The lighthearted moments are there, in thanks to Timon and Pumbaa and (to a degree) Rafiki's crazy-old-man schtick. There's a lot of deep stuff going on in the film - the father/son dynamic is excellent, and when Mufasa is killed, it's about as emotionally moving as when Bambi's mother died. But when Rafiki ends up finding Simba, he forces the reluctant prince to look into himself and discover what his father had intended for him to be.Ĭo-directors Rob Minkoff and Roger Allers deftly guide us through this tale of family, betrayal, banishment, acceptance and revenge. Though Nala begs, Simba refuses to come back and take his place as rightful king. Years later, adult Simba (Matthew Broderick) rescues Pumbaa from a lioness attack only to discover that the lion is his childhood friend Nala (Moira Kelly), and learns that not only did everything think he was dead, but Scar and the hyenas have devastated the pride land and they're nearly out of food and water. They take him in, nurse him back to health and they live a carefree lifestyle, their motto being "Hakuna Matata" ("No Worries"). Nearly dead, Simba is rescued by a dramatic meerkat named Timon (Nathan Lane) and a flatulent warthog named Pumbaa (Ernie Sabella). Simba is convinced by Scar that Mufasa's death was his fault, and Simba runs away, ashamed of what he'd done. Mufasa rescues Simba, but is killed when Scar refuses to save him. He lures Simba into a dried riverbed, and has the hyenas instigate a wildebeest stampede. When Scar's plan to goad Simba into exploring the forbidden elephant graveyard (where he would be killed by hyenas) is thwarted by Mufasa, Scar comes up with a new plan to help the hyenas take of the pride lands. His father Mufasa (James Earl Jones) is understandably proud, but not so thrilled is Mufasa's brother Scar (Jeremy Irons), who is now no longer in line for the throne. Young lion cub Simba is presented to all the animals of the pride land by mandrill shaman Rafiki (Robert Guillaume), as the new heir to the kingdom. Originally called King of the Jungle, this 32nd feature animated film from Walt Disney Studios would go on to become one of the studio's highest-grossing pictures, win a slew of Academy Awards, and was known as The Lion King. But there was another feature film that had been in the works at the studio, an animal-only film that had some seriously dark plot points, Biblical and Shakespearian in nature. There had already been three major hits - The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin, and the studio was ramping up on another film, Pocahontas, another surefire hit. In 1994, Walt Disney Feature Animation was in the middle of its second renaissance, one proudly led by Jeffrey Katzenberg.
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