Theory: Kopa in 'The Lion Guard'?

Being the huge The Lion King fan that I am, of course I took the "Which Character from The Lion King Said It?" quiz at Oh My Disney. And it was during the quiz that something caught my eye.

Screenshot by Molly the Disney Freak.

You probably don't see the importance of this image. So let me explain.

Of all the characters given as answer options, which one do you not recognize? You should be saying Kopa right now. Because Kopa is a very obscure Disney character, if we can even call him that.

Kopa is the son of Simba and Nala.

Say what?!

Yes, that's right: Kopa is Simba and Nala's son.

But not by an official canon. He's their unofficial son, a character never actually recognized by the Walt Disney Company.

He was created by Alex Simmons, who wrote a children's book with six short stories after The Lion King was released. The stories featured our favorite The Lion King characters, as well as introduced some new friends. One of these new characters was Kopa.

Kopa is sitting in front, next to Zazu.
Image via the Disney Wiki.

But here's the catch: while the books were permitted by the Walt Disney Company, they were never actually recognized as official canon.

That's right. The books exist...but also don't exist.

So, Disney has never made a mention of Kopa in any sense, because in a way, he doesn't exist to them.

Until this quiz.

Leading us to the final question: could Kopa be appearing in The Lion Guard, Disney Junior's upcoming TV movie and series based on The Lion King? Kiara has been announced to appear, along with our favorite characters from the franchise.

Only time will tell. But for now, watch this extended clip which shows the first few minutes of The Lion Guard.



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More Funko Pop! Vinyl Figures Announced!

At the start of June, Funko Pop! vinyl figures from Frozen were announced.

Now figures from Bambi as well as The Lion King have been revealed!

Both photos from Inside the Magic Facebook page.

Which ones do you like?  I love them all!

According to popvinyl.net, the figures are to be released sometime this August.

(Seriously, Mom and Dad – birthday presents!)

See you all real soon!

The Lion King Kittens!

How many cute kittens can you handle?

I’m definitely a dog person, but as Bestie is (literally) “the crazy cat lady,” I’ve grown to love cats too.

So imagine my excitement to find an adorable kitten version of The Lion King, my favorite Disney movie!  Not only are the kittens great, but the narrator, a young kiddo named Jackson, is pretty cute too with his words!

Video from YouTube.

I lost it at Scar’s “I hate you” thought bubble.  What about you?  What was your favorite part?

RAWR!
Image from huffingtonpost.com

The Pet Collective has also done kitten versions of Frozen, Finding Nemo, and Toy Story. I’ll be sure to share them individually as well!

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PS: a HUGE thank you to Rebecca Kelly for the beautiful shout-out post she did on my blog!  I really can’t thank her enough.  Be sure to follow her on Twitter!

What’s Your Disney Motto?

Nothing, what’s the motto with you?

Oh My Disney recently posted this visual element to help you discover the perfect Disney motto for your life.

Image from Oh My Disney post.

Turns out mine is either “To infinity and beyond!” or “I give myself very good advice, but I very seldom follow it.”  Yours?

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It’s the Circle of Life!

If you are a devoted follower of this Blog, you will know that my favorite Disney movie is The Lion King.  I love all of the songs from that movie but especially “Circle of Life,” both the beginning and ending versions.  Because I love this song and accompanying movie moments, it is my dream to own all the Disney merchandise I can find representing this song (especially Rafiki’s iconic pose).

And so when I discovered that Hallmark had released a musical ornament of Rafiki holding up Simba -- and musical in that the ornament played a snippet of the song -- I just knew I had to buy it!

So I searched around the Internet until I found one reasonably priced on Ebay.com.  After consulting with my father, who is the computer whiz (sort of) at home, about the prices and how to work Ebay, I went ahead and bought it – with encouragement from Roomie, as well.

Excitedly, I waited for the day when it arrived.  When I got the package slip one morning (it was a Tuesday or Thursday because I remember the specifically Tuesdays and Thursdays class I had to sit through), I waited patiently (just barely) through class until I could leave and get my package straightaway!

As soon as I got back, I snagged a pair of scissors from my room and opened it in the lounge, as Roomie was sleeping in our room (and I didn’t want to disturb her with my screams of joy).

Of course, I thought of all of you, my wonderful followers, so I had my camera ready.  Enjoy the pictures below.

Box within a box...Disney inception.
All pictures were taken by THE Disney Freak.
Do not remove any watermarks.



Front of the box.
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Back of box.
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Bottom of box.
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One side of the box.
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This side gave the normal price, but I got it a bit cheaper.
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Here they are!
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Once I’d opened it, I went back in the room to find a screwdriver because it hadn’t come with batteries so the music wouldn’t play.  Roomie was awake, so I brought everything back into the room and asked her for a screwdriver, as I couldn’t find mine.

As soon as I’d put the batteries in, I turned on my camera once more to film the experience for all of you.

THE Disney Freak/The Disney Freak Blog Original Video. I think this is the first time you guys get to hear my voice!

That’s all for this time.  If you’re a The Lion King fan, I totally recommend getting this piece for your collection!  I absolutely love it and would play the music all the time (just ask Roomie!) until TDM warned me it wouldn’t last as long if I pressed the button like every other minute.

But every once and awhile, the button is just begging for use…and so I push it.  Just once.

Makes me so happy every single time.

GIF from stormborntargaryen.tumblr

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Just a Heads-up

Sunday afternoon, MMM is driving me back down to Kansas, back to school.  And what does that mean?  Well, I can’t promise anything, but probably with my classes and work (both my previous job and in the Theatre department for my major), I’m guessing there will be less posting as before. Not another hiatus, but I can’t promise posting twice a week.

I’m keeping a notebook with important Disney-related events so that I can remember to post for those events and other such things.  For example, I’m hoping to post on the new movie Oz: The Great and Powerful when it comes out in March.  Or Merida’s coronation in July.

So don’t say goodbye quite yet!

And speaking of school (and the Theatre department), here’s random little story.  Okay, not so random.

Last semester, I took the Intro to Theatre class.  Before I left for college, my books arrived.  Interested in at least glancing through them, I picked up the Theatre book.  And just what did I happen to turn to?

A picture of Disney's The Lion King Broadway musical!
Picture taken by THE Disney Freak.

Mere coincidence?  I think not!

See ya all real soon!

Catch a Ride in Atchison!

At the Walmart (a college kid's best friend, literally) in Atchison is a pig waiting for someone to ride him:



It's my favorite Disney pig!
Picture taken by THE Disney Freak;
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Sadly, "Hakuna Matata" doesn't play when you ride him.  (The Beast thinks there's a bit of the song playing.)

They need to fix that.

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Sing What? Revisited

So as you read in “Sing What?”, my drawing Disney buddy has her own version to the Swahili chanting in “Circle of Life.”

Now as I shared with you, last weekend was fall break, so I went home.  Saturday night, I was able to spend the evening with Bestie and her family – which was super fun!

However, one slightly creepy thing happened.

Bestie’s mom went upstairs to change into more comfy clothes and came down in….

Pink pajamas with penguins! (Not quite on the bottom.)

I had to get a picture.



Photo taken by THE Disney Freak.
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And yes, that’s Bestie’s foot.  And her mother chose the pose.

See ya all real soon!

For added Disney fun and entertainment, check me out on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, NetworkedBlogs, and Pinterest!  Thanks very much.

Sing What?

Note: first, I want to apologize. I absolutely hate the Internet here at my college in my room. It sucks. Bad. I have trouble saving posts, always getting an error, especially when I add links. I really apologize. There's so much I have to post about! Some of it will seem like pretty old news since it's taken me so long to get to it. I'll have to try this whole "Post Later" thing, as soon as I can finish up some posts. That said, proceed

So lately, my drawing classes have rocked.  Because when we're drawing outside of class (aka finishing up our homework), my new friend and I draw to Disney music (check out the link!).

It rocks.

I just said that it.

Honestly, I didn't get enough sleep last night.  Because I was drawing late at night.

For homework.

My friend turned on her music, putting her playlist on shuffle, so we listened to Disney occasionally, along with other songs.

Suddenly:

"Nants ingonyama bagithi...."

And she skips over it!

"What!?" I cried, and she glanced back at me.

"Did you want to listen to that?" she asked.

I nodded.

"Okay, we'll go back to it after this song" (which I'm failing to remember what it was).

Eventually, we went back to it, and I grinned behind my drawing horse board because it's my favorite song.

I began to hear someone else singing along to the words, quietly.  It's my friend, and I perk up, trying to hear what she's singing.

Since most people don't know the Swahili part that opens up the song, most people don't sing it.  Or mess it up.  I used to do that with Bestie, and we'd laugh.

However, my drawing buddy was improvising the words to:

"Pink pajamas, penguins on the bottom/pink pajamas, penguins on the bottom..."

After laughing out loud, I told her I was going to blog about her version.

So here it is.

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Want to follow me on a different site other than Blogspot?  Check out the "My Sites" page for all my links!

Just Can't Wait to be...Queen?

While I live(d) in Minnesota, I was actually born in Maryland, unlike my other siblings.  When I was a year old or so, my parents decided to move to Minnesota, as my dad's family all lived there.

And until we bought our own house, we lived with my uncle, aunt, and...Nicest Cousin Ever.

We were young at the time.

And he wasn't named back then of course.  But I can't (or won't, is more like it) use his real name.

Now, NiCE is not a guy who likes Disney.  No.  We used to watch Disney movies together -- we still shout "Football!" during Robin Hood, and a tradition when we visited them was watching The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride.  But that's really the extent of his Disney past.  When we'd play with his toy animals (this is years later), he'd choose all the tough animals like snakes and dinosaurs, while I chose to be Kiara, Kovu, and Simba and Nala.

Speaking of The Lion King, the roles used to be...well, a different story.

Rewind back to when we lived with them: me, my mom, my dad, and I.

Our favorite game to play -- we played together a lot since we were young, the parents didn't want to play with us, and we're only three months apart in age (I'm the older one!) -- was re-enacting The Lion King.  The first one.

We'd play Simba and Nala.

Guess who was Simba.

Me.

That's right.

And the male cousin played Nala.

I've decided to call him that.

Anyway, the reason I shared that was because it makes me laugh (gender-switch!) and it's an interesting story about how Disney and I have been connected for a long time.

By the way, I tease NiCE/Nala all the time about this.  Drives him crazy; his favorite excuse is: "I was little then!  And Nala's pretty sweet."

See ya all real soon! Check me out on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and NetworkedBlogs for more Disney fun.  Coming soon -- Pinterest!

Today in Disney History...

The Lion King came out to theaters (to a limited audience--critics and such).  That marks today as its 18th anniversary!

The beginning....
Picture from a photoset from lionkingfreak.tumblr.com post.

And you know what's the best part?

It's my favorite Disney movie!

And it came out the same year as when I was born, only about a month early.

Excuse me while I go and celebrate.

By watching it.

Long live the king of movies.

...and the end.
Picture from same source as previous picture.

Can You Keep a Secret?

Hope you're okay with "potty" mouth.  I mean, 3-year-old potty mouth.  You'll see what I'm getting at.

So this happened literally less than five minutes ago, and I just had to share!

My little baby sister, 3-years-old, and I were eating some right-before-dinner snacks (small ones!) when she realized she had to go to the bathroom.  She's been potty trained for awhile now, but I was still sort of surprised she didn't need any help.  Only a few days ago, she did -- which included basically just standing nearby really.

So halfway through I'm waiting for the flush when she pops, er waddles out, dress tucked into her underwear and pants at the bottom of her legs.

"What are you doing?"

"I need help with my pants."

Of course, being the good elder sibling I am, I headed over there and helped.  "Wash your hands and flush, okay?"

"I know," she says in that matter-of-fact, but adorable, voice (because 3-year-olds know everything!).

So I sit back down and wait for the flush.

She finally gets around to it, but then again she pops out, smiling.

"Did you wash your hands?" I ask, looking down at her as she's come over to stand by my chair.

"No, not yet," she says and leans forward, like she's going to whisper in my ear.  I reel backwards.

"I have to tell you a secret."

"Well, just don't touch me, okay?  Your hands are gross."  And I lean back down.

After attempting to push my hair away from my ear, she pulls her hand back as I do it myself (her hands are gross, remember?)  "I went p--p in the potty," she whispers.

(There, I'll do some censoring for you.  Does that make this a clean G-rated post?)

I nod, straightening.  "Did you?  Good job.  Now go wash your hands."

Off she goes.

So I sit there again and wait for the running water.

When it stops, she comes back out and heads right for me again.  Another secret?  You bet.  I lean down, but she tucks back my hair this time (she washed them, okay?).

"I killed Mufasa."

"Nooo!" I scream.  "Murderer!"

She laughs, and we do it again.  And again.  And again.

Young Disney Freak.  Gotta love.

Saddest Moments in Disney History (Part 2)

Welcome back.  Get those tissues ready.  We're going to uncover the next "Saddest Moment in Disney History."

This time I'm taking you to the plains of Africa.  Among the grass and under the trees live the animals.  And they are all the loyal subjects of mighty king Mufasa.

Yes, I'm talking about The Lion King.

Bear with me please as I work up to the "Saddest."

Simba, the young prince, grows up under the shadow of Pride Rock, training to be the next Lion King.  However, Simba is a bit too...vain and overconfident about his life at present and future post.  He fails to realize the deadly jealousy of his uncle Scar, second-in-line to the throne.

And one day...the "Saddest Moment" begins.

Again, sorry for the bad quality. The YouTube gadget on Blogger wouldn't let me find the HD one.

Why I consider it one of the "Saddest": Who doesn't begin to feel the tears, the pain, the intensity as Mufasa, without thinking of himself, flings himself into the stampede to save his son?  Doesn't shudder while Scar whispers to Mufasa: "Long live the king"?  When Mufasa and Simba scream?  And then begins to cry when Simba finds his father, nudges him, calls for help, and ends up realizing his father..."the king is dead"?

Well I do.  Even my two very young siblings do (we have this habit of cuddling each other at this point in the movie).  I think most of you have the same reactions.

However, the saddest moment of this "Saddest Moment" is when Simba, after calling for help, turns back around to cuddle one last time with his father.



Picture from the Disney Wiki.

Unlike in Bambi, this time it's the father who dies.  While children do not feel the same attachment to their fathers as they do for their mothers, there still is a strong bond between them.  It's been proven that fathers set examples for their children, leading children to look up to them.  The animators portrayed this well in the movie, as Simba spends his whole life trying to live up to his dad ("I was just trying to be brave like you").

That's why Simba's heartbreaking moment of realizing "The Circle of Life" is one of the "Saddest."

Hopefully I haven't made you cry enough that you won't come back for the third "Saddest"...though they aren't in any particular order.

Part 3 of this series can be found here: Saddest Moments in Disney History (Part 3)

Making This a Lion King Weekend

Be prepared...The Lion King is getting a big spotlight this weekend.

Who doesn't love this group of characters?
Photo from the Disney Wiki.

First, the movie is actually airing today on Disney Channel.  I do not know the time, especially since my family doesn't get cable.

And tomorrow is the last day to see the Broadway show at the Orpheum theatre here in Minnesota.

I realize this is really short--just wanted to give ya'll a heads up!

The Lions are Coming! The Lions are Coming!

The Lion King started out as a Disney movie back in 1994.  No one thought it would do that well.  They were wrong.  It's become one of the most beloved Disney's classics and was hailed as "the greatest wonder of all" by the Los Angeles Times.  Books were developed, sequels were created, and now there's a magnificent Broadway version of the movie.  And better yet: it's here in Minnesota!

The Lion King show was developed in 1997 by Julie Taymor, who also is the director of the show.  It opened on July 8, 1997 in Minneapolis at the Orpheum Theatre, and 15 years later, it's returned to the same theatre, same town, same state this very month!

This is the official promo video that gives you a glimpse at just how spectacular and stunning this show really is.

Now then, if you're interested in checking out this great show, I've found the sites where you can buy tickets online.  Check them out, and enjoy the show!
Tickets at the Hennepin Theatre Trust
Tickets at Ticketmaster

PS: if you've gone to the show, please share about how amazing it was in the comments!  And if you went to it but didn't really like it, please share with us what you didn't quite enjoy; we want to hear both sides of the story!  If you're going, please share your excitement in the comments!  And if you haven't...well, tell us how you want to. :)