Say there were no tlk sequels or tv shows, what direction...

[Elton John]

Would you have taken the franchise?

You have 100 percent creative control over a movie sequel or tv series past the original. Or would you just leave the franchise at the first movie?

I'd make it a tv series that's akin to what talespin was to the jungle book, a re-imagining... but closer to what darkwing duck was to batman. I'd have the show be a loose adaptation of the Marvel comic series Black Panther. T'challa, who is the Black Panther, is a king of wakanda, a fictional African country that is very rich and highly technologically advanced. Simba would be an Expy of T'challa.

I think it would also be important for it to have no human characters, and even with its Marvel influences the big focus would be on King Simba, and no expies for other Marvel characters.

No traditional musical numbers but I would want a rich African score and new music by Lebo M.

I would also make the Hyenas a lot more sympathetic, not evil by nature, and give them more natural fur colors.

[Squeely]

A high-budget TV series that follows Simba and Nala as cubs, before the stampede happened. I'd like to see all those characters from the early drafts of the script get some love. Maybe Mheetu could be from another pride, and Simba and Nala have to sneak over to the outskirts of the border their prides share to spend time with him. Occasionally, we would have episodes focused on the other characters. Mufasa-centric episodes could feature flashbacks to when he and Scar were little. Scar episodes could provide flashbacks from cub Scar's point of view, or feature comedic interaction between him and the hyenas. Rafiki could provide lorebuilding. Timon and Pumbaa would be comedic and offer some backstory on them. Etc etc. Keep all voice actors the same if possible, Lebo and Zimmer for the music, John and Rice should an episode require musical numbers. Animation roughly on par with the first film, maybe a dip in quality here or there to cut back on budget, but only a slight dip.

It's the TV series TLK deserves.

[zerodix]

as a series, I'd make cub Simba the main character. and make him have adventures in the pridelands, kind of like the lion guard but with more of the original characters showing up, and some new lion/hyena characters. subjects of an episode could be everything, with a moral and some learning moments. and a song in each ep, like tlg. as a sequel i would go with simbas pride. it is a wonderfull sequel and i wouldnt change it. but i would make timon and pumbaa move out of the pridelands and move on with their lives..

[TheLionPrince]

If I was firmly in control of the franchise, I would serve as the director/writer of the next two Lion King sequels since there was a potential for it to be a great epic film trilogy. I would try to push back against company policy to produce it for direct-to-video. The first sequel would be Simba's Pride but with better animation, the same songs, and a similar storyline.

The storyline would open with Simba having two cubs: the older, headstrong Kiara and the more rebellious, laid-back son. As king, Simba finds it difficult to live up to his father's legacy and tries to imitate his wisdom and strength. He forms a strong alliance with another lion pride that has cubs. He and the pride's king decide to exchange each other's heirs, in which Kiara would marry the king's eldest son who will rule Simba's kingdom while Simba's son would marry the king's youngest daughter and rule his kingdom. However, Simba's son falls in love with Vitani at an early age, but he is unable to confess this love to his father knowing his hatred for the Outsiders. Kiara agrees with the arranged marriage. Meanwhile, Zira is training Kovu (who is also trying to imitate Scar, a stepfather he never knew) to kill Simba and restore Scar's legacy. She has a back-up plan and allies with a clan of jackals in case Kovu fails. Nuka is jealous of Kovu.

Years later, Kovu infiltrates into Simba's pride saving Kiara's life, in which Kiara slowly begins to fall in love with Kovu. Kiara's suitor is jealous of their relationship and tries to kill Kovu, but he is ambushed by Zira and the Outsiders. Nuka dies, and Kiara's suitor returns back to the Pride Lands severely injured and dies. Distraught at his would-be son-in-law's death, Simba banishes Kovu, and Kiara begins to blame herself for what happened. Kovu and Kiara reunite, and Zira's army tries to invade the kingdom. Together with the allied pride, the Pridelanders battles the Outsiders and jackals, but the battle reaches a stalemate. "We are one", Zira dies, the jackals are banished, and the two prides are united. With Kovu and Kiara together, Simba's son confesses his love for Vitani and the two get together. The End.

Granted in retrospective, it would be hard to find a good theatrical release date. Mulan was getting the lucrative summer release June 1998, and November to December 1998 was packed with animated features with A Bug's Life, The Rugrats Movie, and The Prince of Egypt. So, I would settle on a April 1999 release to take advantage of the Easter break for families, plus there were no strong competing films other than The Matrix, which had a different target audience.

A second sequel would be loosely based on Antony and Cleopatra. It would get a spring 2002 release if possible.