The Lion King is often considered the greatest animated movie of all time. You have to admire the ambition of turning Shakespeare’s epic tragedy Hamlet (a 400-year-old play where virtually every character dies a horrible death) into a cartoon musical for kids.

A large part of the film’s success is an iconic soundtrack composed by the legendary Elton John and Tim Rice. Can You Feel the Love Tonight won an Oscar; I Just Can’t Wait to Be King and Hakuna Matata are modern classics. The stage show based on the film is the highest-grossing musical in Broadway history.

The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride didn’t even get a cinema release in 1998.Credit:

By comparison, The Lion King’s 1998 sequel is … far less beloved. Largely unknown, in fact. Shunned, forgotten, left out in the cold. It wasn’t even released in theatres! But as Simba learns in The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride, an outcast is just as capable of true greatness if only provided the opportunity.

And the soundtrack to The Lion King 2 is true greatness. The movie itself is underrated. But the music? Spectacular. Not only is the soundtrack to The Lion King 2 better than its predecessor, this straight-to-video Disney sequel is the........

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