As a pilot to The Lion Guard, Return of The Roar has been highly unsuccessful in convincing me to watch the series out of anything but curiosity. Let's begin with the animation, which is a Flash type identical to the one used in Jake and The Never Land Pirates. It looks passable for a TV episode (especially one catered to under 7-year-olds), but as a film medium, it was drawn in much too choppy a manner. Parodies on Newgrounds and YouTube look more polished than this does! The characters are overall terrible at engaging, and they overuse Swahili terms throughout (including Kion's "Hevi kabisa", Totally intense, and most notably, Bunga's "Zuka zama", Pop up, dive in). Of course, the jokes are more catered to children, but do we really need wind jokes in a toddler's 'toon? The story, I have to give some kudos for not feeling entirely like some well- developed fanfic and trying out some new idea, if inconsistent with our developed timeline. In execution, though, it fell flat on its face like the hyenas that Beshte knocked into the air. Disney has officially done a disservice to its classics fanbase for the 3RD year in a row (previously, the Planes movies), and show them you don't want that by boycotting this movie any time it airs on TV or you see it at a video store. This is for young children exclusively; you're better off going to a different TV if you have one and watching something else.
The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar
(2015 TV Movie)
What did we do to deserve this, Disney?
27 May 2016
Warning: Spoilers