The Lion King: Simba has a son?

Ah, the Lion King, a childhood favourite of mine. Sucked finding out about the whole Kimba the White Lion thing, though... (Though they have different story lines and the show is more about nature conservation). Recently Disney announced that there is going to be a spin off Lion king series called The Lion Guard that takes place after the sequel and follows Simba and Nala's son Kion as a main character, but what you may not know is that Simba's son is not really a recent additional character.

Simba has a had a son for a very long time.

So here's what we've got from the Lion king franchise; at the end of the movie Simba and Nala have a cub that they allow an elderly baboon to hold dangerously over the edge of pride rock (as is tradition) and in the sequel we see it is their daughter Kiara. The first movie didn't specify what gender the cub was supposed to be, the books however did. That's right, in the book version of the movie (or at least the one I owned) the cub at the end is reffered to as a prince. When I say the books mention Simba having a son, I don't just mean the book versions of the film, there was also a spin off book series.

 

Here's a picture of Kopa from one of the books.

This spin off seires was called The Lion King: Six new adventures and was only released in the US, but you can find and read them online. The son of Simba and Nala was called Kopa and was a central character in some of the stories (including one about rapping vultures...). The stories also focused around events that happened when some of the characters were younger, this included Mufasa and Scar. They even tell us how Scar actually got his scar; he was originally named Taka (which means Scar in Swahili anyway) and he only took the name Scar after he was scarred by a buffalo in a failed attempt to injure/murder Mufasa out of jealousy... so basically, Scar's plan to kill his brother sparked from much earlier than we thought. I guess you could say he took the name as a reminder of his actions and he felt guilty about it, but that's the thing about prequel stories, we know he's gonna grow up to become a murderer... which makes that story somewhat darker.

Anyway, back to Kopa.

We know the sequel followed the same kind of Shakespeare-esque thing that the original did, but this time instead of taking influence from Hamlet it took influence from Romeo and Juliet. They clearly wanted a female protagonist otherwise they could have just used Kopa, they would just need to switch some of the characters around. Instead of being about Kiara and Kovu it would be about Kopa and Vitani... Did they think the love angle was too feminine for a male protagonist? I doubt it, because male protagonists fall in love all the time. It happened in the first movie, there was a whole song about love! It was about if you could feel it? Tonight? Remember? ...Guys?

Anyway, because a lot of fans know about Kopa, it means they've come up with their own ideas of what happened rather than him just being forgotten about. Some just don't care because it's fictional lion canon. Others have created the likes of fan fiction and fan art depicting that Kopa simply ran away or that he and Vitani did meet and fall in love and Zira ended up killing him before/during the events of the sequel... Some of the fan art is very violent.

Here's Kopa, I mean Kion.

So, going with the existance of the books, technically Simba did have a son long ago, but rather than assuming something terrible happened to him, one of the writers of the six new adventures stated that there is no reason that the events in the books couldn't have happened after the events in the sequel, which leads us back to The Lion Guard. Should we just say Disney forgot about Kopa? Should we assume that something terrible really did happen? Will he make an appearance? Or are Kopa and Kion the same cub and there was just a name change? Why not just keep the name Kopa seeing as they'd already set it up? Oh well. The show will include cameos from other characters like Kiara and Kovu and includes some new characters as Kion's friends. They aim for the show to have themes about nature conservation, kind of like Kimba the White Lio-... 

Wait. 

....

NO DISNEY, NOT AGAIN!!! DON'T DO THIS TO US!

*Sigh* 

Anyway, having grown up with the Lion king, it will be interesting to see what they do...

My forgotten love for FMA

I am an anime fan. So naturally I am part of the anime society at my university, and one thing that happened lately was a combined event with the Film society that I am also part of where we would watch an anime movie. The film we watched was Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa, a follow up to the first series.

Fullmetal Alchemist. The show that for me, started it all.

It's been quite some time since I last watched FMA, even Brotherhood was a while back now, but I seemed to have forgotten just how much I adore that show. It's one of my all time favourite anime and that screening brought all the memories of it flowing back and I realised something: Fullmetal Alchemist can be held more dearly to me than I realised. All the knowledge of the show, the alchemy, the characters and the stories- I love it the way Maes Hughes loves his family, and that's a whole freakin' lot!

When I first started getting in to the show, I'm sure I'd probably seen other anime, or maybe even just little bits, but FMA was one that would leave a lasting impact. I discovered anime streaming and became obsessed with it. I was "absorbed in the science that made you feel like you were magic". The idea of a world centered around the existence of alchemy is fascinating, and what's cool about it is it doesn't get too distracted in the aesthetic of performing alchemy, it's more than a cool looking and sounding concept. There's a whole culture developed in this world of alchemy, rules and taboos all based around the idea of equivalent exchange. Alchemy works like an equation. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. I'll give a small example: using wood and water you can make a hydrogen paper blimp- same materials, same mass, input is equal to output.

There are so many things you could create in a world like this; how people use alchemy, ideologies, how society was shaped by it's existence- even the darker sides of the creation of homuculi and chimeras. There's so much to this world and the people within it, and both the first series and Brotherhood explore them in a way so you understand it all.

(Seriously, when you've seen the show, understanding being able to bind your brother's soul to a suit of armour using alchemy to bind the iron in your blood to the metal isn't rocket science...)

I'd get up early just to stream as many episodes as I could. I was pretty damn secretive about my love for anime, it might sound weird but I was worried about what my parents would think, I was convinced they'd be very judgemental. I even hid my love for anime from my friends. I did actually have a friend who was in to anime too, but she was in to more light hearted stuff. Considering the amount of emotional scenes in FMA, the show wasn't for her. A lot of people die in this show, guys...

What sucked was at the time I had no way of expressing my love for anime any other way than online, I was really alone in my little obsession. I'd never seen any anime in stores, I live near a place called Andover and no word of a lie, any time there was any kind of DVD/music store set up, they shut down weeks later. Plus the stores there are pretty small, they never had anime sections. I couldn't buy things online myself and asking my parents was out of the question, they pretty much didn't use the internet at the time, especially not for buying things.

So, eventually I started looking in to the voice actors and found out that Vic Mignogna
(pronounced min-yah-na), the English voice of protagonist Edward Elric, was going to LFCC in 2009. I planned on going with a couple of friends, but it didn't really work out. Again, I was by myself in my little fandom. My brothers (Alphonse voice: Brother!) went with me instead and I actually got to meet Vic. I hugged him for WAY TOO LONG... but hey, they guy's encountered a fan who licked his hand once, so I guess it's not so bad. I even gave him a poorly made cardboard Star Trek badge with his name on it (he likes Star Trek) and he asked me to sign it. Eee! I of course got his autograph too, a little piece of card that is currently placed on my notice board at home.

That same summer, we happened to go in to a HMV (Y'know, before they were dying) and I came across something I'd never seen before in anime-less Andover. This HMV actually had an anime section. I wondered over and found a box set of FMA, explaining to my parents that this was the show "that guy" was from. I don't remember if a set was bought there and then or if we decided to wait until my birthday... either way I have the whole first series now. Having met Vic and found that anime was actually obtainable in the UK (I was honestly convinced it wasn't) I was still determined to share my love of anime with my friends. That didn't really happen. I don't like to go in to too much detail, but the last few years of secondary school was a sad time for me. Nothing big and dramatic happened to me, but let's just say it's a lot of little things over a long time that built up to a larger mass of sadness... like equivalent exchange! PWAHAHAHA....hahaha...aww, I made myself sad... 

 

(But oh look, a puppy! Puppies make everything better!)

So, I was already in quite a state of sadness, felt isolated due to no one sharing my love for this show and even more so for having less and less in common with my friends. It was a sad time for me indeed, and what I ended up doing was telling myself that I was going to get each day over with so I could get home and immerse myself in some good old fashioned escapism in Fullmetal alchemist.

How could I have not realised sooner that FMA had such a huge significance to me? I have no idea. I did other things too and watched other shows, but FMA was one I watched multiple times. I found refuge in this show, it's world, it's characters, even it's darkness. I still hid my love for anime. My parents knew about me liking anime, but I felt uncomfortable watching the show around them. When they'd come in the room I'd pause it, I managed once without pausing it, but I'd turned the volume all the way down. I really wanted them to like the show and not think of anime as just being "Weird". I was pretty used to being closed about... well, everything by the time I got to college. I wore, and still wear, a little L keyring from Deathnote that I bought at LFCC 2009 on my trousers like a little accessory (oh dear, i've reduced L to being an accessory...) I hoped he'd do a little more of the talking, like people would see him hanging from my belt and know that I was an anime fan... it sort of worked?...kinda. Sorta... Whatever, I eventually opened up a little more in college...Sorta...

FMA lead me to a lot of other anime, I'd even looked at other shows just because they had the same voice actors. There's a cool story about voice actor J. Micheal Tatum, he adored the show and auditioned to be in the FMA movie and got the role of a soldier who gets shot (all he had to do was scream) and eventually with the release of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, he auditioned and got the role of Scar, a alchemist hating serial killer and a massive part of the show. What a transition! I was quite obsessed with Vic for a while too, but by now I've seen so many recordings of convention panels I know a lot of the stories and crazy fan encounters. Maybe I'll meet him again some day.

(LFCC, it's like MCM Expo, but a little cheaper...)

I was glad to see that other members of the film society enjoyed the movie, even if they didn't get a lot of bits dues to not having seen the show. They seemed pretty in to the whole alchemy biz, even if they just saw it as a little anime craziness, they at least seemed to like it. Watching the film I remembered how much I adored the show. Maybe I haven't gone back and watched the show for so long because I watched it too many times, or maybe it was too soon after Brotherhood, but that doesn't mean my love for it has gone. I'm sure I'll watch it all again one day, and thanks to my brother (brother!) who bought me an issue for Christmas on year, I even started reading the manga.

Brotherhood may be the series that is more favoured and it's awesome too, but I don't like to look at them comparatively; they are two parts of the same kind of awesome. I can like and dislike parts of both, but it doesn't matter. I love FMA and the first series is the one i fell in love with. It had a huge impression on me in several ways. I have even taken inspiration from this show in my writing (wanna be a writer, shoulda mentioned that), even if it is just the presence of a large ominous stone gate.

I'm clearly now a little more open about anime as well as in general. I suppose it's debatable and there's room for a lot more improvement, but I'm at least more open in blog entries, right?

 

(Happy transmuting, kids!)

The accidental voices of cartoon characters

Of course cartoon characters are very visual, but their voices are often what help bring them to life. Some are fitting, some are annoying, and some aren't even planned. Creators can have a very clear idea of what they want their character to sound like, but what they may find from the audition process is that an entirely different interpretation wins overall. Here are just a few animated characters whose final voices were never part of the plan.

Hades- Disney's Hercules

I think a lot of people already know about this one, but here is James Woods as Hades. Just think about that, you've got this ancient Greek God, God of the underworld, Hades to be exact. What kind of a voice would you look for?

During the audition process, the directors went through countless people just doing the same kind of voice you would expect the lord of the underworld to have; they cackled, they announced their evilness and lord of the underworld-ness and basically all did typical bad guy sounding voices. Then in comes James Woods: "Hey, I'm Hades, how you doing?"

  Watch (01:18- 01:35) for more about Hades.

I guess James Woods was just being James Woods really, he didn't sound like a lord of the underworld, but the directors loved it. Woods' diction gave Hades a different attitude and character that just the plain maniacal approach wouldn't have gotten and what's more is that it's just so different, nobody would have expected the lord of the underworld to sound like James Woods, and I suppose that's why he was chosen.

Eduardo- Foster's home for imaginary friends

 Hola!

 
Tom Kenny, well known for voicing Spongebob Squarepants, is in everything, so obviously he's in this show too. Kenny plays Eduardo, a big furry brutish looking monster with a heart of gold who speaks Spanish. 

Now it's clear what approach they were taking with Eduardo, the whole don't judge a book by it's cover thing, and what's interesting is that Kenny's interpretation of Eduardo probably enforces this message more effectively than the kind of voice the creators were actually looking for. The creators were looking for a kind of beautiful soft Spanish voice, but what Kenny gave them was what they described as "a Spanish cookie monster". 

Kenny said it was a desperate audition and when leaving he really didn't think it was going to lead anywhere, but the creators thought it was hilarious and took this new version of Eduardo's voice as the perfect fit. 

 Watch (03:48- 04:18) for more about Eduardo.

Grim- The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy

The situation with casting Grim must have been much the same as with casting Hades. If you're looking for a voice for the grim reaper, you're gonna get a lot of the same thing; big maniacal laughs and evilness boasting. Greg Eagles came in to the audition and did just that and put on a deep evil sounding voice. Believe it or not the creators were actually looking for something more shrill and whiny and for some reason British. To give Eagles a chance the creators asked if he could do more with the voice he chose, to which he added that awesome Jamaican accent. The video didn't embed, so here's a link:

 Watch (01:00- 02:01) for more about Grim.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGQI4AZkuNM

I think choosing Greg Eagles was a great decision, I can't imagine Grim without his accent, and that deep booming laughter that he does so well would probably be annoying if it were higher pitched and ridiculously British...

Rumpelstiltskin- Shrek 4

 

Walt Dohrn, the voice of Rumpelstiltskin, never actually auditioned for his role. Dohrn worked on the scratch track of Shrek 4, basically the early recordings of lines (not done by the actors) along with the storyboard, and he often put on the character voices whilst reading the lines. Rumpelstiltskin did not yet have an actor and as Dohrn worked more and more on the scratch track the creators began to really like his portrayal. 

Watch (01:00- 01:38) for more about Rumpelstiltskin.

So Dohrn pretty much just became Rumpelstiltskin, they just liked his voice and after all his work on the scratch track it just fit the character.

Garfield- Garfield the movie

Ok, take this statement however you want, but Billy Murray became the voice of Garfield by accident. I've actually heard two reasons as to how this happened, one involves the Ghostbusters cartoon.

In "The Real Ghostbusters", Bill Murray's character from the movie is played by Lorenzo Music, the original voice of Garfield. Murray was said to have complained about Music's portrayal of his character sounding too much like Garfield. So supposedly years later Murray took on the role of Garfield as a joke and reference to all of this... I don't... I don't know...

The other reason I've come across is that one of the writers of the Garfield Movie script is called Joel Cohen and that Murray mistakenly thought the script was written by one of the Coen brothers (coen without a h ). So yeah, Murray misguidedly signed up to a project that he hated working on and sort of regretted it... but he came back for the sequel... meh.  

  Either way, he regrets it...