Simba (The Lion King 2019)

Simba is the protagonist of Disney's 2019 remake of The Lion King. Based on the character of the same name from the 1994 film, he is the son of Mufasa and Sarabi, who was destined to rule the Pride Lands, as king. When his father was murdered by his treacherous uncle, Scar, Simba was blamed for the murder and exiled from the Pride Lands. He finds refuge in a jungle oasis with Timon and Pumbaa, but the Pride Lands fall to disarray during his absence. With the kingdom in peril, Simba is forced to learn the truth of his troubled past and take his place in the "Circle of Life". Upon entering adulthood, Simba marries his childhood best friend Nala and has a cub named Kiara.
He is based on the character of the same name from the 1994 animated film.
==Background==
===Physical appearance===
As a cub, Simba has brown eyes and his fur is tan and gold which resemble real-life male lion cubs. As a young adult, Simba resembles his father Mufasa; to differentiate his traditional animation counterpart who had a fringe on his russet mane, he has white marks on each side of the bridge of his nose.
==Role in the film==
Simba appears at the beginning of the film during the musical number "Circle of Life/Nants Ingonyama", where he's carried by Rafiki, who presents him into a big crowd of animals celebrating the birth of Mufasa and Sarabi's new son. Later after the presentation, Rafiki then paints an image of Simba on his tree to remember he was present during the birth of Simba. The next day, Simba tells his father Mufasa to wake up to help him see the world around him. Mufasa then takes Simba to the ledge of Pride Rock and he explains that Simba should not enter the backlands because of danger.
Going down Pride Rock, Zazu gives Simba and Mufasa the morning report while Mufasa teaches his newborn cub for a pouncing lesson. After Zazu flies around the Pride Lands to search for news, he explains to the two of them that there are hyenas in the Pride Lands and that Sarabi is leading an attack to drive them off. Simba offers to go with Mufasa, but his father declines, telling his son to stay with the other cubs.
After Mufasa departs to take care of the hyenas with Sarabi, Zazu takes Simba back to Pride Rock, much to Simba's disappointment. Rather than playing with the other cubs. Scar then comments him on his effort in learning to hunt and then when Simba asks Scar about the Elephant Graveyard, Scar then tells him only adult lions can enter this area since lion cubs are most likely to get eaten. Later, Simba then meets his mother, Sarabi, and encounters his best friend, Nala, who is also having a bath with her mother. Simba plans to go to the water hole, but Sarabi warns the two cubs that they need Zazu to guide the two cubs to make sure they are safe from predators. As soon as Zazu takes the two to the water hole, he explains to the cubs that Simba and Nala will be married as adult lions but Simba and Nala are disgusted because he doesn't want to marry Nala, but Zazu explains to the two that a tradition cannot be broken. Simba and Nala make plans to get Zazu's attention during the musical number "I Just Can't Wait to Be King", where they race through herds of animals and a flock of weaverbirds to preoccupy and bewilder Zazu.
Losing Zazu, Simba and Nala end up in the Elephant Graveyard. Nala feels concerned that if Simba explores the area, something bad could happen. Simba encounters a whole clan of hyenas along with Shenzi, Kamari, and Azizi who approach the cubs, though Zazu warns Shenzi that if she attacks Simba, the Pride Lands will begin a war against them. Shenzi and the other hyenas attack the cubs, citing that lions and hyenas have been at war since the dawn of time, but Mufasa shows up and rescues the cubs before the hyenas can eat them, warning Shenzi that he will not show mercy the next time the hyenas try to hurt his son. Mufasa takes Simba and Nala back to the Pride Lands after surviving the ambush, where Mufasa lectures and reprimands him for endangering not only himself but Nala and jeopardizing the future of their pride.
Meanwhile, at the gorge, Scar urges Simba to roar like an adult lion to impress him. Upon scaring a chameleon away, he notices a wildebeest stampede occurring across the gorge as Simba grabs on a tree to protect himself from the wildebeests. Simba asks Zazu for help, but Zazu tells him that Mufasa is on his way to rescue his son. Mufasa then arrives on the dead tree Simba is standing on telling him to jump so that he could get him out of the gorge, but a wildebeest runs into the tree, putting Mufasa and Simba in trouble. Mufasa tries to get Simba to safety but ends up getting attacked by wildebeests. Simba then watches his father trying to get help from Scar, but Scar refuses to help. Scar then pushes Mufasa down the gorge where he dies in the stampede, causing Simba to lose his father.
Simba then walks in the gorge by himself looking for his father but finds a lone wildebeest leaving the gorge. Simba does find his father, only to find him lying dead; he then explains that it was his fault in causing Mufasa to die because there were a lot of wildebeests stampeding across the gorge. Scar then arrives telling Simba that Mufasa is dead and exiles Simba, telling Shenzi, Kamari, and Azizi (along with an additional hyena) to kill him. Simba manages to escape from the hyenas during exile and ends up escaping where the hyenas then plan to tell their master that Simba is dead during the escape.
Back at Pride Rock, Scar tells the other lionesses that Mufasa and Simba are both dead since Simba did not come back to Pride Rock at this time as Scar becomes the new king as Rafiki and Zazu hear Scar's plan about this. Meanwhile, in the desert, Simba is shown to be alive, but passes out due to the intense heat as a flock of vultures arrives and prepares to eat him. Timon and Pumbaa manage to rescue Simba. Simba then prepares to adapt to having a new life without his father with Timon and Pumbaa where they teach him "Hakuna Matata" meaning "no worries" to him. Meanwhile, in the jungle, Simba, Timon, and Pumbaa arrive and encounter the animals neighbouring with Timon and Pumbaa where Simba must eat the food that the fellow animals are eating instead of eating mammals (especially antelopes) and birds they see in the jungle. Adapting a new life, Simba then grows up as an adult lion where he spends time with his new friends in the jungle.
Now an adult lion, the animals choose not to play with him because Simba is no longer a cub; however, he helps topple over a termite mound to release a bunch of termites for the fellow animals to eat. That night, Simba, Timon, and Pumbaa look at the stars; while Timon and Pumbaa think the stars are fireflies, Simba explains the stars remind him of the Great Kings of the Past just like what his father told him. Thinking of his father, he feels sad and a part of his mane flies off in a wind. The next day, each animal collects a part of Simba's mane and each of them brings the mane to Rafiki who then realizes that Simba is alive.
Meanwhile, Simba then fights against a lioness who is then revealed to be Nala who has grown up, much to Timon and Pumbaa being disappointed that he might spend time with Nala more than the two. Simba and Nala then fall in love, but Nala explains to him that everyone thought Simba is dead. Nala then urges Simba to return to Pride Rock but Simba explains that he is not the king and everyone will think he is Mufasa returning. Simba then refuses to go back to Pride Rock as Nala leaves to return to Pride Rock by herself.
Later, Simba encounters Rafiki who realizes that he is the son of Mufasa. He takes him to a pool which shows a reflection of Simba and his late father who appears as a spirit. Mufasa then explains to Simba that he must take his place as the new king who controls the Pride Lands as Simba explains to himself that he is the son of Mufasa.
Simba then decides to return to the Pride Lands thanks to Mufasa's advice, where he, Nala, Timon, and Pumbaa arrive in the deserted Pride Lands. Upon arriving, he discovers too many hyenas occupying the spot and tells Timon and Pumbaa to create a plan to distract them.
Upon locating Scar, Simba notices him attacking his mother and furiously butts off. Everyone thinks Simba is Mufasa, but Simba explains that it is him as an adult returning. Nala then argues with Scar to tell Simba that he is the rightful king to rule Pride Rock as Simba tells Scar to step down or fight against him. Instead of paying attention to Simba, Scar blames Simba to know he is the one who killed Mufasa during the stampede and explains to him if he is really a king or a bad lion. Simba then almost falls off Pride Rock when Scar corners him as lightning hits a dead tree to cause a big fire in Pride Rock. Simba hangs for his life while about to fall into a pool of fire while Scar confesses to him that he killed Mufasa. Simba then remembers seeing Mufasa falling down the gorge, dying in the stampede.
Upon remembering this, Simba manages to save himself from falling into the pool of fire, biting Scar on his mane to pull himself back up, infuriatingly asking Scar how he could betray his own family. Simba then orders Scar to tell the other lions the truth, but Scar refuses to take notice, trying to convince the lion pride that Simba had killed Mufasa and now he wants to kill him to cover up his crime. However, Sarabi reveals she overheard Scar saying he saw the look in Mufasa's eyes, revealing that Scar lied to the lionesses about not getting to the gorge in time just as Simba calls his relative a murderer. Scar, now exposed for what he truly is and robbed of all composure, summons the hyenas to kill all the other lions and Simba; the hyenas attack Simba while Nala calls the other lionesses to attack the hyenas in order to save him.
As the Pridelanders fight against the hyenas, Simba chases Scar across another area in Pride Rock where he confronts his uncle, telling Scar to leave Pride Rock and never return, the same thing Scar told him to do when he was a cub, but Scar declines to as he explains to Simba that Pride Rock is now his kingdom. Scar then slates some embers in Simba's face as the two lions fight to know who is the king as a big fire rages behind them. Simba courageously fights Scar and knocks him off a cliff. After Simba defeats him, Scar then plans to take revenge against Simba by building a bigger army of hyenas, but the hyenas think Scar wants to kill them as they plan to take down their leader; Scar tries to fight back, but ends up getting devoured alive, ending his tyranny forever.
With Scar dead, all the other Pridelanders praise Simba for defeating Scar while Rafiki tells him that it is time to take his place as the new king. Simba then ascends Pride Rock and becomes the new ruler. Sometime later, Simba and Nala give birth to a new cub whom Rafiki presents to all the animals of Pride Rock.
==Gallery==
==Trivia==
*Chance the Rapper initially auditioned for Simba, but his role was given to Donald Glover. Chance would later voice a galago in the final version of the remake.
*Simba and Nala's models were inspired by real-life lions named "Dakari" and "Kamari" at the Kilimanjaro Safaris attraction at Disney's Animal Kingdom respectively.
==References==
==See also==
*Simba
==External links==
*Simba (2019) on Lion King Wiki.
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