovu's father, Zira's odd behavior, and the age difference between Kovu and Kiara, I say no to this one.

"Zira's Suicide"- Wow. What a chilling scene. I got shivers up and down my spine when I saw this one. It most definitely would've been too much for kids, though, I believe. I think that this would've further cemented Zira's insanity. I think that in the beginning she have had a mothering side to her, but during the battle, we see it's all lost as she voices that she plans to kill her own two children (with a smile on her face). Her pride realizes she's totally lost it, and leaves her. She was so close to the moment she'd been planning for so many years, that she is blinded by her goal of revenge. I think it is appropriate that she commits suicide at the end, instead of just falling. In the final cut, we see that after she dies, Kovu just hangs his head and sighs. He seems saddened by the event, but doesn't appear overwhelmed with grief. It also appears as if he knew that it was going to happen, or that it was the only way Zira would have peace. I don't think he would've felt If Zira had just died because she had slipped and hadn't truly proved her insanity, I think that Kovu's reaction would've been more devastated. Obviously, Disney needed to move things along to get onto the end, and they couldn't be waiting for Kovu to catch up after appropriate grieving time. If Zira committed suicide, then Kovu's reaction makes perfect sense. He is upset that his mother is gone and went that way, but he realizes that it's her own hate that is to her demise. He isn't too upset, and Disney can get on with its movie. So, although I understand why Disney didn't put this in because it is entirely too chilling for little kids, I still think this would have added the missing piece of the puzzle. I definitely like this ending wayy better!

Wow, sorry for lengthy reasons, but I thought I should add more than just yes or no! Thank you all for posting links to these! I adored watching them!

[RoxMad]

Hope I didn't scare anyone away with my lengthy explanations; you should watch the deleted scenes!!

[LadyAnette]

lol *is still scared* XD

[Lauren]

Zira's suicide really creeps the hell out of me! It's so scary the way she says "No. Never..." and then falls to her death after that! That scene would've been too dark for a TLK movie.