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The Bootleg Files: King of the Jungle

BOOTLEG FILES 815: “King of the Jungle” (1933 adventure film starring Buster Crabbe).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO:
None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It fell through the cracks.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.

In 1932, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer scored a commercial hit by casting former Olympic swimmer Johnny Weissmuller in the title role of “Tarzan the Ape Man.” Paramount Pictures thought it could replicate the rival studio’s success, but rather than acquire the rights to Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan character it opted to make a quasi-Tarzan film based on Charles Turley Stoneham’s “The Lion’s Way” – in which a Tarzan-type character was raised in the African jungle by lions rather than apes.
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The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar (DVD)

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If you’re like me, you’re a hardcore fan of “The Lion King” and didn’t mind extensions of the mythology. Sadly the follow ups were all sub-par, and “The Lion Guard” muddies up the mythos even further. Granted, “The Lion Guard” is a perfectly fine animated movie, and you’ll likely say “Felix, this series isn’t meant for you,” but even kids will have a difficult time figuring out the time line if they decide to do the math. “The Lion Guard” is set immediately after part one and before part two. So that means everything after “The Lion Guard” doesn’t matter, and the central focus of the series is back on a young lion cub rather than the lioness Kiara, originally Simba’s spunky daughter. “The Lion Guard” works on actively erasing the latter story line by reworking the entirety of future story lines, which include Skar’s children, his wife, and the lack of a mention of the plot elements in the sequels.

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The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar

the-lion-guard

With “The Lion Guard,” you have to keep telling yourself, it’s mainly a show for the kids, and you might be able to forgive some of the mistakes it makes. While it does make the wise choice of somewhat ignoring the lackluster sequels to “The Lion King,” it also adds unnecessary dimension to what was already a complex animated movie. Since the series “The Lion Guard” is touted for kids, I doubt Disney will do much to patch up continuity problems, so you have to decide if you want to acknowledge “The Lion Guard.” This time around, “The Lion Guard” is set somewhere during Simba’s reign and obviously before “The Lion King 2.” As a matter of fact, “The Lion Guard” essentially ignores “Simba’s Pride,” altogether.

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