lionking

In the African Pride Lands, Simba the lion is born. The feisty cub befriends the lioness cub, Nala, and adores his father, Mufasa, who tries to teach his son about love, responsibility, and his place in the Circle of Life, for someday, young Simba will be king himself. But Scar, Mufasa's throne-hungry brother, sends Mufasa tumbling off a cliff to his death and then blames Simba for the trajedy. Fearful and uilt ridden, Simba flees into exile. He meets Pumbaa, a warthog, and Timon, a meerkat, and adopts their motto: hakuna matata (no worries). Growing up with no kingly responsibilities, Simba is still troubled. When his childhood friend, Nala, finds him, she explains that Scar has ruined their kingdom and that Simba must return and claim the throne. Simba, still feeling responsible for his father's death, refuses to go home until the wise old baboon, Rafiki, appears and shows Simba the image of his father in a pool of water. Mufasa tells Simba that he must remember who he is. . . the true lion king! Inspired

by his father's words, Simba returns to his kingdom and defeats Scar, claiming his place as the new king. The Circle of Life is truly complete when Simba and his new queen, Nala, have a cub of their own. This is my tribute to the masterpiece The Lion King, the best Disney movie of all time.

The Story

The morning sun peeked over the horizon. As its first golden rays lit the African plains, the animals greeted the new day. Birds took to the air, zebras raced along the dusty ground, and giraffes stretched their necks skyward. From the tiny ants carrying leaves across a branch to the huge elephants moving through the mist, the Circle of Life on the African plains went on and on. Rising high above the plains was a large rock formation known as Pride Rock. It was here that the mighty lions lived. Zazu the hornbill glided gently over the animals of the plains. He soared, with his wings spread wide, and headed for Pride Rock. At the peak of Pride Rock, Mufasa, the Lion King, calmly surveyed his kingdom. Mufasa was a wise and kind king, who cared very deeply for all of the animals of the plains. Zazu landed and bowed before the king. Then Rafiki the baboon climed to Mufasa's side. When he reached Mufasa, he gave the powerful Lion King a gentle hug.

Mufasa and Rafiki turned and joined Sarabi, Mufasa's queen. Between her massive paws rested Simba, their cub, the future lion king. Rafiki dangled a melon from his walking stick over the tiny cub. Simba watched and tried to catch the round fruit. Rafiki then split the melon in half and smeared its sweet juice onto Simba's forehead, causing the cub to sneeze, and Mufasa and Sarabi to smile. Rafiki then took Simba from his mother and carried him to the edge of Pride Rock. Rafiki lifted Simba high

over his head for all the animals to see. The elephants raised their trunks into the air. The monkeys cheered and did back flips. The giraffes bowed their long. graceful necks out of respect for young Simba. Mufasa's older brother, Scar, was not in the crowd. Scar wanted to be king, but now that Mufasa had a son, Scar knew that he never would be. Zazu entered Scar's lair and announced the arrival of Mufasa. The Lion King was very angry with Scar for missing the ceremony. The two brothers argued bitterly, and then

Mufasa left. One morning when Simba was older, Mufasa showed him the kingdom. The Lion King said, "Someday you will be king of all that the light touches." "What about that shadowy place?" Simba asked, pointing to a dark area in the distance. "You must never go there, Simba!" replied Mufasa.
Later, Scar told Simba that the shadowy lands were actually an elephant graveyard, and that only the bravest lions went there. Simba raced off to find his best friend Nala so he could

show her this "really cool" place. Simba asked his mother if he could go to the watering hole with Nala. Sarabi agreed, as long as Zazu went with them. "Where are we really going?" asked Nala. "To an elephant graveyard," replied Simba. "But first we have to lose Zazu." On their way Simba sang, "I just can't wait to be king!" and the animals danced. As Zazu darted in between the zebras, they lifted their tails. "I've never seen a king of beasts with quite so little hair. . . if this is where the monarchy is headed count

me out- out of service, out of Africa," Zazu sang back. The elephants and hippos lifted their heads and sang loudly, as he chased Simba and Nala among the animals. When the rhino sat on Zazu, the cubs slipped away. "All right!" exclaimed Simba, as he and Nala ran quickly. "We lost Zazu!" Within minutes, they arrived in the elephant graveyard. "Isn't this great?" asked Simba. "We could get into big trouble," replied Nala. Zazu soon caught up with the young lions. "We've got to get out of here," he said. "We're all in very real danger." "I laugh in the face of danger! Hahaha!" said Simba. Suddenly the eerie sound of hyena laughter echoed all around them. Three hyenas-Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed-came crawling out of an elephant skull, snarling and looking very hungry. They chased Simba and Nala and trapped them in a corner. Simba tried to let out a mighty roar, but all that came out was "Rowr!" "That was a roar? Hahaha! Do it again!" laughed Shenzi. Simba opened his mouth again, and a deafening roar filled the graveyard. The shocked hyenas looked up as Mufasa swept them aside. "If you ever come near my son again. . ." he threatened. "Oh, this is your son? We didn't know that," Shenzi

lied. "Bye now!" The three hyenas quickly ran off. "Zazu!" shouted Mufasa. "Take Nala home." Mufasa turned to his son. "Simba, I'm very dissapointed in you," he began. "You deliber-
ately disobeyed me, and what's worse, you put Nala in danger." "I was just trying to be brave like you," said Simba. "Being brave doesn't mean you go looking for trouble." Simba nodded, and listened as Mufasa explained that the great kings of the past looked down on him from the stars to guide him. Some time later, Scar led Simba deep into a gorge. This was all a part of

Scar's plan to kill Mufasa and Simba, so he would be king. "Your father has a surprise for you. It's to die for. You wait right here and practice that little roar of yours." Simba "rowred" and the ground started to shake: it was a wildebeest stampede started by the hyenas under Scar's command. Mufasa and Zazu, out on patrol, saw the stampede. Scar told them Simba was in trouble, and Mufasa raced to save his son. Simba crawled up a tree to escape the herd, but a wildebeest crashed into the tree, sending

Simba flying. Mufasa leaped into the air and caught his son, and placed him safely on a ledge, but was struck himself by a charging wildebeest. Mufasa jumped and clung to the cliff, Scar smiling down on him. "Scar!" he cried, "Help me brother!" Scar grabbed Mufasa and with an evil, "Long live the king!" released him to plunge to his death. Simba raced to his father's side where Scar found him. "Run away. Run away and never return," Scar said. Thinking his father's death was his fault, Simba ran away. The hyenas were ordered to chase and kill Simba, but he escaped into a thorny bush. Scar told Sarabi and the other lionesses of Mufasa's and Simba's deaths. In fact, Simba wandered in the desert until he collapsed under the blazing sun. He was found by Timon the meerkat and Pumbaa the warthog. Pumbaa suggested they keep the lion for protection. When Simba got up Timon and Pumbaa offered that he live with them since he couldn't go home. Simba adopted their Hakuna Matata (no worries) motto. Time passed and he developed into a young adult lion. One day Pumbaa was stalking a rhino beetle when he

spotted a lioness in the tall grass stalking him. The lioness leapt from the grass and chased after Pumbaa, who got himself stuck under the root of a tree. That is where Timon found him. "Why do I always have to save your butt?" he asked as he tried to free Pumbaa. Just as the lioness closed in, Simba leapt over the root to meet the charging lioness. The lions charged at eachother and began to fight, rolling and tumbling. When the lioness pinned Simba, he recognized the move. "Nala? Is that really you?" "Who are you?" asked the

lioness. "It's me, Simba." Simba and Nala were ecstatic to see eachother again, and circled around eachother in happiness and disbelief. "Hey, what's going on here?" asked Timon as Pumbaa finally freed himself. "Timon, Pumbaa, this is my best friend, Nala," said Simba. Despite Timon's foreboding,

Simba and Nala went off alone to catch up. They spent the evening in the romantic setting of the jungle. Their friendship bloomed into love as they spent time with eachother at the waterfall and in the tall grass. But Nala wondered why Simba wasn't being the king she saw inside of him, and Simba didn't know how to explain his past to her. "You're alive, and that means you're the king!" Nala said. "I'm not the king," Simba dissagreed. Nala tried to convince him of how much they

needed him to return to his destiny and responsibility at the Pride Lands, where Scar and the hyenas had taken over and destroyed everything. Simba was shocked, but he tried to explain how he was not the king anymore and how he lived a life with no worries and no responsibilities. "You're starting to sound like my father," Simba said bitterly. "At least someone here does." Simba and Nala argued and walked away from eachother angrily. Simba wandered alone, thinking about what Nala had said. I can't go back, he thought. I can't change the past. Then he heard a voice chanting," Asante sana, squash banana! Wewe nugu, mimi apana." (Thank you very much, squash banana! You're a baboon and I'm not). It was Rafiki, who Simba did not recognize. "I can show you your father," he said, "just follow old Rafiki." Rafiki led Simba to a pool of water. As Simba stared into the pool of water, he began to see

Mufasa's face. Then, in the sky, an image of Mufasa appeared. "Father?" asked Simba. "Simba," said the image of Mufasa, "you have forgotten me. Look inside yourself, Simba. You must take your place in the Circle of Life. Remember who you are!" Then he dissapeared. Simba turned to leave. "I'm going back!" Simba met up with Nala, Timon, and Pumbaa at the Pride Lands. "Talk about your fixer upper," Timon said. Meanwhile, Scar was keeping Zazu in a cage. The hyenas complained

about the lack of food, and Scar blamed Sarabi and the lionesses. "If you were half the king Mufasa was-" she said, and Scar struck her down. Lightning flashed. Simba stood on a ledge above Scar. Scar tried to make Simba admit that he was the murderer of his father. He intimidated Simba until Simba slipped and dangled on the edge of the ledge. Scar dug his claws into his nephew. "Hmm, where have I seen this before?" he said. "Oh, yes. I have a secret. I killed Mufasa." "No!" Simba shouted, scrambling up the side of the cliff. Simba tackled Scar and made him admit his crime to everyone. "You don't deserve to live," Simba said. "You wouldn't kill your old uncle?"said Scar. "No. I'm not like you. Now run away, Scar, and never return." Scar said,"As you wish, Your Majesty," and tossed burning embers into Simba's eyes from the burning Pride Lands. They attacked eachother and fought until Scar plunged over the edge to become food for the hyenas. The battle was over. Scar was defeated.

Slowly, a steady rain began to fall. The drought ended and Scar's reign of destruction and terror was over. Nala helped Sarabi to her feet. Joined by Timon, Pumbaa, and Zazu, they watched Simba limp slowly up to the top of Pride Rock. Looking out over his kingdom, Simba roared in triumph. The lionesses answered back, joyful that Simba had come home to take his place in the Circle of Life. As time passed, the Pride Lands flourished once again. Grass grew, the animals returned. As the sun

rose, animals gathered around Pride Rock once again. Simba looked out over the wide expanse of his kingdom, then walked towards Nala, who cradled their newborn daughter, Kiara. Rafiki once again performed the ceremony of blessing. Triumphantly, he lifted the tiny cub for all to see. A new Lion King was born and the Circle of Life was complete once more.