"Simba! Simba! HELP ME!"
WARNING: Spoilers are unmarked.- There's something to be said about the new status quo post-Scar, and it takes Won the War, Lost the Peace in the most horrific way possible; Scar's defeat brought about a fragile peace, but power ultimately finds another place to rest its head. You bring down one enemy, and they find someone just as bad to replace him (sounds sorta like what Shepherd said in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2). Scar died a martyr in the eyes of his most loyal lionesses, Zira being the most radical disciple. Simba banished the rest of Scar's followers, and he thought that would be the end of it all. Zira and her pride refused to take Scar's defeat lying down, and she spends years indoctrinating her children and other young followers to follow Scar's ultra-radical example of dominance and power, and over time, they became the most dangerous threat to the Pridelands.
- Zira's original death,
where instead of accidentally falling into the chasm and drowning, she gets knocked down to a high ledge and clings on for dear life. Then, when Kiara goes over to try and help her, Zira gives her the evil eye and torments her one last time, then intentionally lets go; grinning venomously all the while, not even so much as hollering on the way down, and then being crushed by swept-away logs as she hits the torrential water. Arguably, the sketchy look of the cut scenes makes her Slasher Smile even worse. It was switched out for just falling because suicide was just too dark.Zira: (glances toward Kiara as she has a very difficult time, then at the raging waters below, and callously smiles) No. Never.- There's a small remnant of this scene in the final film, which implies it may have been fully inked and painted at some point: When Zira falls to her demise, she is very clearly smiling heinously.
- The scene really sheds some light on Zira's character: She's so fanatically devoted to Scar and bananas with revenge that she puts her petty grudge on a higher level of value than her own life. And not just that; the tone of her voice and the expression Zira makes also strongly suggest that her hatred is so powerful, she uses suicide purely to spite Kiara and deny her the satisfaction of saving her.
- Zira's death glare◊. Good luck sleeping after seeing that.
- Simba's tone during Kovu's exile is so chilling. Matthew Broderick's delivery sounds so threatening and pitiless. Who would've known?Simba: Why have you come back?
Kovu: Simba... I had nothing to do with—
Simba: You don't belong here!
Kovu: Please, I ask your forgiveness.
Kiara: Daddy, please listen to him.
Simba: SILENCE! When you first came here, you asked for judgement, and I pass it now... EXILE!
Kiara: No!- While exiling Kovu, Simba stands on Pride Rock and doesn't move a paw, but it's every other citizen of his kingdom except for Kiara who lashes out at him: Oryx brandish their horns at him, pythons try to bite him, zebras kick at him with their front hooves, he gets pecked by ostriches, and vervet monkeys throw rocks at him; and then, to top it all off, marabou storks pursue him as he runs off. Don't mess with the King or his subjects, but yikes, that's harsh.
- Have you ever really listened to the lyrics of "Not One Of Us?" It's a tie between Nightmare Fuel and Tear Jerker.Born in grief, raised in hate
Helpless to defy his fate
Let him run, let him live
But do not forget what we cannot forgive- The German lyrics, which roughly translate into:Hate and envy, high treason
Nothing excuses this action
Let him go, let him flee
But we will never forget this crime
- The German lyrics, which roughly translate into:
- Speaking of the movie's songs, My Lullaby sure is nightmarish for a, well, lullaby. While "Be Prepared" is the gold standard for villain songs, it had some campy fun elements. This song is pure evil.The sound of Simba's dying gasp!
His daughter squealing in my grasp!
His lionesses' mournful cry!
That's my lullaby!- Try the Japanese versions of those lyrics:
- In the Finnish version, the ending lines roughly translate to:It's time to repay the debts
And once Simba is the only one left alive
Covered in blood, he will hear
This lullaby - The Swedish version even makes Nuka's previously comedic line frightening, and Zira's response even more so than her English response.Nuka: Mother dear, do I hear you roar for a bite to Simba's throat?
Zira: Nuka, the blood may flow, but that doesn't bother me at all. - Hell, everything about the situation is horrific. The entire song centers on Zira deciding to train her son as an assassin to murder the father of his new friend. Kovu's scared "But I don't want—" at the beginning and her cutting him off is heartbreaking. He's just an innocent cub who wanted a friend.
- Even worse is that Zira succeeds (for a time, at least) in indoctrinating Kovu, who, when introduced as an adult, seems utterly soulless. Cub Kovu was sweet despite his harsh upbringing and risked his life to save Kiara minutes after meeting her and even defended his bullying older brother. Adult Kovu has clearly had every ounce of compassion beaten out of him, though it's implied that he was feigning it to please Zira and was genuinely trying to escape her by fleeing to the Pride Lands.
- The ending of the song contains one of the nastiest Evil Laughs ever put to film — a crazed, hate-filled cackle that continues as the song closes.
- The No-Holds-Barred Beatdown Zira and her followers unleash on Simba.
- In Zira and Simba's first confrontation, Zira says "If you need your pound of flesh, here" and pushes Kovu towards him, as though daring Simba to kill him. Kovu looks terrified and despite seeing him as a future threat, Simba is clearly horrified by Zira's suggestion. At the end of the first scene, as the Pridelanders prepare to leave, Zira says to Simba very maliciously, "We have barely begun." If the way she delivers that line isn't chilling enough, she then looks down at Kiara with an ominous Slasher Smile and chuckles menacingly enough to send chills down one's spine. Given Kiara's reaction, just imagine being in her position right now! Brrrr...
- One easily missed: After Zira returns to the Outlands with Kovu, Vitani and Nuka run to greet the pair. Nuka, of course, immediately runs to Zira to tell her all about the field mice he hunted for her. Vitani, in the other hand, goes up to Kovu and engages him in a play fight, just before Zira starts in on Nuka. In the surface, nothing terribly noteworthy - just Vitani being a cub and Nuka being a toady. But on a rewatch, knowing the way Zira treats and will continue to treat Nuka and Kovu, Vitani's behavior in this scene reads like an older sibling trying to get a younger brother away and distracted while their abusive parent rounds on another sibling.
- Simba's nightmare is a mix of this and Tear Jerker. Not only does it recreate one of the most saddening scenes from the first movie note and shows all the guilt our feline hero keeps feeling about it, we are also shown some rather lovely elements that make it one of the most frightening dream sequences in any animated film. The deep red, demonic sky and overall color scheme of the dream, the creepy glowing eyes of the wildebeest herd and, of course, an awfully scary-looking version of Scar who then morphs into Kovu and throws Simba to his own death while cackling maniacally. The whole thing shows that, while Scar is dead, all of his villainous actions definitely left a long-lasting impact on Mufasa's son.Scar: Gotcha! Trust me...
- On top of all this, Matthew Broderick and Jim Cummings' performances in this scene are genuinely bone-chilling, from the desperate cries and pleas of the former to the vicious baritone and demonic laugh of the latter, to say nothing of James Earl Jones' performance as Mufasa.
- Simba's mental state, in general. Although it is not directly shown, Simba is very clearly starting to show signs of post-traumatic stress disorder. Although the movie focuses on this, his state as the film goes on slowly devolves more into chronic mental disorder. Thankfully, Kiara is able to stop her father from losing it, but still.
- "Last chance, Zira. Go home." The way Simba says it lets you know just how close he is to losing it, especially given he implies that he will tear Zira apart.
- "I am home" is Zira's growling reply, followed immediately by a Slasher Smile, a thunderclap, and a flash of lightning, all of which make it nightmarishly effective.
- The ambush is nightmarish. Simba and Kovu actually seem to be bonding, with Simba seeming to acknowledge that Kovu is not Scar. Then you hear Zira giving an evil chuckle. All of a sudden, Kovu sees the Outsiders appear out of the mist, with the smoke covering their eyes, one of the few times this franchise gives lions their Glowing Eyes of Doom they possess in real life. Then Zira mocks and insults Simba for being so alone. She then proceeds to sadistically praise Kovu for the ambush, knowing that Kovu has nothing to do with it, and Simba reacts exactly as she predicted.
- All of the lionesses proceed to maul Simba relentlessly. Kovu's attempt to help Simba gets him knocked out by Vitani. Simba falls down a two story fall, with only a rock breaking it. When Simba reaches the logs, he is incredibly hesitant to climb them, but when he finally reaches safety with Kiara, he just collapses. Until we see him at Pride Rock, it is not unreasonable to assume his wounds are fatal.
- The wildfire scene is genuinely intense, where a coughing Kiara is surrounded by deadly flames. Spotting a cliff, she desperately tries to climb it (mirroring the same precarious position her father and grandfather were in years ago) as the cliff crumbles by the minute. After barely managing to climb it, she faints from smoke inhalation. Had Kovu not appeared, she would've died. note
- As Kovu carries an unconscious Kiara on his back and runs through the wildfire, a flaming branch falls right in front of his path. Eventually, Kovu spots a cliff and jumps off it and into a lake. Kovu resurfaces and just manages to spot Kiara as she submerges beneath the water, before he dives to save her, then finally drags her to safety.
- When Simba deliberates Kovu saving Kiara from the wildfire, he simply roars and growls as he paces furiously back and forth. This is a pissed-off king, not to be messed with.
- Even though it's mostly Played for Laughs, Zira's relationship with Nuka is a clear example of domestic abuse. She constantly humiliates and harms him, and his only reaction is an insane, Norman Bates-esque devotion that eventually leads him to his death. Add the fact that Nuka is always unkempt and malnourished while all the lionesses are healthy and strong enough to face Simba's pride (another sign of Zira's neglect towards him) and you can easily understand why he's so unstable. In this way, Nuka is ironically, more like Scar than Kovu is, overlooked and determined to prove himself.
- While Kiara and Kovu are stargazing together before the "Upendi" song, Kovu's question regarding Scar's presence among The Great Kings of the Past can raise a good deal of Fridge Horror implications.Kovu: Do you think Scar's up there?
- If one remembers the... symbolism of "Be Prepared" from the first film, then a scary new light dawns on the portrayal of Zira's cult of Scar. Scar's rule was brutish and nearly led all the Pride Lands to ruin, even those who did his bidding, yet Zira and her pride mythologize Scar as a brilliant leader who was betrayed by "them" (taken to creepy extremes with the younger members of the pride who only know what Zira has taught them), and they believe it is their destiny to regain their power over a kingdom that only wants to put their legacy behind them.
- Kovu's Backstory. Word of God confirmed that he is not related to Scar or Zira, meaning he is basically an orphan who was raised to hate and kill by a sociopath, one who put on the mask of a loving parent and misled him into thinking and acting in disturbing ways. What's worse is that Kovu doesn't even know he's not related to Zira, making Fridge Horror set in when one thinks about how he was taken from his biological parents.
- Kovu and Kiara getting attacked by crocodiles. Luckily, they don't get harmed.
