This show is nothing like the Lion King movies and it suffers even as a kids' show because of that. "The Lion King" really wasn't made to be a base for a whimsical little kids' show which is why this TV show does not represent the movies, and because it unsuccessfully tries to connect to the movies' canon it doesn't really work as well in what it wants to give to kids as it could if it was an original creation. I feel that every episode has a valuable life lesson but because it desperately tries to be a part of something much bigger and deeper than itself, with that very limited episode run-time and juvenile execution it fails to have proper substance and therefore the memorability of the lessons diminish. Because of that and because this is harmless, I don't recommend showing this to your kids unless they really really want to see this. They'll get the same thrills and lessons from any other, better made, kids' TV show.
There are some adult Lion King fans who love this series but if you fell deeply in love with the more emotional and deep/mature aspects of the first two movies and of the first movie especially...Be warned. This TV show was made for little kids aged 2-7 and it totally shows no matter how much Disney tries to push it on to Disney Channel instead of just its original home at Disney Junior, and it's NOTHING like the original film even though it's supposed to celebrate its 20th anniversary.
This pilot episode and its following episodes don't do a very good job with fitting into the movies' universe yet it's obviously trying to be an extension to those movies. This show introduces a full-blown magical roar ability that has been passed down for generations and that makes the Earth shake and characters fly miles away and so on. Linked to a magical "tattoo" type of symbol on the fur coat. While that has its base in the same spirits-in-the-stars and summoning aspect of the Lion King universe, it has a juvenile superpower feel and execution instead of feeling like the mystical part-of-nature magic from the first two movies, the kind that could not be harnessed whenever convenient.
In this show Mufasa can just pop up in the sky any time he wants to give advice - which is the utter opposite of the first film's intent and important story detail and is only one of the many things that disrespectfully contradict the movies. Some characters have been totally butchered, such as Simba - and in a later episode also Zira. Simba is not protective over his children unlike he was in "The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride", which painfully shows in the final scene of this pilot movie/episode.
In the final scene of this pilot episode, the climax is that Kiara gets trapped in a stampede of antelopes stirred by hyenas. An obvious call-back to cub Simba's experience with the wildebeest in the first movie. How does Kiara get out of that? Does her father, Simba, attempt to rescue her like his father did before him? NO. Simba just stands there. The child honey-badger friend of Kion's makes his way next to Kiara - with a jovial and whimsical cheering attitude might I add - and...he lets out a massive fart which makes the antelope scatter away from Kiara. Simba left his daughter's life in the hands of other children, did absolutely nothing himself to save her at any point, and afterwards doesn't really check on if Kiara is okay but only focuses on giving his blessing for Kion's choice of the Lion Guard members.
That is this show's call-back to a scene in the first movie that portrays a father unhesitatingly risking his life and limb to save his child's life, the brother of that father maliciously murdering him, and the little boy witnessing his father falling to an ugly, slow and painful death. (Assuming Mufasa didn't die from the fall. Anyway, his body would have been mangled in real life but it is a G rated film, so...) And in the aftermath shows this little boy in vain trying to wake up his father, panicking all alone in a vast canyon, calling out for help from anyone at all until breaking down to cry and crawling to lie in the arms of his dead father. Not only does the scene in the original film include all that but it was immensely powerfully executed, bringing the viewer up close with all of the characters and the action and showing the death-fall and the body on screen.
"The Lion King" was created to reflect human suffering, responsibility, family love/bond, and bravery. "The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar" craps on those values with its call-back scene.
This pilot and its following episodes were made for toddlers in attempts to give them laughs and some life lessons through unrealistic premise execution and whimsical little adventures that other original shows are already doing better - so I don't see the point in this show's existence. Some say that they also meant this to "introduce The Lion King to a new generation" - but if you think of it; how exactly does this do that? It's NOTHING like the original films, it literally farts on the first film's arguably most meaningful scene, and over-all doesn't hold a candle to the movies' power and feel.
I watched "The Lion King" in the mid-90s with my then-3-year old cousin and he was just fine and wanted to see it every single time he came over, which was often. No, he was not traumatised by Mufasa's death scene. Do your kids a favour; show them the "The Lion King" and "The Lion King II: Simba's Pride" instead. I daresay they'll get more out of them in a long run than they would out of this show.
There are some adult Lion King fans who love this series but if you fell deeply in love with the more emotional and deep/mature aspects of the first two movies and of the first movie especially...Be warned. This TV show was made for little kids aged 2-7 and it totally shows no matter how much Disney tries to push it on to Disney Channel instead of just its original home at Disney Junior, and it's NOTHING like the original film even though it's supposed to celebrate its 20th anniversary.
This pilot episode and its following episodes don't do a very good job with fitting into the movies' universe yet it's obviously trying to be an extension to those movies. This show introduces a full-blown magical roar ability that has been passed down for generations and that makes the Earth shake and characters fly miles away and so on. Linked to a magical "tattoo" type of symbol on the fur coat. While that has its base in the same spirits-in-the-stars and summoning aspect of the Lion King universe, it has a juvenile superpower feel and execution instead of feeling like the mystical part-of-nature magic from the first two movies, the kind that could not be harnessed whenever convenient.
In this show Mufasa can just pop up in the sky any time he wants to give advice - which is the utter opposite of the first film's intent and important story detail and is only one of the many things that disrespectfully contradict the movies. Some characters have been totally butchered, such as Simba - and in a later episode also Zira. Simba is not protective over his children unlike he was in "The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride", which painfully shows in the final scene of this pilot movie/episode.
In the final scene of this pilot episode, the climax is that Kiara gets trapped in a stampede of antelopes stirred by hyenas. An obvious call-back to cub Simba's experience with the wildebeest in the first movie. How does Kiara get out of that? Does her father, Simba, attempt to rescue her like his father did before him? NO. Simba just stands there. The child honey-badger friend of Kion's makes his way next to Kiara - with a jovial and whimsical cheering attitude might I add - and...he lets out a massive fart which makes the antelope scatter away from Kiara. Simba left his daughter's life in the hands of other children, did absolutely nothing himself to save her at any point, and afterwards doesn't really check on if Kiara is okay but only focuses on giving his blessing for Kion's choice of the Lion Guard members.
That is this show's call-back to a scene in the first movie that portrays a father unhesitatingly risking his life and limb to save his child's life, the brother of that father maliciously murdering him, and the little boy witnessing his father falling to an ugly, slow and painful death. (Assuming Mufasa didn't die from the fall. Anyway, his body would have been mangled in real life but it is a G rated film, so...) And in the aftermath shows this little boy in vain trying to wake up his father, panicking all alone in a vast canyon, calling out for help from anyone at all until breaking down to cry and crawling to lie in the arms of his dead father. Not only does the scene in the original film include all that but it was immensely powerfully executed, bringing the viewer up close with all of the characters and the action and showing the death-fall and the body on screen.
"The Lion King" was created to reflect human suffering, responsibility, family love/bond, and bravery. "The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar" craps on those values with its call-back scene.
This pilot and its following episodes were made for toddlers in attempts to give them laughs and some life lessons through unrealistic premise execution and whimsical little adventures that other original shows are already doing better - so I don't see the point in this show's existence. Some say that they also meant this to "introduce The Lion King to a new generation" - but if you think of it; how exactly does this do that? It's NOTHING like the original films, it literally farts on the first film's arguably most meaningful scene, and over-all doesn't hold a candle to the movies' power and feel.
I watched "The Lion King" in the mid-90s with my then-3-year old cousin and he was just fine and wanted to see it every single time he came over, which was often. No, he was not traumatised by Mufasa's death scene. Do your kids a favour; show them the "The Lion King" and "The Lion King II: Simba's Pride" instead. I daresay they'll get more out of them in a long run than they would out of this show.