#How to Draw Simba

[weaponizedmoth]

For the art requests - is it ok to ask for Dr Orpheus enjoying chill out time with his cat Simba? lol

Absolutely.

[impossiblekittydelusion]

Noooooooooo, slamming smaller men into steel steps is enrichment for him!

[patronizing]

watching the lion king w my husband cus its his fave disney movie ♡ hehe

[palesweetsdeer]

Humbly requesting Mountain (or any tall ghoul really) putting Dew in air jail by holding him up under his arms kinda like how the baboon holds baby Simba in the Lion King

Believe it or not this is actually something I’ve been wanting to draw for a while because I think it’s hilarious. Thank you for motivating me to pull through!

Also he’s in air jail for biting Mountain’s ass during nap time

[donutfloats]

Trying to decide how I wanna draw Kovu and Kiara, especially Kiara

I really want her to resemble her dad, having a dark orange coat and red tipped tail, plus very stocky. I like to think she had issues hunting because she was so large compared to the other lionesses, and it didn’t help that she was clumsy. She had a sudden growth spurt before she reached adulthood, so she’s still trying to get used to how big she is.

Kovu, aside from my own flavour added to his design, didn’t really change much. He’s leaner, with less bulk but more defined muscle. He is certainly a big boy, but nothing compared to Simba, so it’s no surprise that Kiara stands taller than him. As a young adult his mane was only around his neck and on top his head, but as a full fledged adult it spreads over his chest, across his shoulders and between his shoulder blades. He’d also bulk up more when on a consistent diet.

Overall they’re the beefy power couple of the kingdom. Kovu loves his big beefy wife, and Kiara loves her handsome husband

[heartslabyuls]

been messing with this for a while, but i think i’ll finally post the first three dorms for my swap au!!

these aren’t necessarily what i think the rsa uniforms would be in canon, just how i’d personally adapt them to the main cast in these positions. i don’t think a dorm based on the lion king would even exist at all in canon rsa.

design notes below the cut!

the pictures above the characters are the iterations/versions where i drew most inspiration for each design, both physical and writing. riddle and ace had the most inspiration taken from different places.

Heartslabyul —> Eccentryul

riddle’s design is painfully obviously ripped off of the alice in wonderland black butler ova. i spent so long sketching out ideas for him then ended up rewatching some black butler episodes and literally stole ciel’s clothes.

since eccentryul doesn’t have a dress code, all students are free to dress as they please. riddle is meant to look like an outlier among the other members of his dorm to highlight his role as the alice of the group while still looking like he belongs there. every character is wearing some kind of coat, however riddle is the only one with something overtop of it. all characters have slightly more muted colors in their clothing whereas riddle’s blues are a bit brighter.

trey and cater, as the third year pair, have flat colored hair without any change. ace and deuce as the first year pair have two colors in their hair. and riddle has no coloring to his hair at all as the only second year.

riddle’s headband is tied to resemble bunny ears! he no longer has his heart ahoge, unfortunately too much damage to his hair has made them recede back into his hair. but! his bangs have the general shape of a heart to make up for it!

deuce’s shoes were inspired by chat noir from ladybug. the paws look is adorable and i use it whenever i can. ace also has pawbs shoes, but they’re slippers! specifically the kind of slippers you could wear outside with the firm bottoms.

Savanaclaw —> Savirvana

i looked at so many possible references and did my research on kenyan clothing trends and traditional styles, but NOTHING i did came out right, so i just ended up basing it off of the outfits from leona’s hometown event. i simplified them a bit more than those, because event outfits tend to be more dramatic and detailed than the base outfits.

leona’s skin was shifted to a darker, more red tone, to match the deeper red tones of his hair. his warmer colors give off a more approachable feeling compared to the cooler, dark tones of his original design. his tattoo is a butterfly to symbolize the change simba experiences in his character arc in the movie.

ruggie is still pale, however he’s now tanned due to his constant time outside in such a hot and sunny environment. his freckles are kind of hard to see in the image quality but they’re still there! ruggie really doesn’t change much, his personality is already very firting to timon and pumba-

jack’s hair color also sees a significant change, mostly because there were too many white-haired characters LMAO. the brown colors give him a calmer look, fitting his personality more than the bright white hair and tail. unlike leona and ruggie, since jack grew up in an environment with a wider variety of temperatures and climates, he isn’t as used to the sun and thus keeps his arms covered and protected to prevent damage from too much uv light. don’t mind how the stripes of his pants look different compared to leona and ruggie’s, they were so annoying to draw and i got sick of it by the time i got to him 💀

Octavinelle —> Sidonis

i got the idea to base the uniform for the dorm of the sea off of sailor outfits/uniforms and that was my peak design moment. i will never reach that level of genius ever again.

sidonis’s uniform consists of light, flowing fabrics in order to not drag them down in water. their shoes resemble water shoes! for obvious reasons, so they aren’t ruined by salt water or just water in general.

jade and floyd still remain opposites, and i tried to portray this more with their hair. jade’s hair is neatly styled, with a black coloring to further symbolize his supposed “maturity.” floyd’s is unkempt, with the same black streak more highlighted among the white, to showcase his unpredictability.

floyd also seems to be missing a tooth. i wonder if jade knows anything about that.

azul’s housewarden uniform has a trail of tulle(? maybe chiffon?) tied into two, flowing tails to replicate ariel’s mermaid fins. he has a lot of diy and homemade jewelry to reflect her creativity and resourcefulness, including the shell necklace.

[thesvnandthemooon]

short n’ sweet au

💋 💋 💋 💋 💋 💋 💋 💋 💋

natasha romanoff x fem!reader, college!au

cute headcanons bc i can’t stop thinking about them

• nat watching you take off your makeup. every night, without fail, she’ll sit on the edge of the bathtub and watch you (once niko is born, she’ll obviously hold him in her lap so he can watch his mommy too <3)

• nat will adjust your necklaces/straps/rings/whatever just to have an excuse to touch you

• pinky promises!! always holding out her pinky for you to intertwine it with yours

• natasha doesn’t get nervous often, but when she does, it’s adorable. she’ll grab your hand and play with your fingers, twist your rings and massage your palms. if there’s a sharpie nearby, she’ll draw little shapes and hearts, too (and a dick, just to add the cherry on top)

• your legs/heels are killing you? she’s definitely carrying you on her back, especially after a long night out and especially once you’re pregnant. the best part is that it doesn’t even faze her. you’re tiny compared to her, so she can easily carry you around. and if you want to sit on her shoulders? hell yeah. she’s used to the feeling of your thighs around her head anyway

• also defo picks you up and puts you on random surfaces. the kitchen counter, the table, the sink in the university’s bathroom. she doesn’t even know why, she just does it

• pulling nat in by her jersey when she gets jealous and watching her melt into a fucking puddle like yes she’s an actual softie <3

• sitting/napping between her legs when she’s playing video games and noticing how her voice gets softer when you doze off. she’ll still trash talk her teammates but at least she won’t wake you doing it

• sleeping in just her letter jacket. literally nothing else. just the jacket. and it kills her

• lipstick smudges everywhere. her neck, jaw, abs, thighs. pressing your lips against every part of her body until she’s breathless and so hard she can’t form a single coherent sentence

• biting her bottom lip while kissing just to hear her moan. bonus points if you’re grabbing the front of whatever she’s wearing

• nat kissing you while you’re in the middle of talking, but especially if you’re rambling or close to starting a fight. yes, she can end a fight that hasn’t even started

+ pregnancy/baby bonus 🍼

• nat kissing your cramping legs and massaging them and actually feeling so so bad

• nat cannot cook. like, at all. but when everything was making you nauseous during the first few weeks of pregnancy and you couldn’t eat anything without throwing it back up? she was in the kitchen all the time, trying new recipes, swapping ingredients, perfecting the seasoning, until she found a food that was safe

• kissing your belly pre-basketball game for good luck 😭 and if she feels the baby move, it’s basically guaranteed they’ll win

• using nat as your personal heater and her being more than happy to let you do it

• nat downloading a contraction timer app but panicking and pressing the wrong buttons when you’re in labor

• you leaving lipstick kisses on niko’s cheeks because it’s adorable (and nat wondering why the fuck you’re painting her son)

• natasha carrying niko around like he’s a football. not because she doesn’t know how to properly carry him, but because she thinks it’s funny

• bringing him to practice and games and nat carrying him onto court. her teammates love him and always give him little high-fives (even if nat has to help him with those)

• you told natasha not to swear around the baby. she forgets every time, though. you get mad every time as well. especially when your toddler drops the f-bomb one day

• nat definitely talks shit about other babies at least once, even if you tell her not to do that (though you can’t really disagree when she says: “ours is cuter”)

• her lifting him into the air like simba (picture cam from modern family but less dramatic)

• niko helping you get ready once he’s older: pretending to put your lipstick on you, holding your jewelry…and being all like “mama pretty” (the baby fever oml)

• he’s a mini-nat and it shows. putting his hands on his hips, raising one eyebrow, saying “watch it” when he’s mad at someone

• matching jerseys!!

[gay-dorito-dust]

A rare occurence in the Wayne Manor...

Isekai Reader, currently being taught how to draw at different type of angles by Damian: I do this and this? Oh..

Damian: then you add some there

Isekai Reader: has anyone ever told you you're a great teacher? Its like a straight line without curves or up and down

Damian: no

....

Jason:...

Dick:...

Tim, watching through the cameras: what the fu-

Isekai reader and Damian bonding? Life as we know it has come to an end 🤣

Isekai! Reader/you: hey Damian, you’re good with animals right?

Damian: yes, why?

Isekai! Reader/ you: *showing him the injured rat that they found on the side of the road, clearly abandoned by their previous owner* I found this little guy and I thought could come to you for help as your more well equipped with this kind of thing.

Damian: *takes the rat off of their hands gently* we shall house him until he is back to full health such will take diligent care and patience, then we find if they have an chip or anything that shows that they belong to someone.

Isekai! Reader/ you: their is some information of the owner that i found and i tried to get in contact but they told me to and I quote ‘keep the rodent’

Damian: *clenches his jaw* pathetic. then he shall be a Wayne. *raises it up like simba*

Isekai! Reader/you: what shall we call him.

Damian: you found him, you name him. *passes the rat back to you as you look at the little guy.*

Isekai! Reader/ you: i think I’ll name him squeaks.

Damian: *hums* squeaks Wayne it is.

Meanwhile with the rest of the Batfam:

Tim: it can’t be

Dick: it’s impossible

Jason: the two never get along like this

Stephanie: history in the making

Cassandra: something that shall be passed on to generations to come

Duke: Damian and isekai!reader are actually getting along.

Bruce: *sips his coffee but spits it out after hearing Duke* getting along? *pouts* I owe Alfred money

Alfred: 🤑 I knew this day would come, just give it time and they’ll get along just fine.

…

Damian: squeaks meet your family *presents the rat to Alfred the cat, Titus, Ace, Batcow, Goliath and Terry the Turkey*

Squeaks ‘the rat’ Wayne: 🐀

Isekai! Reader/ you: *wipes tears* beautiful. My baby boy.

[gadriezmannsgirl]

dad!ruben plissss🥹

You ask and I deliver😌 However, I'm sorry if this not what you wanted nor expected, did this at 3am😭 sorry. Let me know what you think, please!

O Meu Pai -R.D3

Summary: Vitória is daddy's little girl and her daddy, Rúben, loves her

"Toya, c'mon baby" You spoke lightly "C'mon we've to get you ready para irmos ao aniversário da avó Bernadette!" (so we can go to grandma Bernadette's birthday!)

"Are you and Pai matching?" You smile nodding

"And so are you, dear" You kiss your babygirl's four years old hair before getting out of her closet a light blue dress to match outifts with you and your six years husband, Rúben.

You listen to her sing some children's songs as you got her clothes on her, as soon as you turned around to grab her shoes a knock on your door came in.

"Como estão as minhas meninas?" (How are my girls, doing?) Rúben asks pecking inside the room "Meu Deus!" (My god!) He gasps "You are so pretty!"

"Pai!" Vitória yelled in your ear as you were putting her shoes on

"Don't yell in mamã's ear, baby" You tell her with a small smile getting behind her to do her hair

"Sorry, mommy" She said softly kissing your hand.

You smile looking at Rúben who has a loving look on his face, whenever he tells you "Sorry" he gives a kiss on your hands or cheeks and your daughter picked up on it.

"No worries, baby" You kissed her cheek too and start working on her hair.

"Vitória, did you get your present for avó Bernadette?" Rúben asks, sitting next to her

"I did! I did a drawing for her!"

"Where's is it? Let me put in the bag so we don't forget about it"

"Right there!" She lifts her arm and points to her small table.

Rúben gets up from the floor and goes to her table to grab the drawing she made, you see the smile on his face and instantly smiled to yourself. You finished her ponytail and secured the small braid you did at the side.

"Vitória, baby. Why don't you go to the living room and play for a bit with Simba and Nala?"

"Is everything alright?" She asks seeing her dad silent

"Yes, babygirl." You say "I gotta talk to daddy really quick"

"But make it quick 'cus we're going to be late!" She says before getting out of her room.

"Just like her dad" Rúben laughs softly "Everything good?" You get up and stand right next to him

"I just can't help but think our baby's growing so fast. She used to draw the big and happy sun at the side of the paper, now she does it on the middle!"

"She's still young, Rú" You giggle "Also, she's learning that the sun comes out from one side and hides from the other, maybe she drew this in the early afternoon?"

"Or maybe she's just growing up?"

"Well, that's life and it's cyrcle" You kiss his shoulder "You're still going to be the man of her life, always. You know it, right?" He nods

"Until she gets married"

"No. You'll still be" You shake your head "But there's a long way until that happens. So let's enjoy her and her early life before she turns 18, starts brining guys home and wants to do a piercing"

"That will not happen!" You laugh kissing his lips

"You're cute. C'mon, grab the drawing and let's go. We'll be late if we stay here and missy Vitória Y/L/N Dias, doesn't like being late"

"She really doesn't"

"I'm telling you, just like her dad" He wraps his arm around your waist, pull you closer to him and kisses your lips softly

"You look gorgeous"

"And you look extremely handsome, love"

"My wife picked this outfit for me"

"She's a fashionista" You whisper before kissing him once again

"Mãe! Pai! Hurry up, we'll be late!" You open the door from her room as you both went out

"Toya, come on babygirl! Let's get to grandma's!" Rúben says before you hear a small "Finally!"

°°° °°° °°°

"A mãe e o pai estavam a demorar muito tempo!" (Mom and Dad were taking too long!)

"Guys" Iván, your brother in law says looking at you and at Rúben "Keep it in your pants"

"Jeez, we weren't doing anything!" You reply "We were actually talking about Vitória's boyfriends?"

"Do you have boyfriend's, Vitória?"

"No! They are little ugly monsters who will only infect me!" She said before running to her dad's legs

"That's right, baby" Rúben says, you give him a look but he doesn't act on it

"Boys will not infect you, Toya" Beatrix, one of your in-laws, says with a small smile

"Either way! I don't wanna be contaminated" Toya says nuzzled in her dad's shoulders, her small arms wrapping around his neck

"Jesus Christ" You mumble to yourself before taking a deep breath

"That's my girl!"

"Rúben!" All of you scolded him as he opened his eyes and mouth

"My daughter, my ways to evite her heartbreak"

"Filho" (Son) Joao, Rúben's dad, says softly with a small smile "You're just like me"

"Like father, like son" Bernadette says making you all laugh.

"Hey, Vi" Carolina asks "Want for me to paint your face?"

"No. Pai"

"C'mon, minha filha" (my babygirl) "I bet you'd look pretty with a pretty drawing and some glitter on your cheek. Would you like that?" She nods

"But I want to cuddle with you, pai"

"You behave like a good girl with your tia and then we will cuddle while watching some cartoons and eating some food mamã and avó did, what do you think?"

"Yes, please" Rúben put her down watching Vitória run towards her tia and then laughing with her.

"I think she's too spoiled by you" Your voice comes in through the now empty living room

"Nah, I don't think so" Rúben smiles "She's just my babygirl"

"And you're her pai. She definitely preferes you over me"

"That's not true" You give him a look and after some silence he answered. "She's just a daddy's little girl, that's normal"

"She is"

"I love it"

"I know you do"

"I love you"

"And I love you too, Rú" You smile

"Can we start practicing for a sister or brother for her?"

"You want another one? Right now?"

"I do" He nods "You?"

"I do" He smiles getting closer to you so he can kiss your lips "How do you think she'll react to a sibling?"

"Mad because you are hers, I'm hers and nobody else's"

"We will have to explain that to her" You nod

"But let's wait 'till baby is in the oven" You mention your tummy "once that happens we can start planning everything"

"You're getting lucky as soon as we're getting home" You laugh blushing. Thank heavens you were the only ones in the room.

"Mãe! Pai!" Toya's voice gets closer "Look at the bee, tia made!"

"You look so pretty!" Rúben says impressed "So you're the queen bee, right?"

"I'm princess Bee, mãe's Queen Bee and you're King Bee, pai" She gave you a kiss on the cheek and a kiss to her dad.

"That's correct, love" Rúben kisses her non-draw cheek. "Ready to cuddle for a bit? What do you want to watch?"

"Barbie Princess and the Pauper!"

"You always know my favorites, don't you?" Rúben asks underneath his breath as he gets into the couch finding a nice and comfy spot

"That's why I ask for them, they're our favorites!"

"We need to sing our hearts out!" Toya laughs shaking her head

"Pai, this isn't our house to yell"

"Well, I'm sorry. But we can't watch a Barbie movie without feeling it at it's fullness"

"You're right, pai; so let's sing it then!"

°°° °°° °°° °°°

Taglist: @gaviymarcsbride @stuckinaf4nfiction @elijahslover @azzpenswrld @http-isabela

[atticcreationz]

It's my boooooiii sharing his knowledge so you can learn and pass it on to others too! For real tho, even if you're not aiming to be an animator or a clean up artist, there are still good things to learn here, and I'm always shouting about how everyone working in the animation industry should take time to learn from the other people in the pipeline to improve your own work and relationship/teamwork with other departments!

'ello folks, my Cleanup tutorial is finally done and out! hope you find it useful

[voices-in-dark-violets-head]

"Be Yourself", says the Furry Fandom.

And yet, as with many things in life, it's far easier said than done.

I've found that 'being myself' can take a lot of bravery, but I want to tell you why it's so, so important.

Storytime!

At Eurofurence this year, I ran the e621 Gameshow for the third year in a row. And for the third year in a row, we were over capacity. As in, security-comes-in-to-tell-people-to-leave levels of over capacity (Which, my dear sympathies once again with those who had to go!)

We had a crowd that was there for an hour and a half of weird furry porn. Who cheered for horsecock. Who delighted in Falco Lombardi macro art. A hundred people - a quarter of the room - gleefully admitted to being into vore.

The atmosphere was electric, and I hadn't even needed my e-stim kit. This was a crowd who rejoiced in the adult side of the fandom!

And then I asked them - how many people had a fetish they'd be nervous admitting to?

A third of the room raised their hands.

In a room that had been laughing moments earlier about the amount of Mufasa/Simba porn, or getting a 100% success rate on guessing popular cock shapes, 1/3 of them weren't confident in revealing those same parts of themselves.

I don't think this is rare.

I've had folks ask me if I get hate for the kind of art I draw (not really much at all, by the way). But worse, I get people telling me - they wish they could draw what they want, write the characters they love… but they fear what others might say.

I've had commissioners remain anonymous, for fear of people knowing what they're into. Known artists start up alt accounts, so that they can draw a kink without their friends knowing. Writers wringing their hands over possible reactions to their stories.

And I would love to tell you it's all just fear - but truth is, it isn't.

Because it ain't just the big patron sites that are swinging the axe on the 'too weird'. Our own sites - our communities - sharpen their restrictions. Whole kinks, loving and accepted, are now 'too far'.

We're fearing the gaze from the outside. We're hearing their derision. And that can scare us, cause us to hide not just ourselves, but those around us. "What if they think that I'm into that? What would they say? I need to prove I'm not!"

We all crave love and acceptance. And in a fandom formed in rejection from society, don't we just hold such ideals even more tightly? So much so that the very idea of this same community throwing us out - for being ourselves? Of course it's terrifying.

But it turns out, even us outcasts, outsiders… we can all hold prejudices. We all have the ability to draw lines, and give too little thought to what that means. We can so easily turn our own opinions, our fear of what others think of us, into rules that hurt and exclude.

And therein lies the issue. "Be yourself", says the fandom, without stopping to consider how treacherous, how thorned that path can be. To be yourself, sometimes, is to suffer the disgust of those who would tell you to do it in the first place.

But… I'm missing something.

Thing is, this fandom isn't based on any one thing. We're not just here because Zootopia was a kinda cool movie, or Twokinds is pretty sexy, or StarFox looks good when he's fifteen stories tall.

We follow no one IP, no webcomic, no TV show. We follow only one thing:

Ourselves.

WE make the fandom we live in. We're dozens of sexualities, a hundred meetups and conventions, a thousand discord servers and Telegram channels, a million pictures and stories and alt-accounts and roleplays…

We decide what we are.

Aren't we the haven of the weird? The questioning of sexualities? The taboo, even incomprehensible kinks? We joke about vore, knots, gratuitous foot fetishists, but isn't that what makes this place home? Isn't every artist drawing obvious kink art following a beautiful legacy?

We are the monsterfuckers. The maw-obsessed, the paw-sluts, the musk-lovers (er, not that one). With every fetish we draw, every kink we commission, every smut-filled story and problematic character and taboo-laden roleplay…

We're the fandom, making ourselves.

Through being myself, through art and stories and chats and servers, I've found new communities. New friends. New ways to think, new art to enjoy. I've found love, deeper than I ever thought possible.

I've found myself.

And I've been told that through my artwork, stories, friend groups, I've helped people do the same. They've found the words to describe what's been inside them this whole time.

They've found they're not alone.

It's one of the sweetest and most delightful things I've heard.

Yes, it takes bravery to be yourself. You risk being misperceived, either accidentally or wilfully. You risk hurt. You risk confusion. But it's nothing you haven't done before. And in its wake, you will find yourself.

Do not let other people dictate who you are.

Do not let other people dictate who you are.

So when I say to keep furry weird, this is what I mean. Find that part of yourself that yearns to be free, and make this fandom the place for it.

Be yourself. Be so amazingly yourself that your very existence is an act of rebellion.

And Keep. Furry. Weird.

[thegrinningkitten]

The suggestion was for 'young Mufasa', and it's kinda weird just how hard it was for me to draw something The Lion King, considering how TLK is the thing that initially got me into drawing...

And he still looks way too similar to Simba

[mad-raptorzzz]

[Image Description: The SixFanarts challenge. The first is Whiteout from WOF, a Night/IceWing hybrid who is a dark grey-blue with a lighter belly. She has ice blue freckles throughout and caribous like horns. The second panel is Cera the triceratops from The Land Before Time. She is a peach color and is making a snarky face. The third panel is the villain The Nowhere King from Centaurworld. The design is a deer skull with glowing neon green eyes sitting in a bunch of dark goo. The fourth panel shows Randall from Monsters Inc. He is clinging to the box and grimacing in disgust. The fifth panel has Kion from the Lion Guard. He has yellow fur and a red mullet-esque mane. His left eye is scared and pale blue, indicating vision loss. The sixth and final panel contains Frostpaw from Warrior cats. She is a pale grey cat with a tipped left ear and human-made scar across her neck. Her eyes are widened in horror./End]

Wooooof, I finally finished this. Thanks to @bi-pan-whiteout for suggesting Whiteout!! I just chose the other 5. It was fun to draw non-dragons for a hot second. But man oh man do I need to practice lion king characters and cats

Whiteout: I tried a more traditional coloring scheme for her. I think I might still like piebald Whiteout. But I have like 15 designs for her in my brain at all times. She's just got so much potential!! Love her obviously.

Cera: Land Before Time is a big nostalgia trip for me. I gave Cera actual triceratops horns because it always bothered me she didn't have the eye horns. She also should have scars on her because my girl is ready to throw hands at all times.

The Nowhere King: Oh man Centaurworld was an absolute blast start to finish. This guy was my personal favorite part. His story is tragic, but they let him continue being evil. Such a wicked design too. Goop with a skull.

Randall: Randall is one of my favorite Disney/Pixar villains. Right up there with Scar and Ursulla and Hades. I just like that he's a conniving little guy. And his colors and design are just perfect.

Kion: So I know some Lion King fans really don't like the Lion Guard show. I don't mind it. The Lion King is my second favorite movie of all time, and Simba's Pride is my favorite direct to video Disney sequel. I enjoyed the show, even though I was waaaay older than the target audience. Especially the third season when they aged things up a bit. I imagine that Kion lost vision in his left eye after the injury. I also love his stupid little hairstyle and I doubled down.

Frostpaw: The horrors persist but so does she! She is one of my favorite characters in WC from the recent books. Such a cute little anxious lass. Trying her best. Interested to see how things go in Star.

[nazrigar]

A warm-up drawing based on an idea I had for a long time.

Simba requires wisdom that his father nor his ancestors can provide, so he asks the help of truly ancient spirits, kings from the distant past.

Depicted here is a Spinosaurus and Megistotherium.

Tried to combine the designs of both the original and the 2019 version of Simba here.

An a more paleontological note, it's amazing just how colossal the super theropods were. Megistotherium is the largest mammalian hypercarnivore that we know of... and is still pretty small in comparison to Spinosaurus.

[spookymultimedia]

So I made next gen OC. Shocking I know. But I couldn't resist drawing these two being Dads.

A few months after Hootsie was freed to live in the wild where she belongs they made the decision that they wanted have a baby together and raise it. Gricko had a bad case of Empty Nest Syndrome and Frost had always wanted to have a baby someday. So they went to the equivalent of an adoption center and found a deaf tiger cub that was abandoned because the parents didn't want to raise a disabled child. Frost immediately felt sympathetic for the baby, so the two adopted them.

Their name is Morning Oak and decided to use gender neutral language for the baby until they could express their gender identity on their own. They don't even tell strangers the sex of the baby and hardly bring it up in conversation.

Frost taught Oak a few signs so they could express their needs. Later on the two would teach them how to read lips.

[artist-issues]

I was writing out a really long meta analysis piece on the og Beauty and the Beast on how music and lighting were used to tell a story and I tagged you in it because I thought it’d be fun to debate some of that stuff with you but now I can’t find it in my drafts at all! It’s all gone 😭 so I came to your blog to make myself feel better and found your post about Zazu in the Mufasa movie and seeing you draw the characters in the original Disney style really cheered me up. Their animation used to be so beautiful and had so much love in it (your art was gorgeous by the way, it actually looked like a real lion king film!)

Anyway! If it’s not too much on you, I’d like to hear some rambles on Disney, it could be about anything really, but I’ve just gotten some really awful news tonight and I need something to take my mind off it please

Oh I'm so sorry to hear that! I want to be there for you. You're so kind about my art, thank you; I wish I'd seen the post. I’ve had it eat my drafts before like thirty times; recently my phone is doing this fun thing where I can’t type more than two paragraphs without tumblr freezing up, so I’ve lost more that way.

Let’s see…let’s talk about Disney’s Sequels! In these trying times of remakes and prequels, the Direct-to-Vieo Sequels start to look pretty good right about now, don’t they? I think they actually got better as time went on and money went into Disney Toon studios, but I’ll list my top three and explain why!

Lilo and Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (no I’m not biased leemee alone)

‘The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride

Bambi II

I can explain myself.

Lilo and Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch

This movie is amazing. It repeats the best things about the original Lilo & Stitch (tight focus on character-relationships, character-specific comedy, and a simple story) while still having its own vibe, as if these are the exact same characters you know and love, but they have a recently-new normal.

Stitch isn’t a destructive artificial-brain figuring out how to think outside his programming anymore—now thinking outside his programming is the new-normal, but he still has to learn how life with a family works. Lilo isn’t lonely anymore, but she is still stuck in her own little world, in a way. Nani isn’t struggling to keep her family together anymore, but she is still struggling to keep them all happy. And Jumba and Pleakley get character arcs, which is beautiful.

If you’ve never seen it, I don’t want to spoil it. It is a really good movie. They took this concept, which was originally from Chris Sanders’s early story ideas for the first movie, where Stitch is in danger of death but Lilo’s love revives him. And they made a movie out of that.

It’s great, because Lilo is still working through missing her parents. The movie doesn’t brush that aside, or act like having Stitch fixed everything for her. Instead, she’s become singlemindedly focused on winning the same competition at hula school that her mom did, because she wants to feel a connection with her mom, and because her peers are still treating her like she’s worthless.

The thing is, Lilo gets the confidence to try and win this because of Stitch. She’s downcast and believes that her bullies are right. You get the idea that this is how she would feel if she were still a lonely orphan. But this time, because this is the sequel, Stitch is there.

So he tells her they’ll win the competition together. And in this movie, while Lilo is struggling with getting her sense-of-worth from Stitch, or a hula competition, Stitch is struggling with his sense-of-worth, too. He’s glitching out and his programming is forcing him to act destructive all over again. He’s not sure if he’ll always be bad—he’s wrestling with the possibility that he’ll hurt Lilo and his new family.

And in the meantime, Jumba is trying to solve the problem, but he’s afraid he’ll fail, and lose his worth in the eyes of the family, as well as lose Stitch. And David, in a little side-story, is afraid he’s losing Nani, that she doesn’t value him.

All of which sounds really dark, but it’s really an interesting place to take the characters, and truthfully the whole film is so lighthearted where it needs to be, but not afraid to be earnest and emotional, either. And the point of it is really good. It’s “love is more powerful than death.” It’s powerful enough to overcome questions about self-worth, and it’s powerful enough to overcome the gaping hole that loss and failure and other forms of death leave. It’s gorgeous.

2. The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride

People take issue with this sequel because…I mean, look at it. There are parts of it that are animated really well, and the character designs are good, until you measure it up to the original Lion King, and then it’s just not even the same league. Besides, the writing is very dramatic, sometimes the sound editing for the characters’ dialogue is placed strangely or feels like the pacing is weird…

But I love it, and not just for nostalgia. I love it because it is about a new set of characters (like a sequel usually should be) but the previous set of characters still act in-character.

Not everybody agrees with me. Because Simba seems much less fun-loving, and so uptight and formal, that he doesn’t feel like the same character we knew and loved in the original Lion King, at all.

But it only takes like one second of thought to realize that, as a brand new king who’s uncle murdered his father and emotionally blackmailed him, and was able to do so easily because Simba himself was so self-centered and reckless as a child, and then Simba made big mistakes by running from his responsibility for so long…

…where we find him in this sequel makes total sense.

Of course he’s feeling like he has to overcompensate for abandoning the kingdom and getting fooled by Scar. Should he realize that not everyone is going to betray him, and he is the real King and can rule gently and fairly without being over-controlling? Should he? Yeah. But like. This is Simba. His major character flaw is thinking too much about himself—it used to be thinking he was awesome, then after his dad died it was thinking he was unable to be a good leader and everything was his own fault. Now, everything he ever dreamed about being a King, he dreamed when he was like the lion-equivalent of nine years old. And found out it was all wrong. He’s having to figure this out with only his father, whose very absence is a sore spot, as an example. Of course he’s suddenly obsessed with being just like his dad, and that makes him talk all formal, and pass strict judgement, and say things like “I’m seeking counsel from the Great Kings.”

Of course Simba would be protective of Kiara. Overprotective. Lying and controlling. Because as a child, he and Nala almost died over and over. And the worst of the worst things happened to him, as a cub.

Of course he wants to banish Kovu. It’s not because he’s racist. (What does that even mean?) It’s because he was betrayed and manipulated as a young, naive cub by someone who claimed to love him, then broke his heart and his life. So when a dark lion who literally looks like and claims connection to Scar waltzes in and appears to be manipulating his daughter and stealing her young heart? Yeah, no, it wouldn’t be Simba if he didn’t overreact.

But that’s enough about Simba. I think the movie’s real strength is symbolism and premise.

First off, it continues the symbolism of a reflection in its own unique way. The movie is very on-theme. Its point is “Hate divides us, but love completes us.” (Its not “We Are One,” that’s just Movie-Speak)

Kiara feels incomplete. Divided from a whole other half of who she is. She says so as a cub. She’s not just a princess; she feels like there’s a part of her that wants to be capable and bold and take action. But she can’t be that, she has no outlet for that, because as the Princess, everyone is always over-concerned for her safety and wrapping her in like, wild-animal-bubble-wrap. Then she meets Kovu, and he is capable, and bold, and takes-action—he seems independent. (He’s not, at first, but he has more control over his immediate actions than Kiara seems to.) And he gets her and loves her, and she loves him, despite their flaws, so that is her missing half.

And with him, he doesn’t know how to just enjoy life. He’s been trained his whole life to act out of passe-down hatred; he’s been run through drills, and there’s even a scene where Kiara has to teach him how to play…and then he goes back home to his sister, who clearly also wants to play, but just calls it “fighting.” That’s the world he comes from.

But he meets Kiara, who is all about trying to enjoy life and have fun, and it’s a whole new outlook for him. It’s what he had seeds of before his mother’s hate stamped it out, and Kiara completes it for him. So they really are each others’ other half. And they have that in common. Kiara could be independent and a capable leader, if her father’s hate (which manifests as paranoia and overprotectiveness against danger) weren’t stamping it out. Kovu could have fun and protect good things instead of killing, if his mother’s hate wasn’t stamping it out. Dividing the good parts of them. But then their love for one another overcomes all that and brings them together.

And they do that literally, with the reflections in the water. Simba needed to learn his father lives in him, he’s a part that can’t be separated. Kiara and Kovu needed to learn that love makes them part of one another—that’s the key to no longer being divided.

Just like how, in the end, love forgives—so the Outsiders are able to come back into the Pride. Instead of being divided, the prides literally merge into one, and are completed. Love all that.

If you think of it all as like, “how do we make Simba into a strong King when he has so much baggage to overcome?” And this adventure with his new family teaches him that? Then you can see it’s a really beautiful movie.

And I love, of course, that Mufasa appears to be orchestrating all these events. Like, there’s a Higher Power at work. It’s all good.

Bambi II

This movie has the same vibes as Lilo & Stitch 2, even though it’s a midquel.

I love that Bambi gets his own characterization and character arc in this movie, even though he’s pretty one-dimensional in the classic film. But yet, none of this feels out of character for Bambi. He’s sort of gentle and very young, but you can see glimpses of dreams and ambitions and even strength that show off what he’ll be like as an adult Great Prince of the Forest.

I think the animation is very good, soft and cute. It’s not so much about realistic-cartoon-animal movements, graceful and charming, like the classic was, obviously. This animation is more about emotion and appeal. Which I appreciate, because the story is, like most good Disney sequels, very relationship-based.

It’s about Bambi being cared for by the Great Prince, and how the relationship between a father and son is about more than duty; it’s about nurturing. I just love that. I love how carefully they build up Bambi as feeling distant and unsure of what’s going on in his father’s head, but wanting to please him nevertheless. I love that the Great Prince doesn’t know how, exactly, to care for or relate to Bambi, so he defaults to just telling him how to be dignified and Princely.

I especially love the scenes with Ronno or the Great Prince. I like the fact that those old Disney sequels can take a character that didn’t have a lot of dialogue or screen-time in the original, and build out a whole story around those characters, giving them personality and writing that somehow always feels true to those characters. The Great Prince might not know how to father, but even when he’s insecure he has a kind of put-on calm and reserve. He’s not made a fool-out-of, ever, or bumbling. I love that Ronno, on the other hand, is ridiculous and brutish, just a little-boy bully…but he’s also truly threatening, for Bambi and Faline and their friends.

I think the emotion in this movie hits really well. Because they’re so careful to interweave Bambi’s emotions about losing his mother and wanting to find the same feeling of safety he had with her in his father, with The Great Prince’s emotions about wanting to “do his duty” even if it hurts when he feels he’s not what’s best for Bambi…

Because they build that up believably and spend all their time on that instead of big, epic adventures or larger-than-life tales, the movies turn out really well.

Honorable mentions to Cinderella 3: A Twist in Time, The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning, Tarzan II, and Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp’s Adventure

I hope your day is better tomorrow, friend.