Fridge / The Lion King II: Simba's Pride

Fridge Brilliance

• Simba's sudden overprotectiveness and mistrust of Kovu makes him look like a total douche at first, as many fans have pointed out over the years. But it makes more sense for him than you might think. If you look into the medical symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder, Simba fits the bill perfectly for a lot of them. Firstly, we see that he relives a traumatic event (Mufasa's death) through the dream sequence where Scar morphs into Kovu. He has prejudicial beliefs about Kovu and the Outsiders because of their connection to Scar. Simba is clearly psychologically distressed, he's anxious about Kiara's safety, and he assumes Kovu is up to no good because he's an outsider (plus the physical resemblance to Scar, reminding him of the trauma even further); the list goes on. This is classic PTSD here, and it's more than fair to assume Simba has it. Keep in mind: he watched his father get trampled to death, had his own uncle tell him it was directly his fault, and then was forced to run away from home all while he was still just a cub. It's no wonder Simba was such an emotional wreck here.
  • Similarly, provided the Outsiders were initially undeserving of banishment beyond loving Scar, Simba may have banished them because he was projecting his hatred of Scar onto them.
  • Not to mention, he is a king now. Weary is the head that has a crown resting on it. Simba has to maintain an enormous kingdom while wrestling with his implied PTSD, and it is known that stress can easily aggravate psychological trauma, especially trauma gained in childhood. When you consider all the trauma Simba went through, along with his PTSD, it really isn't a surprise he spends most of the movie in angry fits or needlessly pessimistic.
• Scar chose Zira's youngest son to be his successor rather than her oldest, and who would be more likely than Scar to despise the tradition of automatically giving the elder brother preference over the youngest?
• Kovu freaked out when Zira told him "You've killed your own brother!", not only because his brother was dead, but because that's exactly what Scar did. It actually applies to Scar, but not to Kovu, but the mere idea of Kovu being his older brother's killer, whether he was or wasn't, scared him more because it's what Scar did, which is why he freaked out like he did. The fact that Kovu didn't kill his brother isn't the point, it's the idea of it, the accusation against him, that freaked him out. Notice how this scene immediately precedes him being exiled from the Pride Lands—during which he sees his reflection change into Scar's. He's obviously quite scared of being anything like, or becoming more like, Scar. When he was actually Scar's son that was a legitimate worry, but even without it he still can be upset by the comparison.
• Also, though in terms of Shakespeare, while the first Lion King is frequently compared to Hamlet, an arguably almost-as-valid, but less common comparison is that to Macbeth, because Scar, like Macbeth, murders the established king to personally become king, and manages to cover it up, while the lawful heirs/heir to the throne flee/flees the kingdom. Eventually, one of the exiled heirs to the throne returns, with others, and takes back the throne.
• The message of the movie was obviously about race, discrimination, equality, blah blah. There was the light-colored lions reigning over the dark-colored lions. Zira, the queen of the dark lions, would have been one of the "African-American" lions as well, but had been brought down as well. The crucial difference between Zira and the other dark lions that survived - Zira was the one breeding hate in Kovu's heart, teaching him to assume that Pridelanders would do bad things to him for no reason. And, in the end, it was Zira's hate for the Pridelanders that caused her death; Kiara had tried to save her life, and her discriminatory attitude against light-colored lions had killed her. The message isn't only that "white people are horrible to black people and should know better" - it is also that non-whites shouldn't be so quick to make demons of people who wish them no harm.
  • It's actually less about racism and more about stereotypes. The Outsiders are lighter colored, but in the sense that the color of their coats is less vibrant than the healthy Pridelanders, which is to be expected when they have less food. Furthermore, the Outsiders aren't exactly innocent; the reason that they were banished was because they supported Scar, as opposed to African-Americans or other minorities who obviously did nothing wrong. The point is that both sides learn to put aside the past and let go of their resentment.
• One thing loracarol realized about the second movie was that- normally- the villains all wear black/some variation of black/dark colors to show that they are the villains. But lions don't wear clothing, meaning that the bad lions have to have darker fur. The fact that most of the lionesses do a Heel–Face Turn and subvert that trope just makes it even better.
• Zira's and Kovu's confrontation after Nuka's death is a lot more horrible for Kovu:
  Zira: You betrayed your pride — betrayed Scar!
  Kovu: I want nothing more to do with him!
  Zira: You cannot escape it! Nuka is dead because of YOU! You killed your own brother!
  • One might think that when Zira said "You cannot escape it!", she simply meant escaping the guilt of killing his brother. Maybe, but then you might suddenly remember that Scar killed his own brother, too! This made me realize that Zira was telling Kovu that he was not so different from the villain he just said he wants nothing more to do with! In her eyes, he "cannot escape" his connection with Scar and his destiny as Scar's heir. Kovu's just revealed his Heel–Face Turn, and Zira's trying to crush his hopes by claiming that he's still just like Scar! How can he renounce his succession to Scar's evil legacy after doing exactly what Scar did... in the story he just heard off-screen from Simba right before the ambush?! It wasn't any lingering irrational guilt that made Kovu run away shouting "NO!" — it was the fear of being not so different from Scar. No wonder he saw Scar's reflection shortly afterwards and felt there was no hope for his redemption! Zira really is a magnificently manipulative bitch!
• The sequel introduces a strange problem that is partly Fridge Brilliance and partly Fridge Horror — Scar had a pride of Outsiders who would have gladly accepted him as king. And Simba would have spared him if he'd simply cut his losses and walked away. He could have gone to the other pride, bided his time, and made a second attempt — but for Scar it was the Pridelands or nothing. He was so obsessed with having that kingdom and getting revenge on his brother's family that he effectively committed suicide.
• Feel free to laugh at me for this, but I first watched the movie about ten years ago, and I just realized last week why everyone kept talking about how Kovu wasn't actually Scar's biological son.
  • If Nala and Simba are cousins, as is commonly stated in Fanon and highly debated to this day, this would have caused more issues. A child born of first-cousin incest wouldn't have an increased chance of birth defects or problems compared to a child not of incest. A child of first-cousin incest having a child with their own first-cousin would up that risk.
  • There seems to be a misconception that Kovu and Kiara would be proper first cousins if Kovu was Scar's son, which is a fair assumption given their similar age. But Kovu would actually be cousins with Simba, with him and Kiara being first cousins once removed (Kiara being the child of Kovu's cousin). Whether that eases the incest problem or not is still YMMV, but it does bring to attention how old Scar would've been when, well, Kovu was conceived.
• I just got one from "The Six New Adventures of The Lion King" and "Simba's Pride". Timon's assumption the cub is male in the movie could refer to Kopa from the book! That made the scene ten times funnier for me.
• The title of the sequel: Simba's pride becomes more meaningful when you realize who is the main character of the sequel and and whom parents are generally proud about.
• Why is Kovu so terrified of his adoptive mother? Zira is smart enough to know that abusing Kovu would give him a solid reason to completely throw the plan out the window, not to mention turn the rest of the Outsiders against her since she was abusing the alleged heir of Scar, so he obviously wasn't abused. However, Kovu sees Zira abusing Nuka, and its the fear of abuse that makes him terrified of his adopted mother, rather than being abused himself.
  • It also further makes Nuka's death a relevent last straw for Kovu turning. Kovu feeling sorry for Nuka's treatment was one of the first signs he was a sympathetic character, and his reaction to his demise shows that never left. Zira ironically botched Kovu's preening into a killing machine by making him empathetic through his brother rather than a simple Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal.
• Timon and Pumbaa are admittedly out of place in this movie, their jokes and comedic tendencies rarely if ever meshing well with some of the more emotional and somber moments throughout the film. You'd be forgiven for just assuming that they're presence was only a result of their popularity and their friendship with Simba. However, during the final battle between the two prides, specifically after Zira's pride defect en masse to the Pridelanders, Simba definitively tells a lone Zira that it was time to "put the past behind [them]." This philosophy was very much what Timon and Pumbaa had taught Simba when they raised him. It contradicts the previous movie's moral of confronting the past in order to come to terms with it, but in this case, it's applicable and relevant. Although it doesn't really impact their overall role, Simba still used a previously contradictory lesson his two best friends had taught him to bring peace between the warring prides.
  • This further highlights the difference between Simba and Kovu — Simba's forefather's had a great legacy of benevolence and prosperity, whereas Scar had none and squandered his only chance at making one for himself. Simba can always fall back on the wisdom of the kings that ruled before him, while Kovu (even with Simba's guidance now) will have to forge his own path and seek his own meaning. Scar's dark legacy had nothing to offer him; sometimes coming to terms with the past is about just turning your back to it.
• It's easy to roll your eyes at Simba for trusting Timon and Pumbaa to keep Kiara safe. After all, Simba himself is overprotective to the point of paranoia when it comes to Kiara. You would think he would realize how incompetent Timon and Pumbaa are... or not. His decision makes way more sense once you remember that Timon and Pumbaa practically raised him. It's really not that big a stretch to allow them to have a hand in raising Kiara as well. This is especially true considering that Mufasa died long before Kiara was born and Sarabi (based on her absence in this film) was probably not alive long enough to see much of her granddaughter either. By default, this makes Timon and Pumbaa the closest thing that Kiara has to living grandparents.
• At the start of the movie, Simba lists the dangers Kiara could get herself into. Some of it (particularly, getting stepped on) seems particularly...extravagant in his protectiveness until you realise that Mufasa technically died because he got stepped on. It makes sense that Simba would be so worried about this.
• While Simba banishing Kovu is portrayed as having completely snapped under the pressure, and him being unfairly cruel and petty to Kovu, along with his pretty harsh Kick the Dog moment to Kiara, it makes completely accurate sense if you know anything about the state people are in when injured. Simba was nearly killed in the ambush, and in a life or death situation, the brain throws all of the energy into survival rather than thinking clearly. Simba is clearly not thinking straight, and his emotions, not really all that stable, completely take over in this moment.
  • And, as said at the top of the page, it's highly likely that he has PTSD from the events of the first movie, and he's just experienced something that bore serious similarities to his traumatic experiences as a cub. No wonder he was focusing on Kovu having betrayed him; after all, he trusted Scar as a cub, and he's having his face rubbed in how badly that turned out.
• While the wildebeest running the wrong way in Simba's nightmare can be seen as silly, it also makes quite a bit of sense. Simba's nightmare is his own conscience, and Simba is very heavily implied to have post traumatic stress disorder. A known side effect of nightmares involving trauma, especially involving trauma is that victims will unwittingly remember minor things incorrectly, while focusing on the experience itself. Simba, and therefore the audience is focused on Mufasa, and doesn't notice the wildebeest are running the wrong way, so Simba's mind is showing that Simba is so traumatized by the matter that he is remembering the minor details incorrectly, akin to a real Mind Screw.
• Why are Timon and Pumbaa so freaked out at Simba having a daughter? Because it's female lions who do the hunting.
• Zira's obsession with Scar is mirrored through her cubs. All three are "knock-offs" of Scar in different ways. Nuka is very much a Flanderized version of Scar in many of his flaws and Laughably Evil qualities, thus rejected by Zira most of the time due to her idealised lens of Scar. Vitani holds some of his cunning and viciousness (and is closer to Zira's vision of him as a competent and impactful leader) but being female isn't even considered for heir. Kovu meanwhile is superficially bred to perfectly match Zira's version of Scar; vicious, powerful and loyal to her cause, though ironically ends up closer to Mufasa in terms of personality, being the sympathetic alpha of the group. It also adds Brilliance to Zira adopting Kovu, since her two biological attempts at successors ended up having a defect.
  • Zira's sugar coated perspective of Scar also plays into all of them failing to play their role. Scar was a vicious and unfettered because he was utterly selfish (to ultimately his own detriment). All three of Zira's cubs were bred to be loyal to their pride. Kovu, Vitani and the other Outsiders all defected because their loyalties spread to members beyond Scar and Zira, while Nuka stayed loyal to his mother, but died for it. Even Zira, who mourned her son and was loyal to Scar to the end, couldn't completely replicate Scar's evil.
• Zira's whole methodology for grooming Kovu to be Scar's successor in taking over the Pride Lands ironically did more than anything to ensure that Kovu would never be like Scar and serves as evidence that Zira probably didn't know Scar that well at all. She raised Kovu as The Chosen One, was very protective of him, and gave him a lot of affection. Scar received none of these things and that was exactly what made him so bitter and willing to do anything for power. Kovu's family's genuine care for him brought him closer to Spoiled Sweet. Conversely, Kovu felt intense pressure to live up to Zira's idealized version of Scar. This brings him much more in line with how Kiara was raised by Simba (and likely has something to do with why they sympathized and fell for each other so quickly)

Fridge Horror

• Nuka and Zira's exchange in "My Lullaby" is a bit of fridge brilliance, but mostly fridge horror, what with Nuka enthusiastically telling his mother that she's found someone willing to kill Simba while looking at her expectantly, as she happily remarks that bloodshed is fine by her, all while callously pushing her son off a cliff. Take note of the fact that Nuka specifically mentions chasing Simba "up a tree," and he dies after climbing up, and eventually being crushed by, several fallen logs.
  Nuka: So you found yourself somebody who'll chase Simba up a tree!
  Zira: Oh the battle may be bloody, but that kind of works for me!
  • Also, less glaring, but watching him pantomime dying to fit his mother's lyrics, obviously trying to get her attention/approval, is potentially upsetting on a rewatch.
• Assuming that Nuka is Scar's son, he and Simba are related. By knocking those logs loose, Simba (albeit accidentally) killed his own first cousin.
• How does Kopa fit in with Lion King 2, and what is the timing for Kovu's birth and how much older than Kiara he is. Well, what if Kopa and Kiara were twins? Assuming Nala became pregnant during the 'Can you feel the love tonight' scene, Kovu probably wasn't that much older than Kiara. The other wiki says lions are pregnant for about 110 days, which is approx 3 months (I think). Crossing the desert probably took several weeks, maybe a month if we're generous - therefore Kiara and Kopa were born about two months after the battle. Speculation is that Zira gave birth just before the battle or was still pregnant at the time and gave birth shortly after. Kovu was at most 2 months older than Kiara. This answers a few other questions for me too:
  1. The reason why the presentation of the heir was different between LK1 and LK2 - at end of LK1, they were presenting Kopa, the first born, who died before LK2 (see below) and in LK2, they were presenting the next heir, Kiara
  2. Why Zira is so bitter. She would have given birth to the older cub, chosen as the rightful heir of the true king (in her opinion) who was looked over in favor of a younger cub born of the usurper (Simba). This leads me into 3:
  3. The reason Kopa wasn't in LK2, why Simba was so protective of Kiara and why he was so unreasonably violent toward Zira and the outcasts: Zira, furious at these happenings, killed Kopa (probably just after LK1 judging from Kiara's age at her presentation in LK2). Simba banished Zira, her cubs and any lionesses who supported her. From then on he was so protective over Kiara, because he had already lost one child and couldn't bear to lose another.
  • Kiara does look older than the cub in the first movie, if only a little.
  • That misses a major point in the inclusion of Kopa at all, and that's to keep The Lion King: Six New Adventures in canon. If Kopa and Kiara are the same age, and Kopa died before Kiara was fully grown, then he would never have been able to be the cub we see in the book series. There is still a possibility that Kiara was born a couple afterwards (we'll ignore the fact that lions rarely have less than two cubs at a time), and the age gap between Kovu and Kiara is closer to nine months to a year.
    • The original debate on Kopa aside, there is no way Kovu and Kiara are nine months or a year apart when they first meet. Lion cubs may be 45 pounds by the time they're five months old; even taking into account the Outlanders' malnutrition, the two are far too close in size to be more than two months apart in age. If you're pushing it, but the original post is otherwise a pretty solid theory.
• In regards to the whole "arranged marriage" thing from the first movie, what about Kiara? What would have happened to her if Kovu had never shown up? There didn't seem to be any other males in the pride.
• Didn't Zira say that at that time Kovu was the last born cub....and Scar wasn't his father? What if that was Kovu's Bio Dad?
• Vitani, Kovu's "big sister" figure, has blue eyes. None of the other lions have blue eyes... except for Nala and her mother. Scar is the only adult male we have ever seen with eyes that weren't dark brown or gold—dominant colors that would cancel out the blue. While that in itself is Fridge Horror, especially considering the song 'The Madness of King Scar' from the musical (in which Scar tries to rape Nala, and we assume he didn't succeed) it gives this exchange a whole new meaning:
  Vitanti: Where's your pretty daughter, Nala?
  Nala: Vitani!
  • Whether Nala gave away her daughter before running off to find help, or was pregnant with Scar's cub the entire time and didn't know it yet, that could mean two things:
    • One: Simba is an amazingly merciful ruler—rather than murder the cubs born to his predecessor (as is the norm in actual prides), he allowed them to live. He may have asked them to leave the Pridelands, since they speak of being "exiled" and "persecuted", or that may have been Zira's doing—leaving when it was clear that Scar's cubs and chosen ones would not be considered in line for the throne. Or...
    • Two: They fled the Pridelands to save their cubs from being slaughtered by the triumphant king.
    • OR - it's just a recessive gene carried by Zira and Vitani's father to give her blue eyes. Nala didn't get raped. She fled before Scar could lay a paw on her.
• In an earlier cut of the film, Nuka's last words to Zira were, "I finally got your attention, didn't I?". Many fans have expressed confusion as to why this line was deleted, as it made the scene (and Nuka's entire character) far more impactful. But toning down Nuka's death may have been just one piece in a much bigger change to the script. Yet another deleted scene reveals that Zira was not originally planned to slip and fall into the rapids... she was supposed to willingly let go in order to commit suicide. It's very possible that Nuka's original death scene was intended to lead up to this directly. It doesn't take much to be Driven to Suicide when your eldest son's dying words to you were a bitter joke about how you failed him as a parent.
• So that brief rhino chase scene. If those rhinos actually did manage to end up laying their horns on Kiara, not to mention Timon and Pumbaa who raised Simba like their own child after he was driven away from the Pridelands, what punishment would they have gotten from Simba? Perhaps something even worse than exile, considering they just killed the heir to the throne.
• Vitani has lost her brother and mother, and now is an orphan like Kovu (Word of God states that he was adopted).
• Everything Nuka went through. All of his actions were based on dedication to his mother. Since Word of God confirmed that Kovu is an orphan, it is extremely likely that Scar not only never met Kovu, given the latter's age, but Kovu being the Chosen One is probably a lie, since Kovu is well too young to be Scar's child and it's pretty clear that he and Vitani are from the same litter. All of the abuse Nuka went through, and his status as The Unfavorite, was based on a lie. And since Nuka is the person who alerts the audience to the fact that Scar is not Kovu's father, who is to say Nuka knew that he was treated badly due to a lie? It really makes it hard to not feel sorry for him.
• The end of the movie has the Outsiders happily rejoin Simba's pride. Sweet ending, right? Then you remember that these lions were exiled not for any uncontrollable biological factor, but for ideological reasons- specifically, remaining loyal to Scar. While Simba extending kindness towards them may convince many of them to change their tune, there's never any efforts towards anybody but Kovu to chip away at the idealized image the Outsiders have of Scar. They may still see Scar's way of being king as superior to Simba's in some ways. Who's to say that serious political conflict isn't on the horizon?
• Zira's whole plan to make basically a second coming of Scar reeks of Didn't Think This Through. Scar was not only a vicious and ruthless ruler, but a totally incompetent one, reducing the Pridelands to ruins because he cared only of himself. It is only because Zira neglects to breed Kovu with Scar's sense of self obsession that things didn't go horribly wrong for both sides of the war, though even that leads to things having Gone Horribly Right on her part.