Post by Kieran on Jul 3, 2011 16:54:31 GMT 2
"Let's just end on the next generation. Here's Fluffy, Simba and Nala's new little cub. Let's just end on Fluffy."
—The Lion King film makers, on the 1995 commentary track of the film, refering to the cub at the end.
Appearance
Fluffy looks a lot like its father Simba did as a baby. It has very similar facial features, golden brown fur, paler toes, and big, black pupils without irises. But couple of noticable differences can be found: it has black ear rings whereas Simba didn't and it doesn't have fruit juice 'paint' on its forehead unlike Simba did.
Information
After The Lion King
After the release of the film in June 1994, the cub became very popular object of speculation as for who it is. The film's content itself doesn't say anything about the cub apart from its outside appearence. No name or gender is given. Because of the look-alike appearence to Simba and how no female had been seen with a golden brown fur, many believed it to be a boy and many still refuse to believe it's not. Even the ear rings make some absolutely certain that it's a boy, even though Simba as a baby didn't have them and Simba's mother Sarabi does have them. And even though the fruit juice paint was an essential part of Simba's blessing ceremony in the beginning, the lack of it at the point where the only known baby boy had it, implies that it might be a girl after all - especially when combined to the fact about the ear ring matter.
The original design making its gender unclear and many believing it to be a boy, resulted in some outsider writers creating childrens' books wherein it was visioned as a son. And as no official sequel to the film was in plans, Disney's book apartment approved them, forming a semi-official book universe out of a collection of profit fanfiction stories that contradict each others. In 1994, few months after the film, was published book series The Lion King: Six New Adventures, which became the most popular but remained quite unknown as it was released only in USA. In it, Simba and Nala have a son named Kopa.
In 1995 the film's creators released a commentary track for the Laserdisc release of the film, wherein they called the cub "Fluffy" and didn't refer to it either a 'he' or 'she' - even though Kopa was in Disney's copyrights and there would've been no harm done by turning the cub into him. By Fluffy, they made clear they didn't want Kopa to be the cub in the film, that in the official story the cub would remain without a gender or real name.
Soon enough Disney's film makers started to create an official sequel film, but the crew was all different from those who created the canon film. A rumour has it that the sequel's creators were planning to write two cubs, a boy named Chaka and a girl who had several name options, but cut the boy out in early production and developed the story only with the girl. In 1998, The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride film was released and Fluffy had finally gotten an official gender and name: a girl Kiara.
After The Lion King II: Simba's Pride
The film's official trailer uses Fluffy for baby Kiara's presentation. But even so, because in the film itself Kiara's design and the ceremony are obviously different from the first film's version, it has caused confusion among fans - especially those who know about Kopa in the books. I have to assume some haven't seen the official trailer or fail to realize that the story is set when the official trailers are released.
They needed to connect Fluffy into an official SP material but in the actual film they wanted to redesign it, so the solution was to make the point in the trailer. And yes, even if the trailer was made by the marketting people, The Walt Disney Company does see this trailer as official as it has the word "Disney's" on it and it was released on an official Disney VHS.
There are a few fan theories to connect Kopa into the story, of which the most popular is that Zira killed Kopa before the film's beginning despite of the fact that a loss of an earlier child doesn't make sense to about a twenty facts in the film's story.
And those who correctly do their math on the character timelines the two films combined provide, find out that it doesn't even leave room for any older siblings to Kiara, the very least for Kopa: Kopa from the books and Zira's son Kovu from the sequel film look the same age (and thus would become the same age if stuffed into the same story) yet Kovu was born before Simba even met Nala, and Fluffy could not have been born before in the least 3 months later. This could have Kovu and Fluffy look the same age. Which Kovu and Kiara do. If there was another cub before Kiara, carried while Kovu growing up and then growing up alongside Kovu, then Kiara carried and growing up for months...Kovu would look much older than Kiara. There is no room for anyone between Kovu and Kiara's births. Especially not someone as old as Kopa.
Why they remade the cub's ceremony scene is unknown. Why they redesigned the cub is unknown but likely they wanted it to look more obviously female, or just less like Simba as in more personal and individual appearence instead of a clone of her father. Whatever the motive, the act is retroactive continuity that is very common in works of fictional series.
One essential thing remains common between Fluffy and Kiara and the ceremony scenes: neither have the fruit juice paint on them when Rafiki holds them up for the kingdom to see. Kiara gets the paint after Rafiki takes her down. Thus, the continuity doesn't completely lack and Kiara and Fluffy blend into one on a practical level also in the film itself.
Simba's Pride's makers have officially confirmed that in their story Fluffy is Kiara. In this official interview they say "It starts off where the first film left us with a twist - you think it's a king but it's a queen!" And remark also that he says that we THINK it's a boy, not that it actually was in the film itself. But the point is, one of the animators have confirmed that in their story Kiara IS the cub at the end of the first film.
Fluffy is Kiara in the entity of the movie universe, which forms the official story of The Lion King, while the first film's commentary track proves Fluffy never was even supposed to be officially anyone until Kiara.
Fluffy = genderless Fluffy in its own film's story alone. Thus turns into any fan's original character.
Fluffy = a boy OR a girl in the book universe. As the book universe stories contradict each others, Kopa isn't even the only version of Fluffy in the book universe and some books say it's a girl.
Fluffy = girl Kiara in the entity of the official story that is the one formed by the two films.
Fluffy = a son named Kion - Kiara's little brother - in the upcoming spin-off movie and TV series called "The Lion Guard".
—The Lion King film makers, on the 1995 commentary track of the film, refering to the cub at the end.
Appearance
Fluffy looks a lot like its father Simba did as a baby. It has very similar facial features, golden brown fur, paler toes, and big, black pupils without irises. But couple of noticable differences can be found: it has black ear rings whereas Simba didn't and it doesn't have fruit juice 'paint' on its forehead unlike Simba did.
Information
After The Lion King
After the release of the film in June 1994, the cub became very popular object of speculation as for who it is. The film's content itself doesn't say anything about the cub apart from its outside appearence. No name or gender is given. Because of the look-alike appearence to Simba and how no female had been seen with a golden brown fur, many believed it to be a boy and many still refuse to believe it's not. Even the ear rings make some absolutely certain that it's a boy, even though Simba as a baby didn't have them and Simba's mother Sarabi does have them. And even though the fruit juice paint was an essential part of Simba's blessing ceremony in the beginning, the lack of it at the point where the only known baby boy had it, implies that it might be a girl after all - especially when combined to the fact about the ear ring matter.
The original design making its gender unclear and many believing it to be a boy, resulted in some outsider writers creating childrens' books wherein it was visioned as a son. And as no official sequel to the film was in plans, Disney's book apartment approved them, forming a semi-official book universe out of a collection of profit fanfiction stories that contradict each others. In 1994, few months after the film, was published book series The Lion King: Six New Adventures, which became the most popular but remained quite unknown as it was released only in USA. In it, Simba and Nala have a son named Kopa.
In 1995 the film's creators released a commentary track for the Laserdisc release of the film, wherein they called the cub "Fluffy" and didn't refer to it either a 'he' or 'she' - even though Kopa was in Disney's copyrights and there would've been no harm done by turning the cub into him. By Fluffy, they made clear they didn't want Kopa to be the cub in the film, that in the official story the cub would remain without a gender or real name.
Soon enough Disney's film makers started to create an official sequel film, but the crew was all different from those who created the canon film. A rumour has it that the sequel's creators were planning to write two cubs, a boy named Chaka and a girl who had several name options, but cut the boy out in early production and developed the story only with the girl. In 1998, The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride film was released and Fluffy had finally gotten an official gender and name: a girl Kiara.
After The Lion King II: Simba's Pride
The film's official trailer uses Fluffy for baby Kiara's presentation. But even so, because in the film itself Kiara's design and the ceremony are obviously different from the first film's version, it has caused confusion among fans - especially those who know about Kopa in the books. I have to assume some haven't seen the official trailer or fail to realize that the story is set when the official trailers are released.
They needed to connect Fluffy into an official SP material but in the actual film they wanted to redesign it, so the solution was to make the point in the trailer. And yes, even if the trailer was made by the marketting people, The Walt Disney Company does see this trailer as official as it has the word "Disney's" on it and it was released on an official Disney VHS.
There are a few fan theories to connect Kopa into the story, of which the most popular is that Zira killed Kopa before the film's beginning despite of the fact that a loss of an earlier child doesn't make sense to about a twenty facts in the film's story.
And those who correctly do their math on the character timelines the two films combined provide, find out that it doesn't even leave room for any older siblings to Kiara, the very least for Kopa: Kopa from the books and Zira's son Kovu from the sequel film look the same age (and thus would become the same age if stuffed into the same story) yet Kovu was born before Simba even met Nala, and Fluffy could not have been born before in the least 3 months later. This could have Kovu and Fluffy look the same age. Which Kovu and Kiara do. If there was another cub before Kiara, carried while Kovu growing up and then growing up alongside Kovu, then Kiara carried and growing up for months...Kovu would look much older than Kiara. There is no room for anyone between Kovu and Kiara's births. Especially not someone as old as Kopa.
Why they remade the cub's ceremony scene is unknown. Why they redesigned the cub is unknown but likely they wanted it to look more obviously female, or just less like Simba as in more personal and individual appearence instead of a clone of her father. Whatever the motive, the act is retroactive continuity that is very common in works of fictional series.
One essential thing remains common between Fluffy and Kiara and the ceremony scenes: neither have the fruit juice paint on them when Rafiki holds them up for the kingdom to see. Kiara gets the paint after Rafiki takes her down. Thus, the continuity doesn't completely lack and Kiara and Fluffy blend into one on a practical level also in the film itself.
Simba's Pride's makers have officially confirmed that in their story Fluffy is Kiara. In this official interview they say "It starts off where the first film left us with a twist - you think it's a king but it's a queen!" And remark also that he says that we THINK it's a boy, not that it actually was in the film itself. But the point is, one of the animators have confirmed that in their story Kiara IS the cub at the end of the first film.
Fluffy is Kiara in the entity of the movie universe, which forms the official story of The Lion King, while the first film's commentary track proves Fluffy never was even supposed to be officially anyone until Kiara.
Fluffy = genderless Fluffy in its own film's story alone. Thus turns into any fan's original character.
Fluffy = a boy OR a girl in the book universe. As the book universe stories contradict each others, Kopa isn't even the only version of Fluffy in the book universe and some books say it's a girl.
Fluffy = girl Kiara in the entity of the official story that is the one formed by the two films.
Fluffy = a son named Kion - Kiara's little brother - in the upcoming spin-off movie and TV series called "The Lion Guard".
