The Lion Guard Return Of The Roar Full Movie

[Laila Berri]

Atsunrise in The Pride Lands, Simba is teaching his daughter Kiara how to be Queen, when his son, Kion and his honey badger friend, Bunga interrupt them. After apologizing, the boys take their game elsewhere: the Savannah. Suddenly, their ball is knocked into the Outlands. Kion doesn't want to go in because his father said not to, but Bunga goes in anyway. Unfortunately, he bumps into two hyenas named Cheezi and Chungu, who attempt to capture Bunga in order to fed him to their leader Janja. Kion saves Bunga with a very powerful roar. After making the roar, a mark shaped like a lion appears on his left shoulder.

Back at Pride Rock, it's revealed that Simba, his mate, Nala, and Rafiki heard the roar. Despite Simba's reservations, Rafiki declares Kion ready for his destiny. Rafiki tells Kion his roar is the Roar of the Elders and Simba tells him it means he's destined to be the leader of the new Lion Guard. He takes Kion to the Lair of the Lion Guard and gives him the history of the Lion Guard: It's composed of the bravest, strongest, fastest, fiercest, and keenest of sight in the Pride Lands to protect the Pride Lands. He also tells his son that the old Lion Guard's end was not happy: When Kion's grandfather Mufasa was heir to the throne, his younger brother Scar was head of the Lion Guard due to having the gift of the Roar. However, Scar let the power go to his head which lead to him to desire to become King. After he failed to convince the Lion Guard to help him take down Mufasa, he used the Roar to destroy the old Lion Guard. However, for using the Roar for evil, Scar lost the Roar forever. Rafiki tells Kion that the Roar can be used for great good but can lead to terrible evil. Kion vows that he will never be like Scar and begins devoting himself to the task of assembling a new Lion Guard. He picks Bunga as its first member since he's the bravest animal he knows. However, they are overheard by a vulture named Mzingo who flies off to tell Janja.

Meanwhile, Kion and Bunga help Kiara's friend Zuri get unstuck and meet up with Bunga's adoptive uncles Timon and Pumbaa. Kion tells them about the new Lion Guard. Bunga tells them it's gonna live by the philosophy of Zuka Zama. He gives a musical explanation of what that is. Kion and Bunga then leave to assemble the rest of the Lion Guard. A jealous Kiara heads back to Pride Rock to inform Simba of this.

Meanwhile in the Outlands, Mzingo tells Janja what Kion is doing. Janja decides a new Lion Guard will be trouble for Outlanders and decides to launch a pre-empitive strike. Meanwhile, Kion recruits a egret named Ono, a hippopotamus named Beshte, and a cheetah named Fuli to be part of the Lion Guard. He then tries to show them the Roar of the Elders but all that comes out is a squeak. Immediately afterwards, Simba comes by and tells Kion that the Lion Guard has always been made up of lions and that it's not a game he plays with his friends and that he needs his son to take his new responsibilities seriously like Kiara does with hers.

Meanwhile, Kiara and her other friend Tiifu are tracking a gazelle herd. However, upon noticing, Janja and his clan going into the herd, Kiara sends Tiifu to fetch Simba. Soon enough, the hyenas cause a stampede among the herd, Kiara becomes trapped in it whilst Tiifu, Simba, and Nala watch on in horror. Elsewhere, Kion is feeling discouraged because of what his father said. The spirit of Mufasa appears and encourages him to trust his instincts. Kion finds new inspiration in his grandfather's words. After learning about the Hyenas' attack, he comes up with an idea to stop them. Together, the new Lion Guard defeats the hyenas. Then, Bunga saves Kiara with a Pumbaa worthy fart. Kion then sends the hyenas packing with the Roar, with Janja vowing to Kion that he and his Lion Guard haven't seen the last of him. This makes Simba realize that Kion knew what he was doing when he chose his friends to be part of the new Lion Guard and that he is indeed ready.

The show centers on King Simba, his wife Nala and their two children Kiara and Kion; who as second-born to the throne has been gifted with a power called the Roar of the Elders and becomes the leader of the Lion Guard, a team that protects the Pride Lands and defends the Circle of Life.

Despite the tradition that the Lion Guard has always been made of lions, Kion appoints his friends Bunga the honey badger, Beshte the hippopotamus, Fuli the cheetah, and Ono the egret, and together, they set out to keep their homeland safe and protect it from animals who disrespect the Circle of Life.

Starting in season 2, the Lion Guard's mission becomes harder when Kion's deceased great-uncle Scar returns as a fiery spirit and plans to destroy the Pride Lands. Scar forms an army consisted of animals from the Outlands. This eventually leads to an all-out battle between the Pridelanders and the Outlanders.

Once reaching the Tree of Life, the Lion Guard assists in defending the haven from intruders together with the Night Pride, the group and family who protects the Tree of Life. After Kion and Ono are healed and their enemies are defeated, hyenas Jasiri and Janja (the latter having reformed during the final confrontation with Scar) come looking for them and alert them that Zira and her pride are back. The Lion Guard returns to the Pride Lands, only to find out that the conflict has already been settled. Zira's daughter, Vitani, has formed her own Lion Guard in their absence, causing an argument between them and Kion's Lion Guard. However, after seeing Vitani's confidence in becoming a leader even without the Roar, Kion allows Vitani's Lion Guard to succeed his Guard as defenders of the Pride Lands. Kion and his friends return to the Tree of Life where Kion marries the Night Pride's leader, Queen Rani, and is crowned King of the Tree of Life with his family and friends attending.

The series was announced by Disney on June 9, 2014, on the run-up to the first film's 20th anniversary. Disney Junior general manager Nancy Kanter stated: "It's kind of like The Lion King meets The Avengers".[10] The series' announcement came after a meeting between Kanter and Disney chief executive Robert Iger. Iger suggested to Kanter that Disney Junior should consider producing content to celebrate the 20th anniversary of The Lion King in 2014. Disney had shown early footage to young test audiences, who were able to make suggestions, such as adjusting the look of the hyenas.[11] Disney Consumer Products launched a line of toys to tie into the television series, as well at book titles based on the series such as Return of the Roar, Can't-Wait to be Queen, Bunga the Wise, Meet the New Guard, Fuli Finds Her Place, Join the Lion Guard!, and Kion's Animal Alphabet.[12] A sneak peek of The Lion Guard was shown at the 2015 D23 Expo.[13] On August 12, 2015, a sneak peek was shown, with new information that the television movie was scheduled to air in November 2015 to be titled The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar.[14] On October 9, 2015, it was announced that Return of the Roar would premiere on November 22, 2015, on Disney Channel.[15]

On coming up with the idea, the series' creator and executive producer Ford Riley noted that at the end of The Lion King the presentation of Simba and Nala's newborn cub is seen. In The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, it is revealed that the cub in question is Kiara and that she will be the future queen. Riley was interested in the idea of a second-born cub and what his role would be if Kiara is destined to become queen. Additionally, he was inspired by his 8-year-old son, who would visit the park with friends and pretend to be a superhero team.[4][16]

Riley confirmed the timeline of the series; in Simba's Pride there is a years-long time gap, The Lion Guard takes place during the years in-between Kiara's first meeting with Kovu as a cub and her first hunt as an adult.[4] Riley also noted the inclusion of Swahili into the series, which is used for names of characters, locations, songs, and catchphrases.[4]

Classic mythology is used as inspiration for the show. Riley stated "We want it to feel epic and so we're trying to draw from as many epics in classical literature and classical television in addition to (The Lion King) itself". Riley noted that protecting the Circle of Life is the main theme of the series; "The animals who respect it don't eat too much, allow for the grass to grow, and larger animals to eat smaller animals. Our bad guys come from those that don't respect the Circle of Life. They just want to eat and wreak havoc."[16]

In terms of giving The Lion Guard the same look as the original film, director Howy Parkins stated that they were mindful to keep the essence of The Lion King. To that end, the crew did extensive research on the look of the backgrounds and characters and were able to obtain some original model sheets. In addition, Barry Atkinson and Mike Surrey, background painter and supervising animator for Timon on the original film respectively, were brought in to consult with the series' background artists, animators and storyboard artists.[17]

Like its American counterpart, Return of the Roar premiered on November 22, 2015, on Disney Channel in Canada, while the series premiered on January 17, 2016, on Disney Junior, two days after its American premiere.[18][19] In the United Kingdom and Ireland, Return of the Roar premiered on Disney Junior on February 8, 2016, while the series premiered on April 13, 2016.[20][21] In Australia and New Zealand, the pilot debuted on February 6, 2016, and the series began airing on February 28, 2016, on Disney Junior.[22] In Southeast Asia, the pilot premiered on March 20, 2016, on Disney Channel (April 11 on Disney Junior) and the series itself on April 17 on the Disney Junior block on Disney Channel.[23][24]

Max Nicholson from IGN gave the pilot episode score of 7.7, describing the special as "a fun-filled, if younger-skewing, hour television". He praised the pilot for introducing more of the Lion King lore, and also the animation, music, and performance of the new voice actors. However, he found Janja and his clan lacked the appeal to make a compelling villain.[25]

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