The appeal of Kiara/Kovu/Vitani

[Kopalover]

I've been waiting for one of these topics for ages. Oh lord. Where do I start.. First, I'm sorry if I say anything rude about a character. It's just my own opinion! Okay, enough of this Authors Note thingymabobber.

1. Timon and Pumbaa: By far one of the most useless characters in these movies. I mean-sure, they're funny, but they ruined the dramatic moments of the movie, sure it's for kids but why have that much comedy in a movie that supposed to teach a lesson. And really? They got a spin-off too? Why not have something of Simba and Nala's adventures, or something that teaches lessons instead of teaching kids to dart and eat bugs. Somehow, I find them very unlikeable characters, because of the way they are. I do NOT like them at all. Sorry to all of the T&P fans, I really don't like them.

2. Kiara: She's too.. clumsy and stupid. Honestly, Simba is smart, Nala is smart and Kiara, is a Herp? That's not right. She should have more smarts, or even be less clumsy at least. Considering who her parents are. I like Roleplaying her and all but, I don't like her movie attitude. At all. She's a brat to her family and gaurdians. Her entire family is smart, and she isn't? I find that really hard to believe, they must have taught her something.. in one ear, out the other.. I also don't like her colour, she's too.. apricot for a lion, for her family even.

Well, that's my hatred for now, if I can think about any others. I'll tell you guys!

[KentuckyWildcat]

[quote="TheBlackCatCrossing"]
I hope you understand I was just pulling your leg when I said the 'gothic' part. It's just that I couldn't help but notice it. It's like those fanarts that draw the Harry Potter kids in emo (is that word still used?) style makeup. I do agree with what you said in bold. Very good points.[/quote]

I actually thought it was a valid question since I've seen similar fan-art before. Either way, I certainly wasn't offended.

It does lead me to wonder why that seems to be a fairly common perception of him though because I can't really see it. Is it simply because of his dark coloration or is there something about his character that some people see differently than I do? Does anybody have any thoughts?

[SimbasGuard]

[quote="KentuckyWildcat"]It does lead me to wonder why that seems to be a fairly common perception of him though because I can't really see it. Is it simply because of his dark coloration or is there something about his character that some people see differently than I do? Does anybody have any thoughts?[/quote]

Perhaps some people are basing this on the fact that when Kovu And Kiara are stargazing Kovu thinks a star pattern looks like "Like two lions Killing each other for a scrap of meat."

[Carl]

I think it's more than that. I think it's his conflicted character and his dark color scheme put together. Also the way he was raised in a hateful environment.

[TheBlackCatCrossing]

He's the bad boy who is conflicted. He's a trained killer but Kiara discovers that he is a teddy bear underneath. Basically, he's the stuff that girls/young women find attractive, hence all the fanarts and fanfics. LOL! Not to sound judgemental, but I wouldn't put Kovu on the same level as Scar/Loki/TwoFace in terms of complexity and depth.

[SimbasGuard]

[quote="TheBlackCatCrossing"]Not to sound judgemental, but I wouldn't put Kovu on the same level as Scar/Loki/TwoFace in terms of complexity and depth.[/quote]
That's not judgmental, after all unlike Scar/Loki and Two-Face Kovu never actually committed a great act of evil. He intended too, but he never went through with it.

[DGFone]

[quote="SimbasGuard"]
That's not judgmental, after all unlike Scar/Loki and Two-Face Kovu never actually committed a great act of evil. He intended too, but he never went through with it.[/quote]

Which is why I think that Kovu is even more popular still. He is a bad boy with a heart of gold, and no bad actions to make him look bad. So he can angst all he wants, but others will always be around to help him and stuff. At least, that's the impression that I get.

[MooLion]

Sorry not read all the comments, but my ickle thoughts (really ickle because yet again trying to answer things when I should be in bed):

Kovu - His design as a cub is so cute and I guess his personality is rather cute, when he's not being dark and angry. It's fun to see a different looking cub.
Kiara - I'm not sure what I think of Kiara exactly. I rather like her and she's cute, but I suppose like what others said, she perhaps lacks a bit of personality... or maybe it's more that her moods aren't so appealing. This is a problem, that is a problem... Didn't know she had a really wide appeal among those that aren't child/young teen as such (not that you can't like her if older, of course not, just remember being younger and her having more appeal).
Vitani - Like I said in another thread, not so interested in Vitani. Not too into characters with 'attitude'. She's quite insignificant to me really.

[cleargreenwater]

I think the appeal of The SP Kids is that they're much shallower/topical, more generic/"stock" characters than the original cast.

Wait wait, before getting all dismissive here's HOW I think that functions in their favor in regards to popularity: the stock situations and trials that these characters face (that ARE more singularly important to them versus the original cast precisely BECAUSE their lack of characterization depth makes action the focus,) are lighter, more popularly accessible fare than those in TLK1, which makes people less intimidated by them and more familiar with their themes and how they can be used/played with/continued. And the more cardboard characters/character designations supports the same comfort with using/expanding/abusing--while all children's movie characters are going to be simplified to some extent, in TLK there was a much greater sense of the character's life beyond their roles (i.e., Nala was The Love Interest, but there was also a great sense of her as a character with her own history within the world of the film beyond that function, the Hyenas were Villian Sidekicks but also had this layer of being a people of their own just off-screen from that allotted designation, etc.)--but in SP, and in the new characters created for SP in particular, there's a lot more wiggle room to a.) define them by further action depending on situation/plot, and b.) less chance to compromise a character's integrity.

See, I'm not always ENTIRELY negative and totally unreasonable when it comes to SP now am I? ;-P

[KentuckyWildcat]

@cleargreenwater, that's an excellent point. I think that explains why I never thought of Kovu as being gothic just because he was conflicted while others did. Diverse grops of people are more likely to find something to identify with in the same character if that character is slightly more generic.