Everything GREAT About The Lion Guard!
Everything Great About The Lion Guard! (Some Mild Spoilers Involved)
September 4 2021
Today I’m going to talk to you about a Disney show that premiered in 2016 and ended in 2019 and lasted for three seasons. That show is The Lion Guard. For those of you who don’t know, The Lion Guard is an animated television program based on Disney’s 1994 film The Lion King. The program follows the adventures of Kion, a young lion cub, son of King Simba and Queen Nala, and younger brother to Crown Princess Kiara. To protect and serve the Pride Lands, Kion’s and his family’s homeland, Kion assembles a group of different animals to help him. These include Bunga the honey badger (the bravest), Fuli the cheetah (the fastest), Beshte the hippopotamus (the strongest), and Ono the cattle egret (the keenest of sight). (Another member joins them later but that’s another story.)
These animals, with their special abilities, form an elite peacekeeping group that helps preserve the Circle of Life. Their enemies include Janja the hyena and his clan and Mzingo the vulture and his parliament. The Lion Guard’s foes do not respect the Circle of Life and live in the Outlands and always try to take more than what they need. Along the way, Kion and his friends and allies meet new friends, gather more allies, help those less fortunate, and make sure that everyone is safe.
The purpose of this entry is to be the opposite of a journal entry on DeviantArt that discussed Everything Wrong With The Lion Guard. And like CinemaWins on YouTube, it’s more fun to like things than disliking them. I’m not going to discuss every single win from every episode, but I will go for the main ideas per episode. If there are any errors in my little overview, those are purely my own.
Let’s begin …
Season 1
Return of the Roar: In the beginning ...
Never Judge a Hyena By Its Spots: Making new friends and learning how not all members of a certain species are alike.
The Rise of Makuu: Knowing your place in the Circle of Life.
Bunga the Wise: Learning that sometimes the easiest solution is not always the recommended or best one.
Can’t Wait To Be Queen: Looking out for your siblings and trusting your own instincts to help them.
Eye of the Beholder: Your friends still love and care about you regardless of who you are or what you look like.
The Kupatana Celebration: Celebrating love and unity regardless of where you come from and learning from an honest mistake.
Fuli’s New Family: Nothing wrong with being alone and knowing your friends are by your side.
The Search For Utamu: Celebrating family and learning about your origins.
Follow That Hippo!: Learning to be a good role model and having others look up to you.
Call of the Drongo: Learning to use your talents to help your fellows instead of using them for duplicity.
Paintings and Predictions: Nothing is really set in stone and the future is only what you make of it that really matters.
The Mbali Fields Migration: Learning to keep your cool and learning to follow orders.
Bunga and the King: Learning what you have in common with another individual and working together to accomplish the goal at hand.
The Imaginary Okapi: Welcoming outsiders and promoting inclusivity.
Too Many Termites: Making amends and knowing how different creatures contribute to the Circle of Life.
The Trouble With Galagos: Self-confidence and standing up for yourself.
Janja’s New Crew: Forgiveness for your allies, even if they betray you (in Janja’s case).
Baboons!: Reuniting a family.
Beware the Zimwi: Journey into the truth and learning that things are not always what they seem.
Lions of the Outlands: Friends helping friends and hearing both sides of the story.
Never Roar Again: Don’t let life get you down and being there for your family.
The Lost Gorillas: Promoting unity between sibling kingdoms and learning to have fun.
Trail to Udugu: Family all the way!
Ono’s Idol: Becoming a real hero and learning the value of heroism.
Beshte and the Hippo Lanes: Making your parents proud and being there to help out.
Ono the Tickbird: Reconciliation and learning to be the best of friends.
Season 2
Babysitter Bunga: Taking care of the young and giving them life lessons.
The Savannah Summit: Learning to get along and play nicely.
The Traveling Baboon Show: Sinbad makes a guest appearance as a baboon and learns an important lesson about comedy and when it is appropriate.
Ono and the Egg: Acting as the interim babysitter and a surrogate family.
The Rise of Scar: New friends and old enemies.
Let Sleeping Crocs Lie: Knowing when to leave well enough alone.
Swept Away: Learning to survive in an unforgiving environment.
Rafiki’s New Neighbors: Even pariahs have their worth. Learning to coexist and help.
Rescue in the Outlands: Never underestimate the power of helping.
The Ukumbusho Tradition: Celebrating and learning.
The Bite of Kenge: Aid for the Dry Season and learning new tactics.
Timon and Pumbaa’s Christmas: Christmas! Is there any sweeter sign?
The Morning Report: Strong will wins the day in the face of danger.
The Golden Zebra: Learning to share in times of trouble.
The Little Guy: Giving others a chance to prove themselves.
Divide and Conquer: Everybody loves Rafiki fighting!
The Scorpion’s Sting: Saving family members.
Wisdom of Kongwe: Wisdom can happen anywhere you go.
The Kilio Valley Fire: Home is where the heart is, especially in the Pride Lands.
Undercover Kinyonga: A chameleon on the side of good and doing reconnaissance.
Cave of Secrets: If adventure has a name, it must be the Lion Guard!
The Zebra Mastermind: Misinformation can be useful as psychological warfare.
The Hyena Resistance: Friends indeed!
The Underground Adventure: Taking control of your imagination and not vice versa.
Beshte and the Beast: Knowing your own strength and thinking things through carefully.
Pride Landers Unite: Working together to fight a common enemy.
The Queen’s Visit: Realizing that help is always with you.
The Fall of Mizimu Grove: Hope in the darkest of times.
Fire From The Sky: A new friend and the talents involved.
Season Three
Battle For The Pride Lands: The final confrontation.
The Harmattan: Like the desert’s mystery and finding your way.
The Accidental Avalanche: Never too late to fight the fight.
The Ghost of the Mountain: I’ll be the one.
Marsh of Mystery: Using both brains and sight to find your way.
Dragon Island: Walking on water.
Journey of Memories: Past experiences can really help the present.
Race to Tuliza: Winning isn’t everything.
Mama Binturong: What was lost is now found.
Friends to the End: Counting on friends through thick and thin.
The Tree of Life: Finally after all we’ve been through and it paid off.
The River of Patience: Patience is a virtue.
Little Old Ginterbong: It’s okay to be smart.
Poa the Destroyer: Gentle soul making friends.
Long Live the Queen: Duty calls.
The Lake of Reflection: Memories and such.
Triumph of the Roar: It dwells inside you and all around you.
Journey to the Pride Lands: Homeward bound!
Return to the Pride Lands: Moving forward and a new destiny.
Well, there you have it. That’s my two cents on all the episodes. Hope you’ve enjoyed hearing my thoughts on each of them. If there are any errors or mistakes, please let me know. Thank you.