Pride Lands

The Pride Lands is a world from Kingdom Hearts II. It is based on the 1994 Disney film The Lion King.

The Pride Lands, despite the name, pertains to the three main parts of Africa that Simba explored during the events of The Lion King and seems to correspond with the later events in the film. The setting includes the Pride Lands itself, as well as more famous movie sites such as the Jungle and the Elephant Graveyard that are not actually part of the Pride Lands from the film.

Pride Lands was originally going to appear in Kingdom Hearts, but was removed due to time constraints; programming Sora's four-legged movements and fighting style proved too much for the game system to handle. Jiminy Cricket does mention the world in his Simba entry in his journal in Kingdom Hearts.

Setting
Sora and company enter at the Gorge and discover their new forms, which take some getting used to. The only exit out of the Gorge takes them to the Elephant Graveyard, later the site of a complicated hyena takedown. Going out the other end of the Elephant Graveyard takes the party to the dried up, dying Savannah, which serves as the world's main junction.

Going north through the Savannah takes Sora and the party to the famous Pride Rock, which can be seen in the distance. A small entrance at the base takes them to Rafiki's hideout, the Stone Hollow, while going in the entrance at the top of the rock leads to The King's Den, and eventually Pride Rock's Peak.

Towards the southeast of the Savannah lurks the entrance to another set of areas. Wildebeest Valley is the first of these, full of giant rocks and loads of Heartless. Further on is a twisty, curving path through the Wastelands; a pleasant change of scenery comes at the end of the Wastelands at the entrance to the Jungle. Finally, the path through the Jungle takes the party to the Oasis, home of Timon and Pumbaa, as well as the world's Moogle shop. A good place to level up is the peak of Pride Rock, where you can maul a horde of Rapid Thrusters.

Story
In the ending credits, Rafiki is showing the newborn cub (princess Kiara) of Simba and Nala to the animal kingdom on Pride Rock. Upon doing so, The pride lands are seen transformed into the lush tropical paradise not shown in the game.

Character Design
While visiting Pride Lands, Sora, Donald, and Goofy change their forms into the forms animals native to Africa in order to blend in, albeit Donald and Goofy have their original facial features. Sora is transforms into a lion cub, Donald into a tropical bird, and Goofy turns into a tortoise. Because of this, Sora cannot use any of his Drive Forms and/or Summons.