Another poster for Pooh's adventures of The Lion King
The Poster for "Pooh's Adventures of The Lion King".
Pooh's Adventures of The Lion King is another Winnie the Pooh crossover created by Daniel Esposito (back when he was brerdaniel). It premiered on YouTube in September 2008, one year before the real film's 15th anniversary. The remake version including The Lion King 1½ will be made by Daniel Esposito and RatiganRules and appear on Google Drive on June 15, 2019 in honor of the real film's 25th anniversary and the upcoming 2019 live-action remake of The Lion King.
Plot
Original version
Pooh's Adventures of The Lion King takes place in the Pride Lands of the Serengeti, where a lion rules over the other animals as king. Rafiki, a wise old mandrill, anoints Simba, the newborn cub of King Mufasa and Queen Sarabi, and presents him to a gathering of animals at Pride Rock.
Back in the Hundred Acre Wood, Winnie the Pooh offers Piglet a friendship gift for being such good friends over the years. Hoping to do something special for a friend, Rabbit suggests a trip to Pride Rock to meet the king {Tigger mentions how he was told stories about it when he was a cub}. In fact, Rabbit received a message straight from Pride Rock to attend a festival in which they proclaim the future king of Pride Rock. Packing up only the essentials, Pooh & the gang go off in what they hope to be the best vacation of their lives. Little do they know, the day of the festival already ended as an even bigger adventure unfolds for the brave heroes.
Mufasa takes Simba on a tour of the Pride Lands, teaching him about the "Circle of Life", the delicate balance affecting all living things. Simba's uncle Scar, who desires the throne for himself, tells him about the elephant graveyard, a place where Mufasa has warned Simba not to go. Simba asks his mother if he can go to the water-hole with his best friend, Nala. Their parents agree but only if Mufasa's majordomo, the hornbill Zazu, goes with them.
Before they have followed the road very far, Pooh and his friends looked at Piglet's new scrapbook that featured their past adventures from Pooh's Adventures of Beauty and the Beast, and Winnie the Pooh Meets The Hunchback of Notre Dame. While walking, they recount their first adventure with Ash Ketchum and his friends in Pooh's Adventures of Pokémon: The First Movie and looked at the photo of them together with Ash and his friends. Seeing how much they miss them, Pooh and the gang continued on their journey.
Simba and Nala elude Zazu's supervision and go the graveyard instead. There, the cubs are met by Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed, spotted hyenas who try to kill them, but they are rescued by Mufasa. Meanwhile, Scar gains the loyalty of the hyenas by claiming that if he becomes king, they'll "never go hungry again". Scar tells the hyenas to kill Mufasa and Simba, thus establishing his plan of regicide. Some time later, Scar lures Simba into a gorge for a "surprise from his father" while the hyenas create a wildebeast stampede.
On the way to Pride Rock, Pooh and his friends are hindered by the blockage of a huge jungle. Within his sight of the Pride Lands, Rabbit conjures up a hike as they do their own marching song.
Alerted by Scar, Mufasa races to rescue Simba from the stampede. He saves his son but is left clinging to the edge of a steep cliff. Scar flings his brother into the stampede below. Simba sees his father fall and rushes down the cliff after him, only to find him dead. Scar convinces the young cub that he was responsible for his father's death and tells him to flee from the Pride Lands. Scar once again sends Shenzi, Banzai and Ed to kill Simba, but he escapes. Scar informs the pride that both Mufasa and Simba were killed and that he is assuming the throne as the next in lin, thus allowing the hyenas into the Pride Lands.
The next day, Pooh and his friends began to wonder where to go, and then they sing a new version of "Nothing's Too Good For A Friend" from The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh episode, The Piglet Who Would Be King. Eventually, their travels take them into a distant desert and along the way, they meet Timon and Pumbaa, a meerkat-warthog duo who finds an unconscious Simba. They decide to adopt and raise the cub in their carefree lifestyle of "Hakuna Matata." Figuring that they might as well have their vacation there, Pooh and his four friends marvel at the wonders they find in Timon and Pumbaa's jungle home, but are frustrated at Timon's reception of looking after the young Simba, as revealed in Littlefoot's Adventures of The Lion King 1½ .
When Simba has grown into an adult he is discovered by Nala {who Pooh and friends meet for the first time}, who tells him that the Pride Lands has degenerated into a barren wasteland. But here, she begins to show her affection to Simba and falls in love with him. She asks Simba to return and take his place as king but Simba refuses, still believing he caused his father's death. Simba shows Nala around his home and the two begin to fall in love. Rafiki arrives and persuades Simba to return to the Pride Lands, aided by Mufasa's presence in the stars.
Once back at Pride Rock, Simba {with Pooh and friends, Timon, Pumbaa and Nala} is horrified to see the conditions of the Pride Lands. After seeing Scar strike his mother, Simba announces his return. In response, Scar tells the pride that Simba was responsible for Mufasa's death and corners Simba at the edge of Pride Rock. As Simba dangles over the edge of Pride Rock, Scar whispers to Simba that he killed Mufasa. Enraged, Simba leaps up and pins Scar to the ground, forcing him to admit the truth to the pride. A raging battle then ensures between the hyenas and the lionesses which results in Simba cornering Scar while Pooh and friends watch. Begging for mercy, Scar blames the hyenas for Mufasa's death, but Simba orders Scar to go into exile. Scar pretends to leave but turns to attack Simba, resulting in a final duel. Simba triumphs over his uncle by flipping him over a low cliff. Scar survives the fall, but finds himself surrounded by the now-resentful hyenas, who attack and devour him. Simba and Nala become the new king and queen of the Pride Lands, as Pooh and friends look on proudly for their new friends. The film concludes with the Pride Lands turning with life again and Rafiki presenting Simba and Nala's newborn cub as "The Circle of Life" continues.
Trivia
- Both Winnie the Pooh and The Lion King were created by Disney.
- Daniel Esposito's original solo version was a PAL film with PAL bits from The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin, and Piglet's Big Movie and NTSC bits from The Tigger Movie and Pooh's Heffalump Movie. However, Daniel Esposito and RatiganRules' upcoming remake version will be an NTSC film with NTSC bits from the Winnie the Pooh films and Ralph Breaks the Internet.
- Daniel Esposito's original solo version used the extended version of The Lion King, which included the song The Morning Report, but Daniel Esposito and RatiganRules' upcoming remake version will use the restored theatrical version of The Lion King taken from the Diamond Edition release with The Morning Report as a deleted song.
- Unlike Daniel Esposito's original solo version of the film, Daniel Esposito and RatiganRules' upcoming remake version will include The Lion King 1½, making it longer than the original version and the song The Morning Report might be a deleted song for that version.
- During the scenes in Daniel Esposito's original solo version of the film where the gang looked at their scrapbook of their adventures, the pictures include their past adventures from Pooh's Adventures of Beauty and the Beast, Winnie the Pooh Meets The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Pooh's Adventures of Pokémon: The First Movie. It is also the first Pooh's Adventures project to include the scrapbook scenes from Piglet's Big Movie.
- Jonathan Oosterhof (aka LionKingRulezAgain1) was originally going to remake this film (since he originally made Pooh's Adventures of The Lion King II: Simba's Pride and the first few episodes of Pooh's Adventures of Timon & Pumbaa), but he retired from making any more Pooh's Adventures films, so Daniel Esposito and RatiganRules will remake this film instead, especially since it was Daniel's film to being with.
- The original version did not feature any end credits at all. However, the end credits of the remake version will feature Elton John's version of Can You Feel the Love Tonight like in the real film.
- The storyline continues in Pooh's Adventures of The Lion King II: Simba's Pride and its midquel Pooh's Adventures of The Lion Guard.