The Lion Guard

[WeirdRaptor]

Wrong. The Lion King is NOT a ripoff of Kimba the Mediocre Lion.

Whether or not ideas were directly taken is, of course, a pointless debate, as the studio with the army of lawyers says they weren't. However, there are undeniable similarities between the two. And it isn't a bad thing at all. Idea pooling and influence are a big part of the creative arts. As prevalent as Tezuka's works were at the time, it is highly unlikely that Disney's artists weren't influenced by him in some way, and Tezuka's Kimba was, in turn, inspired by Bambi.

Yes, someone on the project might have been influenced on a visual level, but not in terms of story. What few similarities there are between the two are so superficial and commonplace in other works as to be splitting hairs. Here's the question of the hour, though? Why? What's in it for Disney to ripoff some obscure anime that older audiences hadn't heard of in decades and their target demographic likely had never heard of at all? Their gig is to base stuff off of well-known fairy tales and folklore, like Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast.
Certainly not money, or so they thought before it became a huge hit. After all, The Lion King was originally thought to just be a placeholder film to tide audiences over for the true *ahem* classic of their generation, Pocahontas. The success of the film was unprecedented as far as the company was concerned, so there you go.

I can on and on about the numerous notable differences between the two AND I WILL if you pursue this. Really, the only thing the whole Lion King vs. Kimba argument has accomplished is making Disney fans loathe the latter.

[Ludichris1]

I wouldn't ever say it's a ripoff or based on, I just acknowledge the inspired similarities and differences. I think that's what most anyone can expect in the matter.  :unsure:

edit: and thanks for the response DarkHououmon

[WeirdRaptor]

9 times out of 10, this is when the Kimba fans jump down my throat for daring to say that The Lion King didn't rip off their oh so precious anime that they likely wouldn't even be watching without the controversy. So I thank you for not doing that.

[DarkWolf91]

9 times out of 10, this is when the Kimba fans jump down my throat for daring to say that The Lion King didn't rip off their oh so precious anime that they likely wouldn't even be watching without the controversy. So I thank you for not doing that.

Haha, there's no reason to jump down anyone's throat! I do apologize for using the word 'ripoff' in the first place, as it was rather strong, and not really what I meant. I enjoy both the Lion King and Kimba, they are very different, and products of different times. I just, like I said, feel pretty confident that a good few of the artists working on it likely drew inspiration from a show that was very popular when they were young. And, also as I said before, that's definitely not a bad thing.

And, back to the Lion Guard!
Has anyone seen the two more recent episodes yet? I found Bunga the Wise a little bit... obvious, but Can't Wait to be Queen was rather good! It was a nice push and pull between siblings, and showed a solid learning curve for both of them. I feel like they might actually be setting up a big and dramatic loss of confidence for Kiara somewhere down the road, but maybe that's just wishful thinking It also had an interesting take on grief and responsibility with Simba's elephant funeral subplot. Have to say I enjoyed it

[bestariana1girl]

9 times out of 10, this is when the Kimba fans jump down my throat for daring to say that The Lion King didn't rip off their oh so precious anime that they likely wouldn't even be watching without the controversy. So I thank you for not doing that.

Haha, there's no reason to jump down anyone's throat! I do apologize for using the word 'ripoff' in the first place, as it was rather strong, and not really what I meant. I enjoy both the Lion King and Kimba, they are very different, and products of different times. I just, like I said, feel pretty confident that a good few of the artists working on it likely drew inspiration from a show that was very popular when they were young. And, also as I said before, that's definitely not a bad thing.

And, back to the Lion Guard!
Has anyone seen the two more recent episodes yet? I found Bunga the Wise a little bit... obvious, but Can't Wait to be Queen was rather good! It was a nice push and pull between siblings, and showed a solid learning curve for both of them. I feel like they might actually be setting up a big and dramatic loss of confidence for Kiara somewhere down the road, but maybe that's just wishful thinking It also had an interesting take on grief and responsibility with Simba's elephant funeral subplot. Have to say I enjoyed it

I have! Bunga really has to grow on me, so far I find him just a tadd annoying lol.

As for Can't Wait To Be Queen, I loved it!! I love seeing Kiara getting some attention after 18 years! The only thing is, in TLK 2 as a cub she wasn't that excited or happy of her royal responsibilities, and in this episode she was really excited.
Another thing is, I love Kion, but you could tell he got jealous with Kiara's short Queen title, and I found it annoying as he is able to start his responsibilities in The Lion Guard at a young age when Kiara gets a bunch of lessons and a quick period of being Queen. Kion should have been happy for her, and when she was giving his his first Decree ( DECREE OMGG lol) he should have been willing to, she wasn't that pushy. Of course this is a show all about Kion who is the protagonist, so I feel as if Disney wants to make Kiara an annoying older sister and Kion the cool sibling, which is upsetting because most kids don't even know Kiara technically was the protagonist of TLK 2, which half the viewers haven't seen/don't know exist.

Of course this is just my mindset since Kiara is my favorite, but Disney mostly has been doing a great job on keeping all the other characteristics & animation of Kiara accurate to TLK 2.

[F-14 Ace]

Ok, I read the basic premise of the show and watched a couple episodes and the show is overall just... meh.  I mean, most of the characters seem alright but the back story with Scar and the superpowers thing is laughable at best.  The back story also relies on Mufasa being a complete and total idiot for not realizing what was going on.  Also, while most of the characters seemed alright, Bunga annoys the mess out of me with his stupid catchphrase.  I never thought I could hate a honey badger so much!  Overall, I think I'll just pass on this.

EDIT: I also find it ridiculous how the hyenas are bad guys just because they try to eat other animals when the lions do pretty much the same thing.  Of course, that was also a flaw of the original movie.  Apparently the whole "circle of life" thing doesn't include hyenas.   In fact, the same can be said for pretty much any other predatory animal on the show.  It's ok for lions to hunt other animals because they're the designated "good guys".  That, and they're more marketable of course!

[Ludichris1]

Hyenas aren't accepted into the pridelands because they don't accept the circle of life, which has a lot to do with balance. on countless occasions, even in the first movie, the hyenas have always wanted to eat and kill as much as they could, leaving the lands in ruin. So until enough hyenas change, that's just how things are gonna be

[pokeplayer984]

^^Exactly!  The lions kill out of necessity while the hyenas kill for the sake of killing.  By only killing out of necessity, the lions ensure that the herds they feed on continue to have a healthy population so they can always have food.  However, the hyenas would rather kill everything in the belief there's more than enough food to go around, not realizing the folly in that belief.  By killing everything, there's nothing that will ensure the healthy growth and they would eventually run out.

Which one could argue happened in the original movie.  The lionesses were forced to hunt for the hyenas so much that the populations dwindled and forced the herds to leave to safer places so they could rebuild their numbers.

At least that's my theory in it all.

[F-14 Ace]

Hyenas aren't accepted into the pridelands because they don't accept the circle of life, which has a lot to do with balance. on countless occasions, even in the first movie, the hyenas have always wanted to eat and kill as much as they could, leaving the lands in ruin. So until enough hyenas change, that's just how things are gonna be


 

I don't seem to recall them ever explaining that anywhere in the movie.  Sounds more like fan speculation to me.

^^Exactly! The lions kill out of necessity while the hyenas kill for the sake of killing. By only killing out of necessity, the lions ensure that the herds they feed on continue to have a healthy population so they can always have food. However, the hyenas would rather kill everything in the belief there's more than enough food to go around, not realizing the folly in that belief. By killing everything, there's nothing that will ensure the healthy growth and they would eventually run out.

Which one could argue happened in the original movie. The lionesses were forced to hunt for the hyenas so much that the populations dwindled and forced the herds to leave to safer places so they could rebuild their numbers.

At least that's my theory in it all.

Really?  Because I could have sworn the lack of prey was caused by a drought or famine if the dried up riverbed and lack of vegetation is anything to go by.  Unless the hyenas somehow drank all the water and ate all the grass too.  Also, " the hyenas kill for the sake of killing." was never mentioned anywhere in the movie.

[DarkWolf91]

I don't seem to recall them ever explaining that anywhere in the movie. Sounds more like fan speculation to me.

It isn't detailed in the movie, but that's the explanation they give in the TV show. Janja's group is apparently composed of nontypical hyenas, if the episode with Jasiri can be taken at face value.

The more I watch, the more I'm starting to think this takes place in the middle of movie 2- after Kiara's initial contact with the outlanders, but before her first solo hunt. This also seems to tie in with the rumored re-appearance of the outland cubs, and Kiara's change in attitude from our earliest glimpse of her. It could also explain Kion's absence in that first part- he just wasn't born yet I guess we'll see what they decide to do with it

[Parker]

Fun fact - Ford Riley, who is credited with writing seven episodes of The Lion Guard so far, apparently worked on The Land Before Time TV series. IMDB credits him as a "Developer" for 20 of the show's episodes, along with being a story editor and writer.

I only found out about The Lion Guard recently, but what I've seen of it looks fun and entertaining. As a fan of 2D animation, the show's strong visuals are a real treat -- an example of what modern 2D Disnney animation can look like in an era when it's been overshadowed by the likes of Tangled and Frozen. Don't get me wrong -- I like those movies fine enough. But there's undeniable nostalgia in seeing old-school Disney visuals shine again with a modern sheen.

For a Disney Junior show, The Lion Guard at least tries to include a sense of action and danger in its plots. Take this fight with the Hyenas, for example. It certainly seems to take itself more seriously than Jake and the Never Land Pirates or Sofia the First. Those shows are blatantly aimed at a much younger audience than their theatrical source material. Compared to them, The Lion Guard feels much closer in tone and aesthetic to the actual Lion King.

There are delightful characters like Jasiri who expand the world of The Lion King and plenty of fun songs, even if some are a bit too inoffensive. Forgive the blasphemy, but I actually like Sisi ni Sawa a good deal more than Hakuna Matata. The show probably introduces continuity issues between it and The Lion King 2, but I'd be lying if I said I cared a whole awful lot about that.

As for the earlier Lion King vs Kimba discussion, I think it's more than possible that Disney borrowed from the legendary Osamu Tezuka's work, and that is in no way a bad thing. The inspiration lifted from Tezuka's manga is fairly innocent -- the lion-shaped clouds and the Pride Rock iconography being examples. Disney added more than enough to make its story stand on its own, without ripping off Kimba. Heck, the movie's plot borrows more from Hamlet, something hardly anyone blames it for compared to the overwrought Kimba controversy.

[RockingScorpion]

Today I decided to give the "movie" a shot where the explain what's up what with the lion guard and then watched the first episode. What can I say, I'll definitely watch more episodes. I'm hooked.

Sisi ni sawa, we are the same ♫
(That'll be stuck in my head for quite a while probably. )

[Hypno]

Gave the movie and the first two episodes a shot - and I like them. I like Jasiri the female hyena, and also two of the main characters, Kion and Fuli. I also like Janga, just as I liked Banzai in TLK. Not sure who's my favorite of the two as of yet. Makuu's an antagonist I like as well.
Bunga is pissing me off though. "Zuka sawa" "un-bunga-lievable" shut up!!! He gets so annoying, but he can be funny at times.
I'm glad to hear that the Outlanders pack from TLK 2 is in this one, and that Mufasa isn't left behind, neither is Simba or Nala, so I'll keep watching for sure
But Sarabi's still missing since TLK (I'm not counting the 1 and a half cameo). Bummer.

Also, there's a second season airing now and there's been a few episodes aired so far. Apparently Kion's gonna summon the ghost of Scar or something in the next episode airing, so I'm not sure what's gonna happen there. The second season also apparently is taking place in the dry season or something, I heard.

A third season is also in production

[Sovereign]

I also watched the film and reeled through a few episodes and I wasn't too impressed. The film's storyline could have worked but the main characters and the world weren't powerful enough. Kion was completely neutral as was Fuli but Beshte and especially Bunga ruined everything. Beshte was merely annoying and stupid but every time Bunga appears on the screen, I get the powerful urge to turn off my computer. Ono was the only character I really liked because I found his attitude and voice well done but he alone isn't worth watching the show imo. There just wasn't too much positive going on at any time.

[Hypno]

Yeah :unsure:
And I'm starting to not like Janja so much...he's like Red Claw, easily defeated.

[DarkWolf91]

Yeah, it's turning out to be a bit of a disappointment. It was a big opportunity to expand the TLK lore, but they're really just... not doing anything with it. Some of the episodes are good, but most are forgettable. And they haven't had a good song since "Sisi ni sawa."