The Lion King/Who was the cub?

2011-07-14T18:51:37Z

Lionkingfreak:

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 [[Neopets|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 (male and female lions were given different color schemes respectively), and/or citing ''The Lion King: Six New Adventures'' as a canon source. However, the books are not officially canon as they were written by people who don't belong to The Walt Disney Company and were published only in USA instead of world wide.

Some have attempted to reconcile the cub's discrepancy by suggesting he may have somehow died or been killed at a young age, possibly by [[Zira]]. Other theories 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, but in the official canon it remains "Fluffy" and has no gender as its creators said in 1995. 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 some fans object that Kiara couldn't possibly be the cub at the end of ''The Lion King'', that would mean she was presented before the pridelands twice, once at the end of ''The Lion King'' and a second time at the beginning of ''Simba's Pride''. But the cub at the end could not be an older sibling to Kiara, because the sequel film's timeline was made so that there is no time for anyone else but Kiara to have been born - and especially Kopa appears as too old in the books to be the cub at the end and for him to have disappeared before the movie's events.

Others feel that speculation is pointless, on the basis that they think ''Simba's Pride'' contains serious plot holes and internal contradictions such that it is not accepted as a "real" sequel by them. Another reason why speculation is pointless, is that the sequel's makers used the cub from the first film for baby Kiara in their film's official trailer, which literally officializes that the cub and Kiara are one and same in essence.
anyway , the cub in the end of TLK is NOT KOPA ! here's why :

today i will be discussing about kopa. and why he is not the cub in the end of TLK.

theory # 1: '' zira murdered him ''

that theory is not possible ! 1. did we see any outsiders in TLK ? especially zira ? no. what year was kopa existent ? 1994 in those lion king six new adventures books. zira ? 1998 in simba's pride. nuka was a teenager in tlk2:SP right ? then that would make it impossible for zira to murder kopa , 4 year gap , right ? that would make kopa a teenager , or a young adult , and there for , he would be able to defend for himself. and Disney for sure would not show violence in there animated films , right ? so that theory is proved wrong ! and , who did zira really want to kill ? simba ! NOT''kopa''

NEVER KOPA !

theory # 2: kopa + vitani

that is also wrong ! like i said with zira , 4 year gap ! 1994 - 1998 ? kopa would be either a teen or a young adult when vitani was a cub ? O.o that would also be gross ! that theory , also proved wrong !

theory # 3: '' the cub in the end of tlk is a boy , the books say so.''

that theory is also wrong ! just because those books where written for TLK , does not mean those books where right. matter and fact , those books where not writtin by tlk's flim makers. they where made by people who loved the movie , and made books after the film was released. far as books , like the art of the lion king and other books made by the filmmaker's , they the cub was a genderless , fluffy. NOT KOPA ! and this link was written in 1993 , a year before TLK was released. they clearly state that the cub was just a ''newborn cub ''. tons of evidence there.

theory # 4 : '' THE CUB IN THE END OF tlk is different than tlksp''

not true ! in fact the animators that made simba's pride where different people !

theory # 5 : '' the cub in the end of tlk is a male ''

not true ! the cub probably got the ear rims from sarabi. [don't tell me sarabi male now ? ] and it did not have the paint on it's forehead , again , female trait. the cub's chest connected all the way , another female trait. the cub's paws where close , another female trait , meaning , THE CUB IN THE END OF TLK IS FEMALE , FLUFFY / KIARA!

better ?

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The Lion King/Who was the cub?