The Tiger King

Plot:
The story of The Tiger King takes place in an Asiatic kingdom called the Indian Lands, where a Tigers rules over the other asian animals as king.

At the beginning of the film, Rocco, an orangutan shaman, anoints Samson, the newborn baby of King Mahendra and Queen Sakari, and presents him to a gathering of asian animals at Indian Rock. Meanwhile, Mahendra's younger brother, Shankar, who decided not to be at the ceremony, is annoyed that he is no longer the heir to the throne. Mahendra confronts Shankar about not attending the ceremony and tells him to not turn his back on him, when he tries to leave. When Shankar telks Mahendra that he should not turn his back on him and Mahendra tells him if it's a challenge, Shankar replies that he would not dream of it as he lacks brute strength. After Shankar leaves, Mahendra wonders what to do with him.

Months later, Mahendra takes Samson around the Indian Lands, teaching him about the "Circle of Life", the delicate balance affecting all living things. He also teaches him where everything the light touches is our kingdom. Later, Shankar tells Samson about the elephant graveyard, a place where Mahendra has warned him not to go. Samson asks his mother if he can go to the water-hole with his best friend, Neeru. Sakari and Neeru's mother Stella agree, but only if Mahendra's majordomo, the indian hornbill Sabu, goes with them. Samson and Neeru elude Sabu's supervision and go to the graveyard instead. There, the youngsters are chased by three striped hyenas named Sheeba, Basheer, and Indu, who had secretly been ordered by Shankar to kill the youngsters, but Samson and Neeru are rescued by Mahendra, who was summoned by Sabu. After sending Neeru and Sabu ahead back to Indian Rock, Mahendra scolds Samson for putting himself and Neeru in danger, before teaching him about the Great Kings of the Past, who look down on the living from the stars.

Later that night, Shankar gains the loyalty of the hyenas by claiming that if he becomes king, they will "never go hungry again" if they help him kill Mahendra and Samson. Plotting further, Shankar gathers more hyenas forming an army. Sometime later, Shankar lures Samson into a gorge for a "surprise from his father" then signals the hyenas create a takin stampede down into the gorge where Samson is. Alerted by an insincerely dramatic Shankar, Mahendra races to rescue Samson from the stampede. He saves his son, but is left clinging to the edge of a cliff, which results in Shankar flinging him into the stampede below to his death. Shankar convinces Samson that he was responsible for his own father's death, and recommends that he flees the Indian Lands, never to return. To compound this, Shankar once again sends the hyenas to kill Samson, but as Samson reaches a thorny embankment, they let him escape, hurling threats that he will be killed if ever seen again. That night back at Indian Rock, Shankar informs Sakari, Neeru and the rest of the Streak that both Mahendra and Samson were killed in the stampede, and that he is assuming the throne as the closest of king. After becoming king, Shankar fulfills his promise to the hyenas and allows them to come into the Indian Lands.

Samson collapses in a distant desert where he is found unconscious by Taman and Peethambaran, a mongoose-boar duo who raise Samson under their carefree "Hakuna Matata" lifestyle. When Samson has grown into a young adult he saves them from a hungry tigress who is revealed to be Neeru. Samson shows Neeru around his home and the two begin to fall in love. Neeru then tells him that Shankar's tyrannical reign has turned the Indian Lands into a barren wasteland; she demands that Samson must return and take his rightful place as king, but Samson refuses, still guilty about supposedly causing his father's death. Rocco arrives and persuades Samson to return to the Indian Lands, aided by Mahendra's presence in the stars. After some advice from Rocco and the spirit of his father, Samson, followed by Neeru, Taman, and Peethambaran, returns home.

Once back at Indian Rock, Samson (with Taman, Peethambaran, and Neeru) is horrified to see the condition of the Indian Lands. What was once a lush paradise was now a dead wasteland. With the tigers overhunting, their prey eventually left the Indian Lands, causing famine in the Streak. After seeing Shankar strike his mother, Samson announces his return. In response, Samson confronts Shankar, who forces Samson to confess to being responsible for Mahendra's death. Shankar then forces Samson over the edge of Indian Rock, just as a lightning bolt starts a fire below. As Samson dangles over the edge of Indian Rock, Shankar whispers to Samson that he killed Mahendra. Enraged, Samson leaps up and pins Shankar to the ground, forcing him to admit the truth to the Streak. A raging battle then ensues between the hyenas and the tigers, Taman, and Peethambaran which results in Samson cornering Shankar. In the midst of their fight, Shankar tries to surreptitiously blame everything on the hyenas, but the hyenas overhear his conversation with Samson. Samson orders Shankar to flee the Indian Lands. Shankar pretends to leave but turns to attack Samson, resulting in a final duel. Samson eventually triumphs over his uncle by flipping him and kicks him over a low cliff. Shankar survives the fall, but finds himself surrounded by the now resentful hyenas. The hyenas surround their traitorous fallen leader. Shankar frantically tries to absolve himself, but the hyenas have had enough of his lies, derogatory treatment, and broken promises so they ignore his life plea, attack him, and maul him to death, as flames rise around them.

With Shankar and the hyenas gone, and with the rightful king in place, the Indian Lands are restored which is turning green with life again. The film concludes with Rocco presenting Samson and Neeru's newborn baby into the air, thus continuing the Circle of Life.

Cast:

 * Donald Glover as Samson
 * JD McCray as Young Samson
 * Heather Headley as Neeru
 * Shahadi Wright Joseph as Young Neeru
 * Benedict Cumberbatch as Shankar
 * James Earl Jones as Mahendra
 * Billy Eichner as Taman
 * Seth Rogen as Peethambaran
 * Amitabh Bachchan as Rocco
 * John Oliver as Sabu
 * Whoppi Goldberg as Sheeba
 * Cheech Marin as Basheer
 * Jim Cummings as Indu
 * Alfre Woodard as Sakari
 * Penny Johnson Jerald as Stella
 * Clancy Brown as Marmot

Species Cast:

 * Black Sable Antelope (Hippotragus niger niger) - Blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra)
 * Cape Buffalo (Syncerus caffer) - Wild Water Buffalo (Bubalus arnee)
 * Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis ibis) -Itself
 * Centaurus Beetle (Augosoma centaurus) - Japanese Rhinoceros Beetle (Allomyrina dichotoma)
 * Central African Warthog (Phacochoerus africanus massaicus) - Indian Boar (Sus scrofa cristatus)
 * East African Bush Elephant (Loxodonta africana knochenhaueri) - Indian Elephant (Elephas maximus indicus)
 * Eastern Black Rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis michaeli) - Indian Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis)
 * Eastern Nile Crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus africanus) - Mugger Crocodile (Crocodylus palustris)
 * Eastern White-Bearded Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus albojubatus) - Takin (Budorcas taxicolor)
 * Giant Anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) - Chinese Pangolin (Manis pentadactyla)
 * Grant's Zebra (Equus quagga boehmi) - Przewalski's Horse (Equus ferus przewalskii)
 * Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) - Sarus Crane (Grus antigone)
 * Greater Kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) - Sambar Deer (Rusa unicolor)
 * Jackson's Chameleon (Trioceros jacksonii) - Veiled Chameleon (Chamaeleo calyptratus)
 * Leaf-Cutter Ant (Atta cephalotes) - Weaver Ant (Oecophylla smaragdina)
 * Mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx) - Bornean Orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus)
 * Marabou Stork (Leptoptilos crumenifer) - Greater Adjutant (Leptoprilos dubius)
 * Masai Lion (Panthera leo nubica) - Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris)
 * Mountain Gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) - Gigantopithecus blacki
 * Nile Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius amphibius) - Gaur (Bos gaurus)
 * Okapi (Okapi johnstonii) - Eld's Deer (Panolia eldii)
 * Plains Pocket Gopher (Geomys bursarius) - Himalayan Marmot (Marmota himalayana)
 * Reticulated Giraffe (Giraffa reticulata) - Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)
 * Rüppell's Vulture (Gyps rueppellii) -Indian Vulture (Gyps indicus)
 * Serengeti Thomson's Gazelle (Eudorcas thomsonii nasalis) - Chinkara (Gazella bennettii)
 * Southern Meerkat (Suricata suricatta suricatta) - Indian Grey Mongoose (Herpestes edwardsii)
 * Southern Ostrich (Struthio camelus australis) - Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus)
 * Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta) - Striped Hyena (Hyaena hyaena)
 * Tanzanian Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus jubatus) - Asiatic Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus)
 * Tanzanian Red-Billed Hornbill (Tockus ruahae) - Indian Great Hornbill (Buceros bicornis)
 * Topi (Damaliscus lunatus topi) - Chital (Axis axis)
 * Vervet (Chlorocebus pygerythrus hilgerti) - Grey Langur (Semnopithecus entellus)
 * Vulturine Guineafowl (Acryllium vulturinum) - Red Junglefowl (Gallus gallus)
 * Wood Mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) - Great Jerboa (Allactaga major)

Transcript

 * The Tiger King/Transcript