The Lion King

One of the most popular animated Disney musicals in recent years, the Lion King follows the life of the lion cub Simba, born to the powerful King Mufasa and his queen, Sarabi, as he journeys into adulthood and learns to accept his royal destiny.


The movie opens with the birth of the young Simba, who is presented to the attentive denizens of the African savannah from atop the high cliff of Pride Rock by the old mandrill shaman, Rafiki, as the proud parents look on. Not everyone is happy at the birth of the future king, however. Simba’s uncle, Scar, Mufasa’s sly and conniving brother, had been the next in line to the throne until Simba’s birth.

Concocting a scheme to re-claim his place as the next king, Scar entices the young lion cub with tales of the elephant graveyard, an area Mufasa had strictly forbidden the young Simba to visit. Simba, his curiosity peaked, teams-up with his best friend, a young female cub named Nala, and after asking his mother if the two of them may go to the water-hole, head off on their excursion along with Simba’s royal steward, the very proper but easily rattled hornbill, Zazu.

The cubs soon manage to escape the watchful eyes of Zazu, and instead of going to the watering hole, travel secretly to the forbidden elephant graveyard. When they arrive, they are met by three spotted hyenas. Shenzi, the only female and the leader of the group, The ever-whining Banzai, and Ed, who seems to be clinically insane. Following Scar’s secret orders and having no love or respect for the young cubs, nor Simba’s royal lineage, the hyena’s attempt to kill the young lions. They are rescued at the last moment by the mighty Mufasa.

Terrified and injured, the three hyena’s make a hasty retreat. As he walks the frightened cubs home, Mufasa orders Zazu to escort Nala the rest of the way, leaving him and his son alone so that Mufasa may teach the young lion a lesson. Now alone with his son, he tells the young Simba how disappointed he is that his orders had been disobeyed, endangering not only his own life but Nala’s life as well. He explains to Simba that being brave does not mean that one goes out in search of danger, revealing that he was terrified that Simba might have been killed. Satisfied that his son understood the seriousness of the situation, father and son play in the savannah on their way home. Simba asks his father if they will always be together, and Mufasa explains to him that all the Kings of the Past are now the stars in the sky. They are there to guide him, and one day, Mufasa will be there among them, watching over young Simba.


During this time, Scar convinces the vanquished hyena’s that if he were to become king, they would never go hungry again, but in order for this to happen, both Mufasa and Simba must be killed. Some time later, under the pretense of having a surprise for Simba from his father, Scar lures the young lion into a steep gorge. Meanwhile, the three hyenas cause an enormous herd of wildebeests to stampede through the gully, Nearly trampling Simba beneath their hooves and killing him. Before this can happen, however, Mufasa rushes to the rescue of his son, helping him up the rocky walls of the gorge. His son is now safe, but Mufasa himself is hanging precariously from the edge of the cliff, unable to pull himself the rest of the way up.

Scar saunters close to his brother, but instead of helping him, he sinks his claws into Mufasa’s paw, smiling darkly at him as he releases his grip, letting the king fall to his death. Horrified, young Simba rushes down into the gorge as the stampede passes, But it is too late. Mufasa is dead. Scar pretends to comfort the young cub, but also tells him that some might blame Simba for the death of his father. Simba is mortified when Scar suggests to the grieving cub that if he is to avoid punishment, he must leave the Pride Lands immediately, never to return. Heartbroken and alone, Simba quickly leaves the Pride Lands, with Shenzi, Banzai and Ed hot on his trail. Attempting to carry-out Scar’s orders to kill the young lion, the hyena’s are unsuccessful, and Simba narrowly escapes. Meanwhile, Scar addresses the pride, informing them that both Mufasa and Simba were killed in the stampede, thereby making him the reigning king. His first act as king is to allow the hyena’s back into the Pride Lands, proclaiming that “This is the dawning of a new era, in which lion and hyena come together”.

Simba is now far from home, and is discovered unconscious by Timon, a wise-cracking meerkat and his companion, a crass but loveable warthog named Pumbaa. Simba joins the duo, and soon adopts their worry-free philosophy, “Hakuna Matata”. Time marches on, and Simba grows into a strong adult lion, eventually reuniting with Nala when she accidently discovers him in the jungle. She tells him about home, and about how the Pride Lands have suffered under Scar’s reign, begging him to return and claim his rightful place upon the throne. Simba refuses, still believing that he caused his father’s death.

The two lions spend time together, eventually falling in love, although Nala becomes frustrated when she realizes that Simba has no intention of returning to the Pride Rock. Rafiki soon appears on the scene after using his shaman magic and learning that Simba is still alive. With the help of Mufasa’s ghost, Rafiki convinces him to return home and save the Pride Lands from the evil Scar. Simba begins the journey home, along with Nala, Timon and Pumbaa. Upon their arrival at Pride Rock, Timon and Pumbaa distract the hyenas guarding it, allowing Simba and Nala to slip past undetected.

Simba announces his return to the Pride Lands, but Scar lies and informs the pride that Mufasa’s death was caused by Simba, and angrily pushes him off the edge of Pride Rock. As Simba hangs there, dangling off the precipice, Scar whispers his confession that he himself was responsible for Mufasa’s death. Simba, in his fury, gains the strength to leap onto Scar, pinning him down and forcing him to confess the truth of Mufasa’s death to the rest of the watching pride. Scar, forever the coward, quickly blames the hyena’s for the king’s death. A final, short battle ensues between the two lions when Scar is exiled and begins to leave in shame, only to turn and and charge Simba at the last moment, finally getting flung over the cliff. The resentful hyenas Shenzi, Banzai and Ed are waiting for him below.

Scar’s reign of terror has ended, and Simba and his queen Nala are now the new and rightful rulers of the Pride Lands. Time goes by, the Pride Lands heal and the Circle of Life is completed when Rafiki introduces the couple’s newborn cub to the animals of the Pride lands from the peak of Pride Rock.

“The Lion King” remains the highest-grossing traditionally animated film in history, a distinction that needed to be made after Disney’s 2003 release of the computer-animated “Finding Nemo”, which enjoyed even greater box-office success.