trailer day! today it will air!

[SimbasGuard]

Like several others have said. I am hoping that The Lion Guard does not retcon Lion King 2 completely, but insted finds a way to work within it. If acceptable explanations are provided I see no problem with this series.

[gothprincesskiara]

Ok the only thing that bothers me is Simbas eye brows are too thick ay way we can tell the animators to tone that down a bit and thin them out more, And Hatari look you dont like Kiara we get it but people are different that's just who she is, I dont like Timon or Pumbaa either, we all have characters we dont like.

[TheLionPrince]

Well, I just saw the trailer, and reviewed at least three times. Here are my thoughts and commentary:

1. Rob Lowe, as I should have known, does not vocally resemble Matthew Broderick. It makes me long for the days when Cam Clarke substituted for Broderick during the Timon & Pumbaa series and Kingdom Hearts II. It will take some getting used before I get comfortable with it. That said, Gabrielle Union will mostly not sound like Moira Kelly, who I cannot understand is not reprising her original role. Khary Payton surprisingly does sound like Robert Guillaume , although when he stretches the line "IT IS TIME!", I can hear Cyborg from Teen Titans in his voice. As an ending note, I don't think it really matters if they resemble the original actors, but as long as they capture the ethos and spirit of the characters, it can still work.

2. The trailer features references to the original film. Kiara being a stampede is a reference to the first film with Mufasa crying Simba's name, and Simba crying her name. The trailer implies the hyenas started the gazelle stampede much like the hyenas triggered the wildebeest stampede. Also, Kion does the "Hakuna Matata dance" (whatever you call it) with him bouncing his head from side to side in a line with Pumbaa and friends. Rafiki saying in his tree "It is time" is another one.

3. The hyenas are back, and as reported, re-designed. Strangely, their leader is a male named Janja, even though hyena clans are led by a female. Their new lair resembles Scar's lair in a section of the Elephant Graveyard where he sang "Be Prepared" although an establishing shot reveals it's the interior of a volcano somewhere in the Outlands.

4. The trailers definitely confirms retroactive continuity has taken place. I'm not sure how it is supposed to take place after Simba's Pride if Kiara is still a cub. However, for the time being, I am not going to blindly accept it as much people here are. At least there's Scar's backstory to look forward to no matter how contrived it may be seem.

5. The trailers captured The Avengers-feel with listing the members' main contribution to the team. I would think Zazu now has serious competition with Ono concerning spotting dangers in the Pride Lands.

6. The "tradigital" animation featured in the trailer doesn't look bad considering it is done on computers. I am still nostalgic for the traditional pencil-and-paper drawing, but apparently using computer animation software reduces the costs of animation. The characters appear to have their original designs, and like gothprincesskiara noted, Simba's eyebrows look too thick and his appearance varied in different scenes.

[Carl]

[quote="gothprincesskiara"]Ok the only thing that bothers me is Simbas eye brows are too thick ay way we can tell the animators to tone that down a bit and thin them out more, And Hatari look you dont like Kiara we get it but people are different that's just who she is, I dont like Timon or Pumbaa either, we all have characters we dont like.[/quote]
Hatari didn't say anything about disliking Kiara, he said they're making her something she isn't.

[Hatari05]

Indeed she partially missed my statement though it was a long one so I can understand why.

I actually like Kiara more than I like Nala the only female character in Lion King I like more than Kiara is Zira. I don't like that they're making her appear weak because she's not in many ways Kiara was stronger than Simba she never allowed her anger and hatred to control her she had faith in herself and stood by her morals through and through. Kiara was a strong character and now it seems they're making her weak and I don't like that.

I also hope they find someway to make this and Simba's Pride tie together but if they don't oh well however it's on them now if they are telling me this is the new Lion King II I'm going to hold it to that standard if they feel this will be better than Simba's Pride I expect it to be and considering how much i love that movie it's probably not best for the show to take it's place but we shall see all the same I want it to be good and if it is better than well awesome I have two awesome sequels to the one of the greatest animated movies of all time.

[Elton John]

Kiara looks like she has a hurt paw in the middle of a stampede, how is having to be rescued making her 'weak'?

If you tripped and hurt yourself to the point of not being able to move as quickly and suddenly a car is about to hit you but someone is able to move you out of the way, does that make you weak? I don't believe so.

[Hatari05]

If that's true cool like I said I don't have a lot to go off of but hearing Kiara say help me is almost out of character with how self sufficient she struggled to be going off of the second movie I could almost see Kiara preferring she huddle down risk further injury before crawling and limping away on her own than waiting and calling out for someone to save her as both a cub and adult Kiara despised that.

So it's not about her being weak it's about her being out of character, Kiara took on a bunch of gators and while scared never once called out to Kovu for help she helped him a stampede even if she was hurt would not phase her and it certainly wouldn't make her cry out to anyone for help it goes against everything Kiara was in the second movie.

Now maybe this is a younger Kiara before she even meets Kovu and the show will show us Kiara's growth I don't know but I don't like that the trailer only gave her that shot in it's entire time I would've preferred they didn't show her really at all Kiara has enough detractors who call her whiny and ignore all her positive traits as it is showing her literally crying out for help isn't going to help her image.

[Farren]

First of all, hi - I don't post very often but I lurk around a lot. Anyway I've been following news on TLG for a while now. I have to say I've been pretty pessimistic from the start but the fact that it's something new for TLK has kept me intrigued. Considering this is Disney Junior I was fearful we would get something along the lines of Lion King meets Dora the Explorer. I'm glad to see that isn't the case! The art, while very stylized (and off-model in many ways), isn't as bad as it could be. It's nowhere near comparable to the beauty of the original movie of course, but I never expected it to be. The new voices for many of the characters will take some getting used to. I wasn't very impressed with Simba but we'll see...

I've never been the biggest fan of SP but I was still very disappointed to see Kiara is still a cub. As many others have said I hope they don't retcon it completely. If they don't figure out a way to connect the sequel and the series there are going to be SO many plotholes (or maybe they just don't care because "it's a preschool show") The hyenas having a male leader kind of really annoys me too...I thought this show was suppose to be educational? With wildlife education experts from Animal Kingdom serving as consultants? Then again how educational can it be with magical roars. Speaking of which...I'm still trying to accept this whole "Roar of the Elders"/LK meets Avengers business. For me, having Mufasa appear in the sky to Kion kind of downplays the importance of his appearance to Simba in the original movie. That was kind of a big deal and what felt like, to me, a one time event. Sure hope Muffy isn't gonna be poking his head outta the clouds every day to ask Kion how the weather is. XD

Now one of the things that has kept me coming back to find out more tidbits on TLG is the mention of Scar and how he, too, was once leader of the Lion Guard. Being that I'm a huge "Scaroholic" any mention of him catches my attention. I have wanted a LK prequel showing Scar and Mufasa's past for YEARS but this certainly isn't the storyline I would have hoped for. I've read some amazing fan fictions that tell their story so well, if only Disney could go that route. But alas, it is what it is and if nothing else I'll be thankful just to see something new involving Scar (and maybe, just maybe, a glimpse of him and Mufasa as cubs)

I wanted to post this because I haven't seen anyone else mention it yet but...who else caught the tree painting in the first few seconds of the new trailer? Sure looks like Scar (with Mufasa next to him) to me!



This appears around 4-5 seconds into the trailer and it's really quick so pausing is a must. That split second scene was the best part of the trailer for me. XD

To wrap this up, I apologize if I come across as too pessimistic...I'm old and TLK was my childhood, I put it on a pedestal and tend to be critical of anything that dares to mess with such an untouchable classic. That said, I'm still looking forward to TLG. I won't judge it completely until I see it for myself. The trailers have me kinda worried but hey, hakuna matata! Hopefully everything works out for the best.

[Hatari05]

I can see where you're coming from regarding continuity but in all honesty I don't care if they connect the movies and the show I believe in alternate worlds and what if stories in one continuity we have the first two movies in another we have the first three movies and in another we just have the first movie and finally we have the first and the tv show. It doesn't matter to me I can watch and embrace whatever one I want so if it retcons Lion King II will I be annoyed a little but only because Disney is disregarded easily their best sequel and an all around good movie in itself but if it's necessary for the story they're telling then so be it, just deliver a good product.

I'm very intrigued by the Scar backstory though I'm hoping they give him more of a motive I always liked Scar but his motive seemed so hollow I'm hoping his motive becomes more understandable if not well then once again so be it maybe I'll be a little disappointed but I doubt it the backstory should be intriguing regardless.

[Elton John]

As far as changing kiaras character, I don't know. I wouldn't call young simba a weak character, he was definitely adventurous and fought back when he needed to... But even he needed help, and he asked zazu for help! The same character he just spen an entire song tormenting.

I'm guessing that the show was originally meant to be educational but then they went 'eff that, we want to make something that people might enjoy'.

Most kids don't want to watch educational shows. Most adults don't want to watch 'educational shows'.

The tlk universe has always played fast and loose with real animal logic when the real animal logic would get in the way of telling an entertaining story.

Also I think that mufasa showing up is a one time thing and that he won't be showing up in the tv series. James earl jones is an old man... He has gotta be in his late 80's. There's no way they are replacing him. Broderick, is an expendable actor in the tlk series but james earl jones isn't.