The Lion King 1998 on VHS. The film centers around Simba and Nala's daughter, Kiara, who falls in love with Kovu, a male lion who was raised in a pride of Scar's followers, the Outsiders. "The Lion King 1½", another direct-to-video "Lion King" film, saw its release in 2004. It is a prequel in showing how Timon and Pumbaa met each other, and also a parallel in that it also depicts what the characters were retconned to have done during the events of the original movie. In June 2014, it was announced that a new TV series based on the film would be
Simba to pan Simba, describing him as "irritatingly callow." Chris Hick of the "Deseret News" complained about the fact that Simba and the other "characters in "The Lion King" are not as warm and fuzzy as other Disney animated features," crediting this with making "the film a bit tougher to warm [up] to." ComingSoon.net strongly panned Simba as a lead character, writing, "typically for Disney animated fare, it's the hero who is the weak link being both blandly designed and blandly performed." Acknowledging the character's Shakespearean origins, "The Baltimore Sun"s Stephen Hunter gave Simba a negative review, writing, "Alas ...Simba stands