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01.09.2005 TLK Going Back In the Vault
According to Amazon.com , all three Lion King movies are set to be discontinued on January 31, 2005. Get yours now while supplies last!

Thanks to Jess Walzak!
 
10.14.2004 Vinyl Special Edition Soundtrack (That's Right, Vinyl )

For those fans who still have the means and the desire to play vinyl records, Disney has now apparently released a Vinyl Record Version of the Lion King Special Edition Soundtrack. It's got a unique art overlay (which, I presume, doesn't interfere with the playback), and looks really hot. Might be worth collecting even if you don't have a vinyl record player! Price is $17.99.

Thanks to Roku!

 
09.21.2004 TLK Trilogy Boxed Set Art

A forum at UltimateDisney.com has the box art for the upcoming TLK Trilogy collection.

Looks like it's little more than a bunch of pre-existing clip-art composited together. Too bad they couldn't have commissioned some new original art... but I suppose it could have been worse.

Thanks to Lindsay M. for spotting this!

 
09.07.2004 6-Disc Lion King Trilogy DVD Set Available for Preorder
Set for release on December 7, 2004, there's a new six-disc "Lion King Trilogy" set that you can preorder from Amazon.com or Circuit City . List price is $69.99, but the retail chains have lower prices than that.

Thanks to Lion Queen for the info!

UPDATE: Scroll down to the 05.05.2004 entry to see the box art for this set; also note that it's been out in Region 2 areas (such as the UK) since June 28. Thanks to Mark H. for pointing this out!

UPDATE: Best Buy has it too (thanks Bryan B.).
 
 
09.02.2004 "Simba's Pride" Special Edition DVD and Soundtrack Released
The Special Edition re-release of Simba's Pride is now available everywhere, including Wal-Mart and DisneyDVD.com .

Laura (aka "coolraptor") has submitted this review:

First off, the bonus lithograph pictured on the Disney Store website is the same one that came with the DVD. It comes in a large envelope almost as nice (maybe nicer than) the litho itself. I own the original DVD release of SP but this one actually looks clearer onscreen. I don't know if it's possible that the quality could be better than the original DVD release but I swear it looks better—for example, during the opening as the sun is rising I see details on the elephants I don't remember seeing before, such as the actual folds of skin whereas in the original DVD all I saw were silhouettes. The colors in general appear a little less intense than the original DVD release—in general the film is "not so orange".

I did see the aforementioned change in Kovu's facial expression during the one instant in the Crocodile Attack screen. Why that was done beats me...he gasps straight at the camera for a split second before turning his head to the left at which point the animation looks identical to the original release. Also I noticed how the screen fades a little faster right after the Upendi sequence so we don't see Kiara and Kovu going from walking to the beat of the song to a regular walk. I had to skim through most of the movie (a bit busy today :) so if there are any other miniscule changes I did not see them—it'll have to wait either until tomorrow when I get to actually watch the film and maybe for sharper eyes than mine.

Chapters are all the same except that the chapter entitled "Alligator Attack" is now called "Crocodile Attack". Menu pages are nice, not nearly as fun as TLK 1.5 but also no horrific 3D animation to deal with as per TLK:SE. The "Matter-Of-Facts" option is a bit annoying turned on—it supposed to be a pop up of interesting facts you can choose to have on while watching the film. A great idea, except for the fact the pop ups block virtually the entire screen!

"One by One" short is an uplifting sequence, using a longer, modified version of the song One by One, about kids escaping their rather depressing town to go to the surrounding veldt to fly kites. "Find out why" shorts are fun but there's only five of them—I recall quite a few more shorts existed during the One Saturday Morning run. The Timon and Pumbaa's virtual tour is possibly the least interesting of the three virtual tours and here we finally get subjected to some bad 3D animation, including the duo's new pet elephant Gertie (and yes, eventually she starts talking). Rafiki's challenge is a gourd shuffling game that plays for about five rounds. Pride Land Games consist of three games (two mathematical, one a shape game) that are extremely basic. Of all the bonus features, in fact, the Proud of Simba's Pride is by FAR the most interesting. We get to see some of the storyboards, character model sheets, and hear a few lines that never made the film, including one by Mufasa (or more accurately perhaps Mufasa's ghost) where he blames Simba for the war between the Pridelanders and Outlanders. Also, it made me respect what is still my least favorite of the TLK trilogy a little bit more when I learned how some of the things we see in the film were done intentionally to invoke a deeper meaning. For example, the animators explain how during the original we always see Pride Rock from the right but in the sequel it is nearly always shown from the left to cue in viewers that this is a different story to be viewed from a different perspective. They also try to explain some of Simba's behavior during the sequel that I had previously considered irrational. As I said, in all it made me respect TLK 2 just a bit more.

So in conclusion: the film looks a bit better and cleaner to me and the bonus features, with the exception of the Proud of Simba's Pride featurette, are disappointing. Which leads me to the question: Where are the deleted scenes? I could've sworn I had read somewhere that some of the pencil tests that have been floating around online for years (i.e., Vitani and Nuka's introductions, Zira's suicide) would be included here. I even played the games and did the safari in the hopes that maybe we would get them as rewards at the end. But there is no sign of these at all. So if someone else figures out that they are on the disc and how to get them, let the rest of us know, OK?

The soundtrack has also been re-released, according to DisneyStore.com ; it doesn't contain all the songs from "Return to Pride Rock", the original edition of the soundtrack; the original (non-TLK-related) Lebo M. songs have been omitted.
 
08.03.2004 "Simba's Pride" Special Edition DVD Menus and Bonus Feature Screenshots

A thread at UltimateDisney.com has screenshots of the menus on the new "Simba's Pride" Special Edition DVD, as well as shots of some of the bonus features such as the animated "One By One" short.

Thanks to Epesi, who memorably notes that Pumbaa, drawn again in the "Simba's Pride" style rather than the TLK 1.5 style, looks like "an asphyxiated beet".

Source: www.lionking.org/sequels/
 
07.27.2004 "Simba's Pride" DVD Reanimated Segments

Shoka and Thiago Medeiros send word of some scenes in the Simba's Pride Special Edition DVD that have been re-animated, as well as the whole film being recolored to bring out formerly drab and flat colors.

In the original VHS (and I'm assuming, the original DVD) version, Kovu jerks his head back and screams at one point. In the new DVD he turns and looks at Kiara, with the same backing scream. IMHO, it doesn't fit as well, but it's another one of those little odd changes that we'll never discover the purpose of. It's only about a second, so if you'd not seen the original recently, you'd probably not notice it.

 

The other change I noticed is right after Upendi. In the original, there is a short section right after the song where we see Kovu and Kiara walking back towards Pride Rock, singing "In Upendi" over and over, until they eventually finish, and their step, which was going to the beat, relaxes back into normal walking. In the DVD, the relax back into normal walking is no longer there, it's cut out. Before that happens, it fades off to the next scene.

There are reportedly a lot more scenes that have been redone, too.

Meanwhile, the official press release for the Special Edition DVD has been posted, thanks to Simba B; and Bryan Berlien points out the location of the official Disney site for the Speical Edition.
 

Source: www.lionking.org/sequels/
 
07.04.2004 Disneland Paris TLK Show

There is a new " Legend of The Lion King " show at the Disneyland Resort Paris, which by all reports is outstanding. If you're in the neighborhood, don't miss it.

Timduru has posted a first-hand report .
 
Source: www.lionking.org/sequels/
 
06.21.2004 A&E Original Movie "Pride"

Steven recommends the movie " Pride ", an original production by A&E that stars real-life lions with CG-animated mouth movements and star voices. As Steven summarizes:

The movie is live action and the story revolves around a group of lions, and two lion cubs, whose curiousity about the world outside leads them into a journey of discovery.

One of the lionesses, Suzuki, questions aloud about the purpose of being a lion, and her youthful mind leads her to make some unwise decisions about her life.

The movie aired on June 21, but you can buy it on DVD at the A&E website.

Source: www.lionking.org/sequels/
 
06.16.2004 TLK II Special Edition Preordering Available

Simba B. reports that DisneyStore.com has opened up pre-orders for the Simba's Pride Special Edition DVD set; if you put in your preorder before August 31, you'll get a free lithograph. (The current litho shown is of Simba and young Kiara, though the site says it's subject to change.)

Source: www.lionking.org/sequels/
 
06.16.2004 ASIFA "The Lion King" Tenth Anniversary Reunion Panel

On June 14, I attended a once-in-a-lifetime event: ASIFA's "The Lion King" Tenth Anniversary Reunion panel and fundraiser. It comprised TLK's producer, directors, screenwriter, and animators, and was the most insightful two hours of in-depth discussion of the story of the production of TLK that I've ever seen, much less been a part of.

My write-up is here . Christian Ziebarth's is here . Both of us thought of different things to cover, so be sure to read both articles!
 

Source: www.lionking.org/sequels/
 
05.13.2004 TLK SE Disc Art

UltimateDisney.com has posted images of Disc 1 and Disc 2 of the Simba's Pride Special Edition box set. Via Simba B.
 

Source: www.lionking.org/sequels/
 
05.05.2004 TLK2 SE Release Info; TLK Trilogy Box Set

Here are the current box-art images for the Norwegian and Spanish (June 23) versions of The Lion King 2: Special Edition, in Europe:

 

I suppose I've seen worse Simbas, but that Zira is truly horrible.

But there's also information at DVDAnswers.com to the effect that there will be a "Lion King Trilogy" boxed set available on June 28, containing all three movies:

It's only for Region 2, though; no information yet as to a Region 1 (US) version of this boxed set. Looks interesting, though-- that's some very attractive box art.

Thanks to Simba B. and Xarmy for the links.

UPDATE: Xarmy sends this link too, which shows a Spanish box-art image very similar the the US design. I guess it's not officially decided yet which one they're going to use...

Source: www.lionking.org/sequels/
 
05.02.2004 Australian Release of TLK2; Cover "Art"

Simba_thelionking notes this story that cites the Australian release date for the "Simba's Pride" Special Edition DVD as July 21, 2004-- more than a month earlier than the US release.

Also, Simba B. has a newer and cleaner rendition of the DVD's truly foul box art :

I'm sure they could have made Simba look worse if they'd really, really tried...

Source: www.lionking.org/sequels/
 
02.25.2004 Simba's Pride Special Edition Details Released

Simba B. passes on the information published at DVD Empire regarding the upcoming Special Edition release of The Lion King II: Simba's Pride . The release date is August 31, 2004; included on the DVD are the following features:

All New One By One Animated Short
From the Makers of The Lion King.

Find Out Why Game
Ever wonder why we sneeze? Or how an airplane flies? Timon has a few creative ideas, but Pumbaa has some more believable explanations for fascinating scientific phenomena.

Proud Of Simba's Pride
A Making-of featurette that highlights the seeds of the story, the development of the new characters, the African roots of the music and more!

Rafiki's Challenge
Rafiki's three gourd monty game, the classic shell game with a fun twist!

Lots About Lions
Learn more about "big cats," the animals that were the role models for Simba, Kiara and the rest of the pride.

Pride Land Games
Using their math skills, kids can help Timon and Pumbaa gather grubs for the feast and arrange rocks so Kiara and Kovu can get around the crocodiles!

Disney's Song Selection
Skip to your favorite song or play them all! Display the lyrics with the click of a button.

Music Videos
THX Certified
And More!

Video:
Widescreen 1.66:1 Color (Anamorphic)

Audio:
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 [CC]
ENGLISH: DTS 5.1 [CC]
SPANISH: Dolby Digital Stereo
FRENCH: Dolby Digital Stereo

Also, the DVD of The Lion King 1 1/2 contains this poster image, presumably the working design for the Simba's Pride: Special Edition DVD box art. Thanks to Shoka for the scan!

Source: www.lionking.org/sequels/