Jiirani, but the original people didn't plan anything!
This is geting fun again! Or, finally...

Because I actually get to post
new arguments among the old.
[quote="Azdgari"][quote="SuperBabySimba"] Fluffy not being Kopa is a fact of what
is.[/quote]
In your opinion. ^^[/quote]
Ok, remember how the movie came out in June 1994. That's a fact. And how some months later in 1994, Kopa came out in the books. That's a fact. And how then in 1995 as in
after Kopa existed in the books, the film makers
still called it just "Fluffy" and didn't give it a gender. That is a fact too. No room for opinions in that scenario, is there?
Now, my opinion with common sense regarding that above mentioned factual timeline: If that cub had become Kopa in that story of theirs, as in if Kopa was
officially considered
canon, they would've said so on the commentary track instead of
just refering to it as Fluffy&no-gender. They would've said something along the line: 'This was Fluffy with no gender when we released the movie, but later we decided it to be the boy Kopa from those new books out there.' But they only said Fluffy and didn't confirm the gender. If they meant it to be Kopa, they wouldn't have ignored him in the very situation where they had the chance to say it!
Ok, so, let's throw a guess that they recorded the commentary track before the books with Kopa came out. That would become all the more reason for them to edit the commentary if they had decided that Kopa would be the identity of the cub in their official canon. The edit would've been possible too because the commentary track hadn't been released yet. But they didn't change it, while chances are they hadn't even recorded it but only after Kopa existed. Thus, the cub not being Kopa is a fact of what
is - because what is in the cub's cearors' vision is the fact for the cub's identity, or in this case for the lack of identity.
Now you're gonna argue that the film makers may not have known about the books? Well, the
producer and
directors (as in crew that was crucial to what the official story and characters turned out to be), state on the commentary/making-of documents that they believed the film to be a failure. Don't you think that they would've excitedly explored everything that came out from its unexpected, explosive popularity - at least for some time? Esepcially books the book department approved only mere months after the film came out, as in they came so soon and became part of the official TLK universe which they had started with the film. Thus the books would've very likely been an interest to the creators who thought no one would care about the film. I'd bet my life savings on that the film makers knew about Kopa - but they didn't care to turn Fluffy into him for one because he was fanmade.
I have acknowledged it is not Kiara either in the official
canon because it's impossible to be liteally her as she didn't exist back then at all. But the fact that Kopa
did exist back when the cub was first talked about by its creators but not refered to as Kopa, makes it NOT Kopa. This results automatically in the cub in the official
canon to be Fluffy with no gender and nothing more. In other words it is your original character IF you choose to ignore the official sequel film. If you do count the sequel into the story, the cub can't logically be anyone but Kiara because the timeline of SP doesn't leave room for any older siblings.
[quote="Azdgari"]On a more on topic note, didn't you say somewhere that SP wasn't made by the original team either? That would lead me to the conclusion that none of SP is actually TLK canon at all, placing SP (and Kiara) at the same level of semi-canon as Kopa in that they're both featured in products with the Disney brand on them but neither are actually approved as Canon by the creators of TLK. :3[/quote]
There is an essential difference between the books and the SP film in those terms.
SP is one level higher in semi-canon matters than the books could ever hope to be, because:
- The books are books based on the film, and were
not created, written and developed by Disney, they only have Disney stamp on them.
- Whereas SP is a film based on the film, and was created, written and developed by Disney's own people, its own animators.
- The books have been published only in USA.
- Whereas SP film was published world wide.
- SP is part of the
official movie universe story because Disney's own animators and writers created it and it was published world wide. SP is as semi-canon as a thing can get without being literally tied in to the canon by the canon's creators.
- The books aren't part of the official movie universe story because they weren't created by Disney's people at all and certainly not by their animators, and weren't even published but only in USA. These facts keep it further away from being semi-canon because the books are much, MUCH less official every step of the way.
- SP being more official and thus closer to official semi-canon, makes with its timeline, Kopa's and any older sibling's existence impossible while the official canon's creators already ignored Kopa when they could've and should've confirmed him if he was supposed to be official canon.
Results in:
Fluffy not being Kopa in canon is a fact of what
is. Fluffy not being Kiara in canon is a fact of what
is. But as SP is the only completely official continuing sequel there is for the movie universe, and it leaves no room for any siblings, the very least for Kopa who it doesn't even mention. Thus, Fluffy not being Kopa is a fact that
is,
again.
Kopa was indeed denied
twice in the official movie universe: First in the canon's makers as they ignored him, and then in the the official sequel film actually created and written by Disney's own people as they made no mantrion of older siblings and even left no room for older Siblings for Kiara and made Kovu the same age as Kopa is in the books!