#retrospection

Not Having the Series Be After Simba's Pride is a Good Decision:

One of the biggest criticisms of this show that we'll knock down here in the pilot is that the series should've taken place after The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride, rather than being set before its ending. There are multiple inconsistencies between the series and the film that many believe would've been fixed by having the series take place in the distant future of the second film, with Kion either as Simba and Nala's late-in-life baby, or as Kiara and Kovu's son.

I used to believe in this (back when I was an edgy teen who regurgitated talking points from YouTubers who didn't watch the show) but now? I can say they made the right choice.

I'm not saying there aren't any inconsistencies, nor am I saying that said plot-holes were unavoidable (we'll get to that) - but I do think that it was a better choice to have this take place before TLK 2. Two main reasons for why that is.

TLK 2 is less recognizeable than TLK: Even though a lot of people (myself included) adore the second movie, we should recognize that beyond the fandom spaces online, the second film isn't very popular. It was released straight to video almost worldwide, was produced by a television animation department, and was made separately from the animated canon movies released by the feature film department. Bottom-line is, it's much easier for a Lion King spin-off to just be set after the first movie and contain more characters that audiences (especially kids) will recognize. Because not as many will recognize Kovu, Kiara, and Vitani. The fact that those characters appeared in the show as is should already be a miracle (the fact that the characters' portrayal in the show ALSO leaves a lot to be desired, leads me to believe that we dodged a bullet).

2. TLG is about the next generation: In an in-universe and meta-contextual level, The Lion Guard is meant to be about the next generation after The Lion King. In terms of the latter, the target demographic is mainly consisted of kids, whose parents watched the original film 20 years prior. In terms of the former, it centers around characters who succeed Simba and Nala's generation, via Kion and his friends, as they start a new story. We'll dive much deeper into that later, but essentially, you'd lose that affect if you skipped over Kiara's generation entirely.

I find it the lesser of two evils that we got the midquel storyline.

This Pilot Does a Poor Job at Reintroducing Movie Original Characters:

For reference, I'm referring to Nala in the 3rd pic, but there's no frame of her without Simba in this ep.

This is one of many things that left a bad taste in older audiences' mouths and somewhat tainted people's opinions of the series proper. Whilst many of them are exagerrated, they're not in a vacuum. To put it simply, the pilot does not do a good job at re-introducing the movie original characters.

Kiara is characterized to be incredibly unlikeable here, bragging about how she wants to be Queen. I think(?) the writers' realized that her personality from the movie might be too similar to Kion's so they pulled a 180 here. That's just my guess. I've seen the headcanon that she is simply lying to get Simba off her back, or that she internalized "We Are One" and is trying to take her role more seriously. But that's the thing, the episode doesn't give any flat-out reason for that. On one hand, the show isn't muscle-bound to TLK 2 so it's understandable why they didn't go "I used to not want to be queen, but now I do!" - On the other hand, that doesn't necessarily make it good, solely because of how annoying she is. This is something that the series does improve upon, and by the end of Season 1, she'll be way better of a character. Just a rocky start here.

Scar's backstory. Ignoring the plethora of backstories that this character has in other media (because canon be damned in this franchise), this backstory is a melting pot of really good and really bad. Essentially, Scar lead the Lion Guard before Kion, but used the Roar of the Elders to take out his Lion Guard when they refused to help him dethrone Mufasa. Which can be a good explanation as to why he turned so rotten in the original: BUUUT it raises the question of why Scar killing Mufasa was at all news to the Pride Lands. I guess Scar managed to lie his way out of it, but that's the thing; It's another guess. This is an issue that spills into the series' proper, but the show leaves a lot of really interesting stuff ambiguous when it shouldn't be. It's not the audience's job to fill in holes that the writers could easily fill in themselves. We don't get any major expansion on the backstory until the final season in the episode where Scar is written out of the show, but it only leaves more and more holes in the story. So I am content with calling this a plot-hole.

Nala. She does little to nothing. Again, the show eventually gives her more moments (though, not nearly enough of my opinion), and this is an overall issue with several post-TLK 1 content (especially Simba's Pride), but she's just... there.

I don't include Simba, Rafiki, Timon & Pumbaa, or Mufasa because they're handled, okay-ish here.

This Pilot Does a Great Job, However, at Introducing Series Original Characters:

(I'm saving my one-video quote for the end-credits' song, if I had the chance to play the footage, I would, curse you Tumblr!)

As much as the pilot misses when it comes to movie original characters, it hits when it comes to series original characters. In the first 3 minutes, we've been introduced to the core 5 main characters, showing how they live and interact with one another in their daily lives. The second half of the pilot will have more scenes that, once again, display a lot about what we need to know about these characters.

The series often breaks the rule of "show, don't tell" but this is one of many, many instances where they manage to hit everything right on the bull's eye, and the pilot is no stranger from that.

The titular Lion Guard themselves are where this pilot seems to lock in a lot, and for a pilot episode, that's a good step in the right direction.

Let's Talk about the Roar of the Elders, the Mark of the Guard, and Mufasa

Is a magical superpower-and-tattoo and a ghost grandfather in the sky who is easily on call out of place for The Lion King universe? Many have given their takes on it and I'll bring mine into the ring and say.... yes and no.

Like, the original film was somewhat more of a grounded story. The magical elements of the story such as Rafiki finding Simba, the Great Kings of the Past, Mufasa's ghost, were... well, grounded. There was never any overt, full blown magic. So I can understand why it's often seen as out-of-place. You wouldn't expect it in the first film.

That being said, it isn't the first film. It's an extension of it. So these magical elements are extensions of the little magic we see in the original. Now, whether or not the magic system the series establishes is properly done so, that is another question. But the pilot sets all of those elements up rather well.

And again, I could be biased because 9 year old me thought this was the coolest shit ever, but... it's really fucking cool.

That being said (and this just a me thing) - I prefer the original Mark of the Guard shown in concept art and early teaser footage.

I like the simplistic design of it being a paw-print, and I think it works better with the whole "lion" theme, whilst simultaneously better reflecting the "interspecies team" aspect of Kion's Guard.

And on that note, I prefer Kion's white sclera as opposed to his yellow one. Left-overs of this design appear in the finshed product as an animation error (like the above), and there was a similar animation error in the original film where Simba's sclera were white during some night-time scenes - but I like it. The contrast of colors makes it more appealing and helps the design stand out more Though I was never really a fan of the franchise giving lions yellow sclera (even if it is accurate), so that could just be me.

Foreshadowing:

This two second establishing shot on the volcano perfectly foreshadows what happens in Season 2. From the day that it was announced Scar would be a new villain in the show, I came back to this scene and I was like "Oh my gosh, the signs were there!" And this isn't the only moment where you'll have suprisingly good foreshadowing!

I sound like a parrot here whenever I say this, but a lot of the show's quality is hung-up from the pilot. Some of the best things you'll find had groundwork laid up here, whilst some of the worst things will be this special's flaw's hang-over.

The Yeens!

I love the hyenas. They absolutely steal the show, both in this pilot and in several other episodes. Really great villains that are a genuine threat to the Lion Guard and the Pride Lands. I remember being legitimately scared watching this pilot when I was 9 solely because of the yeens and 10 years later, I applaud this Disney Jr. show for the ability to give child-me nightmares!

That being said, there are two major things I want to discuss about them, and both of them involve out-of-show context. They'll be.. important as we go along later.

Janja's clan is meant to be descended from the hyenas of the original film. Don't expect that to go anywhere.

In a promo for the pilot that went over all of the easter eggs from the movie in the special, the hyenas in the Lion King are said to be "ancestors" of Janja's clan. You can find the video here:

You'd be forgiven in being surprised by this. Because the series proper does not at all address or even acknowledge Janja's clan supposedly being the children of Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed's clan. They don't even mention Shenzi, Banzai, or Ed by name. And considering the parallels between TLG's hyena trio, and the original hyena trio, it's a wasted opportunity (one of many).

2. The Lion Guard does not stop Predators from "Eating."

Gonna address this further, but another huge criticism of the show is that the Guard stops predators from eating and that they're the bad guys/the villains are secretly the "good guys." Again, this is something I'll get too, and I generally dislike how imbalanced the evil:good carnivore ratio is, but... uhm..

Yeah... not exactly the best take.

The hyenas actively overhunt in the Pride Lands, in a territory where they are neither welcome nor needed. In this pilot alone, they attempt to wipe out the entiredy of Swala's herd despite killing enough gazelles to feed their herd. That's as evil as you get.

Later episodes will re-inforce this, and whilst the writing at times can often be... questionable, it's clear that it's not as cut and dry as "they're just trying to eat."

Also, later episodes will establish that the hyenas' plight of hunger is/was completely avoidable with there being other territories outside of the Pride Lands that they could migrate to.

And we're a long ways' away before the redemption.

Let's Talk About Age Rating:

I did the math (not that there was that much math to do). They say variants of the word "die" three times in the series. Twice in this episode (there's this scene and the earlier one where Janja says the Lion Guard "died out") and once in The Rise of Scar.

The reason that they only do so in both one-hour specials is because the specials themsleves air on the Disney Channel.

Back in the early-mid 2010's, it was very common for Disney Jr. shows to have one-hour specials that premiere on the Disney Channel instead of the Disney Jr. channel. This was to hype up the specials as a big thing, and to get more audiences (mainly whole families watching at home) to watch. Shows like Jake and the Never Land Pirates, Sofia the First, and Elena of Avalor did this. I remember watching this special on the Disney Channel on the night that it premiered.

Where am I going at? Well, with another major discussion when it comes to this show, the age-rating.

Save for 2/3 of the one-hour specials, the entire series was made for Disney Junior. And many people believe that the show should've been aimed at older audiences because being made for Disney Junior hurt the show.

And again, it's something I think is more nuanced ~ or rather, should be recognized as something more nuanced. Because yes, shows with TV-Y ratings do have restrictions that can hold it back. But that is not the end-all-be-all for this show. Because the show itself has really strong moments of writing, characters, and pacing. And that's usually what it boils down to. The writing.

Do I think TLG would've been helped with less restrictions of a TV-Y show? Sorta. But let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater and assume that there is an inherent 1:1 causation factor involving age-rating vs. writing quality. The series proper not being able to get away with saying the word "kill" or "died" as the pilot does here, (as much as it does personally bug me) among other things isn't an inherent flaw. It really just depends.

There's More To This Scene Than Its Given Credit:

I've seen people say the show mischaracterizes Simba, making him a "racist" or "just like Scar," for not wanting Kion to have a Lion Guard made of different animals. On the flip-side, I've seen people say that Simba is indeed right and that Kion should've chosen an all-lion team (or claim that it's "The LION Guard" as an argument - spoiler, it isn't). And both of them... really miss the point so badly.

The whole point in general is Simba wants Kion to act more mature, but doesn't see his strengths for what they are. It's spelled out in earlier scenes ("He'll grow up some day, I hope" and "He's not ready.") Note Simba's line, "Your life." This isn't just out of Simba's obligation towards tradition, it's also about his erroneous judgement in Kion's ability to handle responsibility. This isn't me doing the writers' work for them or "reading in between the lines" this is what the episode itself points out, albeit not in any 'deep' or overt way.

On the flip side. We have seen the strengths of Kion's friends, and how they tie back to being different animals. Ono has a bird's eye view [metaphorically and literally], Fuli has the speed of a cheetah, Bunga has the natural bravery and inability to give a fuck that honey badgers are notoriously infamous for, and Beshte has the bulk and brawn of a hippo (if this show WAS aimed at older audiences, Beshte would have the highest kill count in the entire damn franchise, fight me on this one).

The conflict is just as internal (Simba's trust or lack thereof in his son), as it is external (the question of whether or not a Lion Guard with one lion is capable of working together). Both of them are wrapped up neatly in a bow by the end of this episode: Simba gets to see his son for the leader he has become, and the Lion Guard's diversity actively shows them being made of different animals being the right course of action. The unnecessary shade thrown towards Simba or Kion is unnecessary.

This Message Is the Strongest Aspect of The Series... But

I focus so much on the message because once again, there's way more credit due here.

The simple message here is diversity. Differences stand together, and different people can do good together instead of everyone and everything being the same. That's the long and short of it as best simplified as I could bring it out ~ there's a lot one could unpack with it, but it's still there and this is a very good way to hit the ground running. It establishes the backbone of the series (next to the Guard characters themselves).

Had they played this out until the end it would've packed even more of a punch than it did... but Season 3 exists.

By the final episode, the Lion Guard themselves are replaced with lions as their successors. Which indirectly proves Simba to be in the right despite the pilot actively showing him to be in the wrong and having him acknowledge such. The show went through like, 3 years of pre-production before hitting the small screen, and I've seen sources saying that there were no last minute rewrites. It feels so vexxing watching this episode in the grand scheme of things knowing that so much it worked upon will be undone at the end of the series.

That's also another running issue. Season 3 walks back on a lot that was established in the pilot, a lot of good things that would've really allowed this show to reach the finish line and bring everything full circle; Among those being the message of diversity, as well as the focus on the Lion Guard themselves. Which retroactively spoils this episode to some degree. More on that when we get to it.

This Climax Needed a Rewrite:

This is yet another scene that put a bad taste in people's mouths and it certainly doesn't leave a good one in mind.

Why doesn't Simba, nor Nala at least attempt to go into the gazelle herd to fetch Kiara? Meta-contextually, it's so that Kion and co. can save the day, but here's the thing. They could've had Simba and/or Nala go into the herd to fetch Kiara, fail and get trapped themselves, and then the Lion Guard rescues both/all of them, which would've made the impact of the resolution so much better. Having them stand around doing nothing isn't a good way to write them out of the action.

2. The rest of the Guard should've had more do to with this rescue plan. I know Bunga's the deuteragonist and they wanted to establish this running fart-joke gag (that gets old verrry fast) but there could've been ways the whole team would've pitched in. Maybe whilst Bunga was with Kiara, the rest of the team could've calmed down the gazelles. Again, this would've been way more impactful giving all 5 characters something to do and adding more "oomf" to the story.

3. The stampede is actively meant to mirror that of the one in the original... y'know, where Simba loses his dad? And they wrap-up that callback with a fart joke. Tonal consistency, what's that? (And again, they could've balanced this had they properly utilized the other 4 main characters in this specific scene, the fart being the end-all be all to this action sequence really kills what they were gunning for).

Yo, Fuck This Line

They could've worded this SO much better; this is one of the times where as a kid, you just turn the other cheek and not understand it, but when you look at it from an adult perspective.... fucking yikes.

What manages to save it is the fact that they do introduce good hyenas into the show, so this is something that I'm glad that they walked back upon in the series proper.

This Is Still A Good Wrap Up

Tasteless dialogue and lackluster fart-jokes aside, this is still a good way to end a pilot to a show. You've introduced what you needed to [or in this case, re-introduced in terms of a spin-off], you've gone through the motions, ticking off the box of what your self-contained story needs, and you've managed to perfectly set up what is to come for the remainder of the series.

Here Comes The Lion Guard Should've Been The Theme Song

Here Comes The Lion Guard is the best song of the entire series. Period. It sums up the entire premise of the series in a beautful manner, with wonderful vocals from Beau Black and the cast. It being relegated to an end-credits' song is wildly undervaluing its potential! This should've been the final song of the series instead of Long Live the King.

CONCLUSION:

If you're heading in looking for a Lion King sequel, you're not gonna get much. If you're heading in looking for a Lion King spin-off, specifically a pilot episode to a show called "The Lion Guard," then this is a good entry point. Lots of problems here and there, some more pressing than others, but it hits the mark as much as it misses. Kinda sums up the entire show.

Final Ranking: 6.8/10: