In the Pride Lands of Africa, the Lion King Mufasa and Queen Sarabi welcome their newborn cub, Simba. That’s bad news for the King’s conniving brother, Scar, who realizes that he will no longer inherit the throne. What’s an evil sibling to do? He plots to kill both his brother and his nephew.
Scar succeeds in killing Mufasa during a wild wildebeest stampede stirred up by his hyena henchman. Simba blames himself and Scar suggests he leaves the Pride. Scar assumes the leadership and proceeds to wallow in excess, even letting the hyenas have free reign.
Meanwhile, Simba is “adopted” by Timon, a fast-talking meerkat, and Pumbaa, a slow-thinking warthog. He falls in with their lackadaisical “Hakuna Matata” approach to life. It takes the love of a good lioness to lure Simba back to the Pride, confront his past, discover the truth about his father’s death and get rid of Uncle Scar. Only then can he claim what is rightfully his.
“The Lion King” is the king of all lion movies and one of the most successful animated films of all time. Sometimes heartbreaking and other times uplifting, this action-packed adventure is also a thoughtful meditation on responsibility. Simba must learn to be the leader that his father was and restore pride to the Pride.
The “Circle of Life” is the theme of the movie and the story never backs away from that. Animals are born, animals die and some animals kill and eat other animals. Some of the scenes may be too intense for younger children so parents might want to watch it first if that’s a concern.
