The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar

As a huge fan of the Lion King, having grown up with it as a kid, this was an extreme disappointment to me.

To see the characters of Simba and Kiara being reduced to these uptight royal semi- antagonists is painful to say the least. Kiara, from the sequel "Simba's Pride" was adventurous and headstrong, like her father was when he was young. And now she's this obedient, tattletale daddy's girl who is also reduced to the stereotypical damsel in distress.

All to make new male protagonist look good. Kion, Simba's son (who strangely didn't appear in Simba's Pride) wants to be part of the Lion's Guard, (Kingsguard) but not the king, as the throne will go to Kiara. So he assembles a diverse group of animals as his "soldiers". This is where the producers thought "The Lion King meets The Avengers" comes in. It doesn't. It really doesn't.

I can't even begin to tell you how stupid, predictable and lazy the dialogue and story was. Why do they have make every single scene so utterly childish? When I was child, the Disney films I watched weren't dumbed down or censored to appeal to a younger audience! They were intelligent, meaningful and heartfelt films. People are too scared now to take risks with animation. It's all about the money and never about the art. Very sad.

2 out of 10

As a kid I enjoyed watching the lion king movies,I fell in love with the franchise and was hyped when I heard about the release of the lion guard,But after I sat down to watch this 44 minute movie,I couldn't help but stare at my TV shocked at what I saw,how did this!THIS!Com out of Disney!A studio that presented us with astonishing movies such as Frzoen,Snow white,Zootopia,Brave,Robin hood,Tarzan,I could go on for days,get the idea to create this abomination?!Were they desperate for money?!Did they sit down on their couch and watch the lion king going,"I wanna make a show out of that"and BAM?!This happened?!The creators of the original movies poured their hearts into their projects and the final product was breathtaking to watch in action,we loved these movies and surely we wish for our kids to feel the same way about them as we do!But yet,this is what Disney offers are kids,Brain junk food?Before I bore you to death,I'll cut to the Chase why this movie is a big waste of time.

1)The animation is lazy.

Adobe flash animation?Really?The characters look strange in this type of animation style,the only one who looks good is Nala,(Lets face it she looks pretty no matter how you animate her)Besides that,the walk cycles are lazy,it's like the writers didn't feel like making a full walk cycle so they just made four frames and hoped no one would notice.Their feet look like little nubs,they barely look like their walking on the ground!Not to mention the design of the characters are just bad...People who thought simba from the lion king 2 looks bad,prepare to feast your eyes on his newest design,Compared to his second one,this Disney junior art style will make the second movie simba look like a hot fashion model that all the girls faint over.not to mention Zuri and Tifu are just copies of Kiara except with hair tufts.Overall,The animators didn't feel like making this movie and it shows,BAD!

2)what happened to Kiara

Kiara was the protagonist in the second lion king movie,She was a adventurous cub who wanted to explore the pride lands without her father being overprotective of her.She hated the thought or mention of becoming queen,Her outer appearance was changed as well,She originally had pale orange fur,dark purple nose,light Amber eyes and a cream muzzle,belly,chest and paws.Now take all those things I previously listed about Kiara and throw it all away because now she's a pale tan color(like all the other lionesses)she has a smug,bratty,attitude and is a daddy's girl who tattletales on anyone who breaks the rules,She likes to brag that she is future queen,She is the opposite of what her original counterpart was like!I mean,Cmon Disney!You don't just take a classic character that everyone loved and then switch everything about them!Its like changing Elsa from ice to fire and making her outgoing and playful like Anna,Just..NO!

3)cliche characters

Where do I start?Nuremous characters are so stereotypical!You have the protagonist(Kion's)Bsst friend,who is carefree,Rebellious,And only likes to have fun.The tom girl who is all big and bad and stronger than the guys and possibly the main characters love interest.The fat guy with a heart of gold,And the smart nerd who knows everything and is an introvert.I've seen their personalities in so many movies,Their old,Forgettable,Just dull characters.It clearly shows the writers out no thought in these characters,They just said let's make so and so,And don't take their time trying to make them special,And coming from a company who has created characters like Mickey,Elsa,Woody,And many others,That is just plain sad.

4)Is simba racist?!

Wait,what?!What happened to the simba we grew up with in the original lion king?!Did Disney just wipe away his personality and made him some stuck up,Demanding father? Similar to the problem with Kiara,He just doesn't act the same.He acts like if your not a lion your nowhere as good as me,or your not worthy enough of being in the pride lands and stuff like that,It's just wrong!And to make him act this way in a children's show?!I know little ones won't understand this but parents will,This is something our children should not be introduced to,And I am ashamed Disney made that apart of his character.

5)What about the Lion King 2?

This is my last reason,Where does the lion king 2 fit into this time line?Some events just don't add up correctly,What about Kovu?And the outsiders?Where was Kion no his guard in the second movie?When was Kion born?these are questions fans of TLK ask and their never get explanations,Maybe in the future we will get one but for now,Things in this African world just aren't making sense.

In conclusion,this movie was flawed in many ways,By changing characters,Forgettable characters,Predictable villains,And a dumb story line that everyone could guess what was going to happen half way in the movie.Overall,Awful movie,Before you show this to your kids,Shwo them the original lion king,and once they understand the originals,Then show them this crap,It's a waste of brain cells,And time.

Well, lets see. The music is really on point, the songs could have been better. They really tried to stay on track with the original animated movie. I'm so glad they went for hand-drawn animation and not that ridiculous 3D computer animation. The plot is really my weak spot. They try to pay homage to the original movie, and they rely heavily on nostalgia. They actually have made a plot for a new following of course, and that's why the plot is messing with the timeline of the original movie and its sequel. It just awoke such nostalgia in me and so many fond memories of the "Lion King" that I really can't hate it for that although it drives me crazy at times. Still a really fun watch. I'll definitely try and watch some of the episodes of the TV series.

Obviously not as good as the other two sequels, and even further adrift of 'The Lion King' itself. However, 'The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar' isn't terrible which is a pleasant surprise.

Look, I'll very likely never set eyes on this film again but that doesn't mean it's bad - it just isn't for me. I'm positive the younger audience will thoroughly enjoy this and the subsequent television series.

The animation is definitely a step downward, but Disney have arguably produced inferior across some other animated sequels. The voice cast are meh, while the premise - though fairly creative - isn't anything riveting. It's cool to see James Earl Jones reprise his role of Mufasa, albeit for only a matter of seconds.

Not anything I can class as good, but I will say the target audience will probably rate it - which is the intention, of course.

Like a lot of people I was sceptical about this show when it was announced as it stunk of Disney milking a franchise dry.

It turned out to be not too bad, judging only at this point on this Pilot episode.

Yes, it's aimed at younger audiences, so there's annoying comic support characters, and fart jokes galore, but it does seem to have been made with love, and within the original 'Lion King' time line.

Some nice original voices return, plus some good sound-a-like's, and I enjoyed this more than I thought I would.