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the show would open.
Home video had become a reliable moneymaker for Disney.
ButThe Return of Jafarwas neither prestigious nor rare, and wasnt given the Classics imprimatur.
Execs were unenthusiastic about the concept.
It was Disneys first-ever direct-to-video animated sequel, and it looked and sounded like it.
But thats not Disneys most impressive straight-to-video sequel.
Its the animated home video that questioned what it meant to be a home-video sequel.
Its 2004sThe Lion King 1 12.
It drew constant attention to not only its own cartoonishness but to its status asa DVD movie.
When I was offered [the project], it was calledLion King 3at the time.
We didnt even have a script yet, saysLion King 1 12director Bradley Raymond.
(And it literally was far, far removed: Disneytoon worked out of a studio in Australia.)
We knew we were doing sequels to the features, Raymond recalls.
There was a song that was left over fromLion Kingcalled Warthog Rhapsody.
It was written by Elton John.
According to Raymond, it was originalLion Kingdirector Roger Allers who came up with theMST3Kframing.
What if we just kind of broke the fourth wall by having Timon and Pumbaa actually watching it?
It was so mind-blowing.
Head of Feature Animation Tom Schumacher was there, and he was like, Thats a great idea.
They squabble over the remote.
During Hakuna Matata, they turn on a sing along feature.
Pumbaa wassitting on the controls.
And why is it called Virtual Safari 1.5?
Because the bonus feature itself is a sequel to a bonus feature on theLion KingDVD.
But it had a $150 million budget and a summer theatrical run.
Which, in Timon and Pumbaaspeak,are a good thing.
