LESSON 2: WHO IS SIMBA'S SON?

Hey and Welcome to the next Lesson.

With Disney still churning out remake after remake, it was only a matter of time till they got to The Lion King. Whatever your views on the newest iteration are, you can’t deny the massive impact it left on films as a whole. So much so, when I went to trivia night at my local bar, the subject was The Lion King.

It was fine, I had fun, the night was going great until . . . I got to one question specifically: At the end of The Lion King, who was Simba’s son?

I put down “Kion”, knowing that’s the correct answer – correct answer now, anyway.

And I got it wrong.

Now, this is a trick question for 4 reasons.

If you’re like most of us, you may immediately respond with, “What? Simba didn’t have a son, he had a daughter, Kiara.” And, to that, I’d have to say, yeah! You’re right!

. . .But the truth is much deeper than that.

During production, the animators at Disney had no real faith in Lion King’s success. In fact, they were referred to the “B Team” while the “A Team” worked on the next film, Pocahontas. (insert irony here) So, when the film came time to wrap and Rafiki held up the lion cub, the animators never even named it.

It was simply called “Fluffy”.

So, he didn’t have a name?

Well, not exactly.

After Lion King’s release and before the release of the direct-to-video sequel, there were books released to continue on the stories of the Lion King called: “The Lion King: Six New Adventures”.

In these stories, Simba does have a son. Kopa.

So, okay, there you have it! He does have a son and his name is Kopa!

But…what about Kiara?

Well, in truth the books weren’t made by Disney themselves. Creator Alex Simmons openly admits that Kopa was all his idea.

“Yes, Kopa was my creation all the way.”

So, when Lion King 2 came around, the creative team didn’t even know about Kopa’s existence. As such, when they made the movie, they started over and made his cub a girl named Kiara, effectively wiping away Kopa from continuity.

So, he doesn’t have a son? Well. . .kind of.

In 2015, Disney launched a spinoff show called The Lion Guard. In it, we see Simba and Kiara, but now she’s a cub and no longer an only child. This is where Simba’s son is introduced as Kion, the newest and current son of Simba.

 So, knowing all this, when I was faced with the question, I put “Kion” and the answer to be revealed was “Kopa”.

The trivia MC got the answer wrong and, because of that, I didn’t get my point.

At first, I was mad, but then I decided to do some digging.

Turns out, when asking Google this same question, the first answer to pop up is Kopa…but with inconsistencies ie: a picture of Simba. And directly beneath it, it’s revealed his son’s name is Kion.

So, I didn’t get my point.

I guess someone should’ve told the MC the real truth; it’s clear he needed to Be Prepared.

Well, that’s all for now. So, until the trivia MC gets his answers right or Disney makes Kopa canon, I’ll see you for the next lesson.

Until then, class dismissed!