#mufasa lion king 2

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

not me thinking about Mufasa's spirit playing with cub Kiara in the opening of lion king 2, her playful swatting at his breeze the first clue of her fire, her fun, who she is as Kiara before she was ever told she'd someday be queen

not me thinking about Mufasa watching helplessly as his son stifles Kiara, worriedly insists she walks in his paw prints- literally and figuratively- no exploring or adventure, no forgetting her future duties.

Mufasa, who pulled his young son in and dropped his own smaller duties as king to play pouncing with young Simba

now seeing Simba stop Kiara's playful pouncing with a restraining paw over and over again- The pain and fear that Mufasa's death scarred Simba with, now hurting Mufasa's granddaughter too.

(but not forever. not if Mufasa can help it)

Simba's shame and guilt at his dismissal of what it really means to be king, pressed onto his cub, his heir, his responsibility, weighing Kiara down even when she's still so young, isolating her not just from Simba but from herself- Kiara watching a baby bird try to fly and get chased back to the nest, her heartbroken face, her GLEE when the little bird is flying on it's own later...

and her helpless, bittersweet happiness as it flies away, doing what she can't do- not because anyone is physically stopping her but because she's been taught to stop herself.

Mufasa, watching Kiara get to be herself for the first time as she makes a new friend, as they save each other, as she is BRAVE in the face of danger, STRONG and SMART enough to make sure both she and Kovu escape it, and... proud of herself, finally. For doing something as herself.

Kiara so happy to finally play with a friend, before other old pains interrupt and separate them

and this is when Mufasa reaches out to Rafiki with a plan. A plan to heal the break in the pride lands, yes, but also- a plan to give his granddaughter some HAPPINESS. A way for her to have more in her life than just being queen

(or even... to not be queen)

Kiara gets a choice. Her grandfather makes sure she does, and that she knows it's hers to make

In helping nudge her and Kovu together, Mufasa leads them to the moment- after Simba refuses to listen to his daughter again, running from old shame and blindly chasing his father's legacy- as the stars watch over Kiara running from Pride Rock, finding Kovu, the two of them laughing as they chase each other through the ashes of past destruction-

(the simple joy of enjoying life together, Kiara's gift to Kovu, another cub who didn't really get to be one and has to learn who he even is now, all this time later- just she does)

there is no sign given to Kiara. No reminder to go home

no request from Mufasa that she heal the wounds Simba and Zira keep choosing to rip open

she could go. She could go, like Kovu says, leave and start a life with someone who she's happy with as herself, who loves her FOR herself, without needing her to be queen-

finally, for the first time in her life, she could be free. The joy that should have been hers as a cub, gifted now, under the silently watching stars

(she is Mufasa's grandchild without being anything else)

she chooses to see others in her own reflection. she chooses to go back- laughs softly at the idea of leaving-

(Simba passed Mufasa's words down to her, the part of Simba's father that Scar couldn't kill, that Simba wouldn't let die, the understanding that grandfather and granddaughter share without ever having met- that makes them the great king that he was, and the great queen she already is proving herself to be)

but that WAS her choice to make

to be queen. to go back. to again try making Simba listen

and....

to reach out a paw to Zira after Zira tried murdering her father again right in front her- after Kiara leaped in the way- a queen is brave and strong when she needs to be

but a king or queen must be more than that

Mufasa, looking up at his brother (who's resentment he knows well) begging for and trusting Scar would reach down and save him-

Mufasa's granddaughter, looking down at Zira (who's hate she has felt so personally) and reaching down desperately, begging Zira to let Kiara save her-

a circle completed. an old hurt, finally healing

(for those that choose it. Scar and Zira with claws out, losing themselves as they cut themselves off from those around them)

Mufasa couldn't be there when Kiara was a cub, to laugh as she pounced at butterflies and forget everything for a game of chase. He would have loved to see Kiara the silly, the playful, his granddaughter before anything else- like he did with his son

His not being there is what kept Simba from being able to be there for her either, what caused Simba to hurt his own cub without even knowing it, lectures in place of jokes and worry that cut between them like a gorge neither could cross alone

but Simba listens to Kiara in the end. when she reaches out to him, again, finally he reaches back

Simba ends up on Pride Rock with his daughter, with the lion she loves welcomed into their family, along with all those Simba once banished. two generations side by side

and Kiara is finally happy to be there

that is when Mufasa tells Simba he has done well. As a king? As a father

it wasn't just the pride lands that needed healing

Kiara is happy now

[demigoddessqueens]

Rest in the most ever loving peace James Earl Jones, you’ve more than earned it and will be missed by all generations 😭💞💕😢💔

[sleepyminty]

The secret ingredient here is yaoi, y’know, the thing you absolutely hate disney

[bebstdream]

And I also really wanted to share with you, guys, some of my headcanon designs for TLK characters in Mufasa universe!^^

The first one I've made was Taka! I really tried to keep him a little paler then other lions, maintaining the original design!

Later I made Kiros. I really like how huge he is in the movie, and I tried to convey his powerful appearance ^^

I also thought that as a lion who fought a lot, he must have earned himself more than one scar. Perhaps the scar on his eye, which Taka got later, would be a kind of branding for him? Every member of his pride would wear one to show their loyalty and willingness to be injured in battle!

And lately I made Zira as Kiros daughter! U haven't really thought about her in this universe, maybe, I'll post something later on! And at the end of the day there are designs for Kiara and Kovu!^^

for Kiara, I tried to keep the gentle design from the film (I LOVE HER MADLY, I WILL FIGHT FOR HER, I WILL DIE FOR HER). And Kovu, in fact, is just a collection of inspiration from dirty lions and, suddenly, black bears.

[weclassybouquetfun]

We are less than two weeks away from Luca Marinelli's turn as Benito Mussolini in Sky Italia / Sky Atlantic's M. IL FIGLIO DEL SECOLO / M. SON OF THE CENTURY.

Every other day there's clips of interviews with Luca and Joe done while they were on the festival push for the series, as well as more MUFASA : IL RE LEONE. It's double the Luca!

-New to me: An updated description of THE OLD GUARD 2.

The old:

The new:

I went to a test screening in June of 2023 so I'm looking at the first half of the description like,

As we await (and wait and wait some more) the release of THE OLD GUARD 2, we can see Marwan Kenzari in at least one episode of the second series of Netflix's THE NIGHT AGENT. Marwan appears briefly in the recently released trailer.

Who will Marwan play in THE NIGHT AGENT?

His THE RETURN costar Amir Wilson posted a throwback pic.

[cartoonico]

Nice to see The Lion Guard continue The Lion King's tradition of featuring the most unbearably cheesy (affectionate) love songs imaginable 🤣

UPDATE:

And the tradition continues.

[peacefulemoyearnings]

the royal family doesn't have the best luck with cliffs

[diabloindigo]

Kiara, live action Mufasa version and The Lion King 2 animated version.

[tending-the-hearth]

“don’t mention the play, i went to see it and i was nothing but a giant sock puppet” THE LION KING 1 1/2 VIBES THIS MOVIE HAS IT’S IMMACULATE

[ohsointensesideshows]

The Lion King and The Lion King 2 Simba's Pride

Mufasa and Simba

Simba and Kiara

[dweemeister]

Whenever you feel alone, just remember that those kings will always be there to guide you. And so will I.

Born to a turbulent family on a Mississippi farm, James Earl Jones passed away today. He was ninety-three years old. Abandoned by his parents as a child and raised by a racist grandmother (although he later reconciled with his actor father and performed alongside him as an adult), the trauma of his childhood developed into a stutter that followed him through his primary school years – sometimes, his stutter was so debilitating, he could not speak at all. In high school, Jones found in an English teacher someone who found in him a talent for written expression, and encouraged him to write and recite poetry in class. He overcame his stutter by graduation, although the effects of it carried over for the remainder of his life.

Jones' most accomplished roles may have been on the Broadway stage, where he won three Tonys (twice winning Best Actor in a Play for originating the lead roles in 1969's The Great White Hope by Howard Sackler and 1987's Fences by August Wilson) and was considered one of the best Shakespearean actors of his time.

But his contributions to cinema left an impact on audiences, too. Jones received an Honorary Academy Award alongside makeup artist Dick Smith (1972's The Godfather, 1984's Amadeus) in 2011. From the end of Hollywood's Golden Age to the dawn of the summer Hollywood blockbuster in the 1970s to the present, Jones' presence – and his basso profundo voice – could scarcely be ignored. Though he could not sing like Paul Robeson nor had the looks of Sidney Poitier, his presence and command put him in league of both of his acting predecessors.

Ten of the films James Earl Jones appeared in, whether in-person or voice acting, follow (left-right, descending):

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) – directed by Stanley Kubrick; also starring Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn, and Slim Pickens

The Great White Hope (1970) – directed by Martin Ritt; also starring Jane Alexander, Chester Morris, Hal Holbrook Beah Richards, and Moses Gunn

Star Wars saga (1977-2019; A New Hope pictured) – multiple directors, as the voice of Darth Vader, also starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Cushing, Alec Guinness, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, David Prowse, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, and Frank Oz

Claudine (1974) – directed by John Berry; also starring Diahann Carroll, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, and Tamu Blackwell

Conan the Barbarian (1982) – directed by John Milius; also starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sandahl Bergman, Ben Davidson, Cassandra Gaviola, Gerry Lopez, Mako, Valerie Quennessen, William Smith, and Max von Sydow

Coming to America series (1988 and 2021; original pictured) – multiple directors; also starring Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, John Amos, Madge Sinclair, Shari Headley, Jermaine Fowler, Leslie Jones, Tracy Morgan, and KiKi Layne

The Hunt for Red October (1990) – directed by John McTiernan; also starring Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Scott Glenn, and Sam Neill

The Sandlot (1993) – directed by David Mickey Evans; also staring Tom Guiry, Mike Vitar, Patrick Renna, Chauncey Leopardi, Marty York, Brandon Adams, Grant Gelt, Shane Obedzinski, Victor DiMattia, Denis Leary, and Karen Allen

The Lion King (1994) – directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, as the voice of Mufasa; also starring Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Matthew Broderick, Jeremy Irons, Moira Kelly, Niketa Calame, Ernie Sabella, Nathan Lane, and Robert Guillaume, Rowan Atkinson, Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin, Jim Cummings, and Madge Sinclair

Field of Dreams (1989) – directed by Phil Alden Robinson; also starring Kevin Costner, Amy Madigan, Ray Liotta, and Burt Lancaster

[starburst0822]

If I didn't know any better, I'd say Disney was trying to sabotage Lin's career (as in taking away perfect opportunities for his song writing). They so wanted to copy his style in Wish but his style is unique. So why not bring him to that? Why did you make him write that Scuttlebutt instead? And this year the early things I heard about Moana 2 is the music isn't great, and they had a Tiktoker write the music. (I'm gonna keep an open mind but yeesh, that sounds like a similar situation to Wish where they got a pop writer to write a musical. It's like they wanted the songs for Wish to be TikTok trends instead of actual music.) Lin already worked on the original Moana, why not bring him back instead of relegating to another live-action remake? Do I need to remind y'all how much Encanto's music slaps?

[cartoonico]

It's interesting that they seemed to have kept Kiara's apricot(?) colored pelt (kind of hard to tell with the lighting) from the animated movie but changed the color of her eyes from brown/red like her father's to teal/green like her mother's.

[peacefulemoyearnings]

tlk franchise parent appreciation post

[pickypickypeak]

Wish releases: Oh great this song is too Lin Manuel Miranda-fied (he wasn’t even in the movie) and wtf is this???

Moana 2 releases: The new songs are mid, where’s LMM?

I can’t with people, at least the Mufasa songs I’ve heard so far are bangers

I genuinely don’t know why people hate lmm? He’s good😭

[mr111202]

The Strange Parallel Between Mike Wheeler and Disney’s Mulan (The Mike/Disney Parallels 1/2)

Okay, I know what you’re gonna say: “Wait, Mulan’s a Chinese girl from the Hun Dynasty, and Mike’s an American boy from the 1980s. The hell do you mean??” Admittedly, it does sound strange, but stay with me here. I’m not saying that Mike and Mulan are the same person, definitely not. But, they both do have one big similarity in common:

Their self-confidence issues, and the need to protect those who they love.

In the beginning of her movie, Mulan is shown to have some major self-confidence issues. Most prominent with her thinking that she’s brought shame to her family for not being “the perfect daughter” cause she failed to impress the matchmaker.

Like wise, through season four, we can see that Mike is also struggling with his own self-confidence. The most famous example that people like to use is the Van scene before Will whips out his painting. Mike talks about how he feels inadequate and useless when it comes to his relationship with El (“she’s Superman, and I’m Lois Lane. But even that doesn’t work.” To paraphrase). And, if we do take in the aspect of Mike being gay as well, it can also be said that he feels this cause he thinks he’s not “the perfect son” cause he likes boys.

Both characters feel inadequate and feel like as if they constantly let people down.

Then, later on in the Disney movie, Mulan decides to disguise herself as a man to join the army. Not cause she wants to or to prove a point, but cause she doesn’t want her father to get killed in battle. She seems to be the kind to risk her life for those she cares for. She does this again when she saves Shang during the avalanche, despite her bleeding from a stomach wound via Shan-Yu’s sword.

Similarly, Mike has been shown to be the kind of person who will risk his life to keep the people he loves safe. There’s the time in season 1 where he was ready to throw himself off the quarry to save Dustin from Troy. Then there’s the time in season 3 when he took a pipe to Billy’s back during the sauna test to save El. Then, also in that same season at the finale, bro threw his skinny ass body at Billy (who’s jacked and possessed) as a way to keep El safe and buy her time to escape the mall.

With all that said, this is something I personally want in season five. I sincerely doubt that the Duffer Brothers would do this, but a girl can dream.

I want Mike to have his Mulan moment.

Much like how Mulan developed confidence in herself thanks to her experience in the army, I want Mike to be able to grow confidence with himself and be able to accept himself for who he is (that he’s great the way his is, and that being gay and loving Will is okay).

And much like how Mulan was able to use her smarts and wits to defeat Shan-Yu, I would like to see a scene where Mike uses his own smarts and wits to come up with a plan to defeat Vecna, affirming Will’s statement in the van scene that Mike is the “Heart of the Party”. Much like how Mulan is kind of the “Heart of the Army”.

Though admittedly, a little montage or a creative time shot of Mike getting buff wouldn’t be too bad.