The Lion King/Who was the cub?

2007-05-30T18:49:57Z

82.6.101.166:

Before [[Disney]] released any information about the sequel that would eventually become ''[[Simba's Pride]]'', the cub of [[Simba]] and [[Nala]] who appeared at the end of ''[[The Lion King]]'' was the source of much speculation and a character in many works of [[fan fiction]].

For the most part it was assumed the cub was male, and various names for him/her were said to have come from Disney sources. ''Fluffy'' was the name given to it by the animators during the production of ''The Lion King'', according to the director's commentary on the LaserDisc edition (and later on the DVD release) but this was just a convenient way to refer to an unnamed character. Some months after the release of the movie, he appeared in a series of children's books entitled ''[[Wikipedia:The Lion King: Six New Adventures|The Lion King: Six New Adventures]]'' where he was named [[Kopa]] and was the main character of one of the books, ''Vulture Shock''. It appears, however, that these books were either disregarded by or unknown to the developers of ''Simba's Pride'' (the books are not entirely consistent with each other on unrelated points). Two other names said to be considered for him during production of the sequel are Naba and Chaka, and for a while it appeared the latter was going to be the name of choice. Chaka was described in March 1997 as "at this point the closest thing to an official Disney name for the cub".<ref>[http://www.lionking.org/text/Encyclopedia.txt The Unofficial Lion King Character Encyclopedia] March 1997 Edition at lionking.org. Retrieved July 25, 2006.</ref>

As story development continued, Chaka got a sister, ''Shani''. Shani soon overtook Chaka in importance to the story, while Chaka became more marginalized and eventually was written out of the story altogether. With the cub now a female, other possible names for her that were said to be considered were ''Aisha'' (also a Neopet), ''Nunka'', and the one finally chosen for her, ''[[Kiara]]''.

All of this took place over a period of about four years. Fans of the movie didn't wait around that long and soon came up with their own ideas about who the cub was. The most popular non-canonical name for the cub was ''[[Tanabi]]''. Other names were proposed in various works of fan fiction for the cub, who was usually male and sometimes part of a litter that included other cubs, but Tanabi was by far the most widely used name.

Some fans have suggested that the cub at the end of the first movie is not Kiara at all but is in fact Kopa or Tanabi, noting that the appearance and coloration of the cub at the end of the first movie don't entirely match the appearance of Kiara, and/or citing ''The Lion King: Six New Adventures'' as a canon source. Some have attempted to reconcile the discrepancy by suggesting he may have somehow died or been killed at a young age, possibly by [[Zira]]. Other possibilities include being kidnapped by a lioness of a different pride and taken as her own child. No official statement has been made by Disney regarding the identity of the cub at the end of the first movie. The majority of fans consider it reasonably clear in ''Simba's Pride'' that Disney meant for us to accept that Kiara was in fact the cub we saw at the end of ''The Lion King'', but there is room for speculation on this point.

== References ==
<references/>

The Lion King

2007-05-30T18:46:41Z

82.6.101.166: /* Usage of African languages */ Zulu is a Bantu language too (the Nguni languages are a subfamily of Bantu)

[[Image:TLKVHScover.jpg|right|thumb|''The Lion King'' 1995 VHS cover.]]
'''''The Lion King''''' ('''TLK''') is an animated movie that was released by [[Wikipedia:Disney|Disney]] in 1994. It is popular in the [[furry]] community and is reported by some as their first introduction to the [[fandom]],{{fact}} especially since it was released right at the beginning of widespread public use of the Internet. Many participate in [[The Lion King MUCK]] or on one of the other large number of [[:Category:The Lion King multiplayer worlds|multiplayer worlds inspired by ''The Lion King'']]. In 2001, [[Magnwa]] stated there were "about 10 or 12 TLK
mucks out there, some doing better than others. There are about 40 or so
private TLK RPG's out there (non forum) that are invite only. There are 40
or 50 or so forums".<ref>[http://groups.google.com/group/alt.fan.lion-king/msg/a8e01ba402c80751?dmode=source The REASON Muck talk isn't liked by a lot of furs here..] August 12, 2001 post by Magnwa to [[TLK-L]]. Retrieved May 24, 2007.</ref>

''The Lion King'' is the third movie ever produced by Disney to feature an cast formed entirely of [[talking animal]]s, after ''[[Wikipedia:Bambi|Bambi]]'' and ''[[Robin Hood]]''.

The movie is part of a three movie series:
* ''The Lion King'', released in 1994
* ''[[Simba's Pride]]'' or ''[[The Lion King 2]]'', released as a direct to video in 1998 in the US.
* ''[[The Lion King 1 1/2]]'' (''[[The Lion King 3]]'' in Europe) released as a direct to video in 2004.

== Controversy ==

There were a few points of controversy with the first movie:

* In one scene, [[Simba (The Lion King)|Simba]] flops down into the grass and stirs up some pollen. The pollen hovers in the air of a moment and appears to make a word in the sky before drifting off. Many people claimed they saw 'SEX' as the word, however Disney claims the word is 'SFX' as in 'Special Effects'. While the scene was not modified in the VHS release of the movie, the DVD release has the word darkened out and hardly visible at all.
* There are many similarities between the movie and a Japanese [[anime]] series called ''[[Kimba the White Lion]]''. Originally, ''The Lion King'' was to be called ''King of the Jungle'' and was to include a white lion as the lead. There are many parallels in characters and story points between the two movies that did make it into the final production. [http://www.kimbawlion.com/rant2.htm This page] goes deeper into the similarities between the two movies, including images of the two.

== Usage of African languages ==

Although many people believe that the movie takes its inspiration entirely from the [[Swahili]] language, all of the songs in the film are written in [[Wikipedia:Zulu|Zulu]] (while both are Bantu languages and therefore related[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=zul][http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=swh], they are not mutually intelligible). It should be noted, though, that many of the names and phrases in ''The Lion King'' are words in Swahili, although other non-African words are used. The most popular of these examples is the phrase ''Hakuna Matata'' (lit. "there are no worries").

*[[Swahili]] Names and their English translations
**[[Simba (The Lion King)|Simba]] - lion
**[[Sarabi]] - mirage
**[[Pumbaa]] - careless; to be a fool; to be bewildered
**[[Rafiki]] - friend
**[[Banzai]] - skulk, lurk
**[[Shenzi]] - uncouth, savage, demon, barbarous

== References ==
<references/>

== See also ==
* ''[[Wikipedia:The Lion King|The Lion King]]'' at Wikipedia
* [[The Lion King/Who was the cub?|Debate on the identity of Simba and Nala's cub]]
* [[The Lion King (musical)|''The Lion King'' the Broadway stage musical]]
* [[:Category:The Lion King characters|''The Lion King'' characters]]
* [[:Category:The Lion King fan fiction|''The Lion King'' fan fiction]]

== External links ==
* [http://www.lionking.org/ www.lionking.org] - The biggest TLK site on the net, this includes [[The Lion King Fan-Art Archive]].
* ''[http://imdb.com/title/tt0110357/ The Lion King]'' at the [[wikipedia:Internet Movie Database|Internet Movie Database]]
*[http://community.livejournal.com/thelionking/ Fans of The Lion King LJ community] on [[LiveJournal]]
* '''Russian:'''
** [http://www.lionking.ru/ ''The Lion King'' in Russia]
** [http://www.pridelands.ru/ Pridelands in Russia] - Big site about ''The Lion King'' with music, pictures, etc.

[[Category:Movies|Lion King, The]]
[[Category:1994 births|Lion King, The]]
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The Lion King/Who was the cub?

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