VIDEO : FELINES ARE MUTUAL FOR THE VCR.Byline: Rob Lowman Daily News Entertainment Editor It's the week of the cats. Two excellent straight-to-video productions involving felines made their way into stores this week. ``The Lion King II: Simba's Pride'' (Disney) is a worthy successor to the original, while ``Cats'' (Polygram), a full-length re-creation of the production staged for film, brings the magic of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical home. Since it would be next to impossible to capture the roar ``The Lion King'' made at the box office and with critics, Disney quite wisely aimed a bit lower and came up with a winner. ``Simba's Pride'' is a charming and entertaining tale of grrl power Grrl Power (まかせてイルか! Makasete Iruka! , revolving around Kiara, Simba's rebellious daughter. Gone is wicked Uncle Scar; so there's a new villain, Zira, an evil lioness. There are also five delightful new songs and one recycled from the Broadway musical, with ``Upendi,'' which is sung by Ladysmith Black Mambazo Ladysmith Black Mambazo (mämbäz`ō), choral group formed in 1965 in Ladysmith, South Africa, led by Joseph Shabalala. The group, which sings with a precise yet free-flowing phrasing, has consisted of 8 to 12 members. , the best. Many of the voices are the same, with Matthew Broderick reprising Simba and Moira Kelly Moira Kelly (March 6, 1968 in Queens, New York) is an American actress. She is the third of six children. Her father, Peter, was trained as a concert violinist. Her mother, Anne, is a nurse. Both are Irish immigrants. Moira was raised in Ronkonkoma, NY. as Nala. Their daughter, Kiara (voiced as a youngster by Michelle Horn Michelle Horn (born February 28, 1987) is an American actress known for her work in the TV shows Strong Medicine and Family Law. Horn is also known for her voiceover work in Disney's as the lion cub Kiara. , then later by Neve Campbell) is strong-willed like her father. Simba wants Kiara to stay within the family territory, but knowing she may wander, he sends Timon the meerkat meerkat: see mongoose. meerkat or suricate Colonial species (Suricata suricatta) of the mongoose family (Herpestidae). It is a burrowing carnivore found in southwestern Africa that differs from mongooses in having four (rather than and Pumbaa the wart hog wart hog a grotesquely ugly member of the family Suidae, or wild pigs. They have large wart-like structures on the face, enormous sickle-shaped tusks, a misshapen head and run with their long tail held rigidly erect. Called also Phacochoerus aethiopicus. (Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella) to follow her and, of course, provide some humor. Kiara soon runs afoul of a band of outcasts led by Zira (voiced by Suzanne Pleshette with a perpetual growl). Kiara is rescued by Kovu (Jason Marsden), who has been chosen as Scar's heir and was sent by Zira to spy on Simba. In ``Romeo and Juliet'' fashion, the offspring of sworn enemies fall in love, which creates a moral dilemma for Simba. ``Lion King II'' ends on a positive note, one of forgiveness - sort of a bigger Circle of Life. Along the way, though, it still manages to be quite entertaining, which is something to remember when your kids pop it into the VCR VCR: see videocassette recorder. VCR in full videocassette recorder Electromechanical device that records, stores on a videotape cassette, and plays back on a TV set recorded images and sound. for the 100th time. And while it doesn't match the original in animation or inspiration (and how many features could?), there has been a lot of thought and care taken with this sequel, and ``The Lion King II: Simba's Pride'' captures the spirit of its forefather. To make ``Cats,'' which was produced by Webber, London's Adelphi was stripped and overhauled, creating more space and freedom for the filmmakers. The result is a wonderful combination - giving ``Cats'' the feel of a film while retaining the immediacy of the stage. Based on 14 poems from T.S. Eliot's ``Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats,'' the musical first opened in London in 1981. The version has a number of ``Cats'' veterans in the cast. Most notably Elaine Paige, who created the role of Grizabella on the London stage and performed the showstopper showstopper - A hardware or (especially) software bug that makes an implementation effectively unusable; one that absolutely has to be fixed before development can go on. Opposite in connotation from its original theatrical use, which refers to something stunningly *good*. ``Memory.'' A non-``Cats'' veteran, stage and film actor Sir John Mills was recruited to play Gus the Theater Cat. Directed by David Mallet (``Lord of the Dance''), ``Cats'' also adds afew special effects to the mix, but they never interfere with the essential things that make it fun - the singing and dancing. If you want to sniff out this lively and colorful video first, ``Cats'' will air 8 p.m. Monday on KCET KCET Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo (Japan) KCET Kamaraj College of Engineering and Technology (Channel 28). CAPTION(S): 2 Photos Photo: (1--2) At left, Aeva May plays Demeter in the movie version of ``Cats.'' Above, The headstrong head·strong adj. 1. Determined to have one's own way; stubbornly and often recklessly willful. See Synonyms at obstinate, unruly. 2. Resulting from willfulness and obstinacy. young Kiara and father Simba don't always get along this well in ``The Lion King II: Simba's Pride,'' a straight-to-video sequel. |
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