Simba is not fat

[atouchofgrace]

The coloring is, in my opinion, SP's weakest link and it is the main difference between SP's Simba and TLK's Simba.

[Azdgari]

...he's just big boned! :3

[Yumacub]

MUSCLES NOT FAT!!! JUST LIKE MUFFY!! (Muffy is Mufasa)

[Lauren]

Nah, he doesn't look fatter to me, in fact they've actually done a good job in making him seem a little more aged... in my opinion, anyway...

Exactly! They changed his look b/c they wanted to make him look more like his father by showing that he aged. Simba has an older resembalance in SP.

[Akril]

Thanks, Mike.

Something I just remembered on this discussion -- since SP took place right where the original movie left off (as one of the promos for SP said), it doesn't really make sense that Simba would look older right at the beginning of the movie during the presentation.

(I was actually looking at some of the TLK6NA illustrations, and in the pictures where Simba appears with Kopa, I think the artists tried to make Simba look a little more mature in the same way that the SP artists did -- I think the TLK6NA artists did a better job, though.)

[atouchofgrace]

it doesn't really make sense that Simba would look older right at the beginning of the movie during the presentation.

(I was actually looking at some of the TLK6NA illustrations, and in the pictures where Simba appears with Kopa, I think the artists tried to make Simba look a little more mature in the same way that the SP artists did -- I think the TLK6NA artists did a better job, though.)

This.

[PrincessKiara]

Nah, he doesn't look fatter to me, in fact they've actually done a good job in making him seem a little more aged... in my opinion, anyway...

I agree with this.

I think the animators were trying to make SP Simba look more like Mufasa. Plus, since the end of TLK, Simba has aged, and going back to a diet of meat (instead of bugs) would definatly make him more muscular, compared to the lean form he had in TLK.
The combination of Simba aging and altering his diet makes him bigger, but not fatter. He`s gained muscle, that`s all. More of him to love!

[dariusgib]

good point about the diet. Id never though about that

[simba86]

like the others said he just finished becoming an adult and got the rest of his muscles.

[Shade]

Maybe he ate Kopa o.0