The Lion King Story

The sun is rising in the Pridelands. High on Pride Rock, Mufasa the Lion King waits, watching as the creatures of his domain gather below to celebrate the arrival of the newborn Prince. Rafiki, keeper of the mysteries, anoints Prince Simba's brow, sprinkles the cub with ceremonial dust, and raises him to the skies for all of heaven and earth to see.

Mufasa's jealous sibling, Scar sits in the shade, taking bitter pride in his absence from the sacred ceremony, scheming and dreaming of the day he will usurp the throne Zazu the hornbill, Pride Rock's chief of protocol, informs an indifferent Scar his truancy has not gone unnoticed. Confronted by Mufasa Scar hides revenge beneath a cloak of scorn. Each sunrise finds Simba in the royal cave nudging his father from his sleep, begging him to join in the immemorial games that ensure the survival of the species. From the peak of Pride Rock, father and son survey the Lion King's domain. Crossing his kingdom, Mufasa speaks earnestly of the Circle of Life - the endless chain that links all living things, from the crawling ant to the leaping antelope. Too young to read the fury in his uncle's eyes Simba tells Scar all he has learned that day - how he, not Scar, will become the Lion King. Sly Scar exacts a promise from the cub, a pledge that Simba will never venture near the forbidden place where elephants go to die. A graveyard! Scar has planted a secret Simba must share at once with Nala, his greatest and most trusted friend. He finds her in the dappled shade of Pride Rock lazing with the lionesses of the pride. Simba and Nala mask their curiosity, but first they must lose their escort, Zazu, sent along to keep mischief at bay. Mistaking the cubs' whispered plans for love talk, Zazu imagines that romance is blooming. The cubs scoff at his quaint idea and plot their escape. Trying to elude their feathered guardian, the cubs play hide and seek. Elephants and hippos, monkeys and giraffes Escaping Zazu the lion cubs arrive at the graveyard, an eerie spot guarded by thermal springs. A jet of steam subsides to reveal an eerie landscape littered with skeletons and monumental piles of bones. This macabre world seems to go on forever, vanishing into hissing vapor and eternal gloom. From within a massive skull comes chilling laughter, and in the empty sockets blazing eyes appear. A grinning trio of hyenas slinks into view: baleful Shenzi, sadistic Banzai, and addlepated Ed. Weaving among the skeletons, blinded by mist and steam, their short legs racing over treacherous terrain, Simba and Nala flee, hyenas in pursuit. Zazu is caught and plunged into a thermal cauldron, barely escaping with his feathers intact. A roar seems to bring the whole world to a stop. The three hyenas freeze until Mufasa's paw sends them running. The sun sinks in the sapphire sky, but Simba does not notice its expiring glory. His head hung in shame, he follows Mufasa home, planting his childish paws in his father's giant footsteps. In the gathering dusk, Mufasa turns to face his son. Tears of regret glisten in Simba's eyes. Mufasa talks of wisdom and folly, the difference between bravery and bravado, and explains how even a Lion King can know fear when he believes he may have lost a son he loves. Night comes quickly to the Pride Lands. The sky turns violet and shatters into stars. At this magic hour, Mufasa and his son sit beneath the slowly turning galaxies, surrendering themselves to the rhythms of the nocturnal world. Mufasa passes along the wisdom of the pride, telling Simba how the great kings of the past look down from the stars and will always be there to guide him. Meanwhile Scar conceives a bolder scheme, one that will rid the Pride Lands of King Mufasa and the royal brat in one fell swoop. Scar preens and poses on his rocky pedestal, exhorting his accomplices to greater heights of infamy. Rank upon rank of hyenas strut below as geysers erupt in clouds of steam. The earth itself appears to crack apart in the face of Scar's villainous ambitions. With lies and wily flattery Scar lures Simba to a winding gorge and tells him to wait there until Mufasa comes. As Simba practices his roar, Scar signals to his criminal confederates and sets a tragedy in motion. Simba hears a sound like thunder. Dust rises and the earth begins to tremble. As he clings to a rotting tree, a tide of wildebeests sweeps by. Scar warns Mufasa of Simba's peril, sending his brother charging into the path of the stampede. With his last reserve of strength, Mufasa reaches up and places Simba on a ledge, safe from the panicked herd. Scrambling to save himself, Mufasa sees his brother above him on the cliff, stretching out a helping paw. Inch by inch, Scar pulls Mufasa towards safety but, at the last moment, lets him go and watches gleefully as Mufasa vanishes beneath the slashing hooves. In the stillness that follows, Simba searches for his father and finds a lifeless body sprawled in the dust. As Simba sobs beside his father Scar savors his hour of victory. Scar toys with Simba, planting the seeds of guilt, and tells the bewildered cub to flee far from the Pride Lands. With Scar's hyena mercenaries in pursuit and gaining, Simba plunges from a bluff into the unknown. The three hyenas watch as Simba vanishes, certain that the desert sun will finish off their work. Eloquent with false grief, Scar reports the deaths of Simba and Mufasa to the pride. When the usurper's hyena cronies lope into view the lionesses recoil in horror. In his tree, Rafiki mourns the loss of his friends. Vultures circle overhead as Simba collapses to the desert floor, dazed by the blinding sun, his legs too weak to carry on. Eeeeeeeeeeeeee - yaaaaaaaaaaaa! With an ear-splitting yell, Timon the meerkat and Pumbaa the warthog charge at the vultures. As the ugly birds scatter, the two friends see the lion cub near death on the desert floor. Timon pries Simba's lips apart to reveal a fearsome set of teeth - the jaws of a carnivore. The cub seems so helpless,Pumbaa picks him up and carries him to the lush coolness of the nearby jungle. Waking in unfamiliar surroundings, Simba thanks the Good Samaritans who saved him, then rises to take his leave. Persuading Simba to stay with them Timon and Pumbaa introduce him to their philosophy: HAKUNA MATATA - no cares at all! Timon pulls back a fern and Simba is introduced to his new friends' lair, a jungle paradise complete with hanging vines, a carpet of soft grasses, and a canopy of leaves. Succulent spiders, juicy beetles, and worms - Pumbaa and Timon initiate their newfound friend into the surprises of the creepy-crawly diet. And so it happens that Simba, the lost crown prince, grows to manhood far from the Pride Lands, in the jungle playground of Pumbaa and Timon.

Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed burst into the royal presence demanding food. But the herds have moved on, and the larder is bare. One glorious tropical night, Simba Pumbaa, and Timon sprawl in a jungle clearing gazing at the stars. Simba recalls another starry night and his father's reassuring words. Overcome by melancholy, Simba goes off by himself.Flopping to the ground, he loosens seed floss from a milkweed plant. A breeze from the cooling plain below lifts the seeds high into the starry sky and carries them towards an ancient tree. A hand snatches the seed floss from the air. Rafiki sees what he has snared and dives into the tree. in a big tortoise shell, he mixes the floss with the contents of a gourd, interprets the signs in the gumbo, and laughs. Simba is alive! With all the stealth a warthog can muster, Pumbaa stalks a plump and tasty bug. Too late he spots a pair of hungry eyes. The hunter is hunted. The lioness springs at the trapped warthog and all seems lost till, with a roar, Simba dashes from the trees. The lions battle in the dirt, Simba gaining the upper hand until, with a crafty flip, the lioness pins him. Simba cannot believe that Nala has found him! Nala cannot believe that Simba is alive! Simba is still king. This is Nala's firm belief - a point of view that Simba does not share. Together after so many years, Simba and Nala feel the awakening of secret longings, the reawakening of childhood dreams. Simba and Nala wander through the enchanted landscape. Watching from afar, Timon senses the love between them and realizes that the carefree bachelor days have ended. Nala tells Simba how Scar and his hyena hoodlums have laid waste to the Pride Lands. Still Simba insists that he never will return. Confused by the news Nala has brought him, Simba seeks solitude and guidance from the stars. But the voices of the former kings are silent and soon his reverie is interrupted by a curious song: Asante sana. Squash Banana. We we nugu. Mi mi apana. Telling Simba that his father is alive, Rafiki orders the bewildered lion to follow him. Simba gazes into the waters of a pool and sees the image of a full-grown lion there, but it is merely his reflection. Disappointment overcomes him once again, but then he hears Mufasa's voice! The darkness begins to shimmer. Mufasa's spectral image appears, an awesome presence filling the air with supernatural radiance, as if some star has fallen to earth. And now the phantom king speaks to his son: Look inside yourself, Simba. You will find that you are more than what you have become. You must take your place in the Circle of Life. Remember who you are . . . The ghost has vanished. Rafiki, like a friendly goblin, reappears, and with his stick he teaches a lesson: Sometimes the past can hurt, but it will hurt more if you run away then if you face its consequences. Rafiki brings a message to Simba's friends: The rightful king is on his way to claim his throne. Simba speeds towards Pride Rock, but when he reaches the borders of his kingdom he finds a scene of utter desolation - naked trees, the earth scatter with sun-bleached bones. As storm clouds gather, Nala arrives to fight at Simba's side - Timon and Pumbaa too - and together they move onward to do whatever must be done. At the foot of Pride Rock, starving hyena sentries can't believe their eyes. Pumbaa and Timon - a banquet and a tasty snack - ham it up Hawaiian style. From the cover of a boulder, Simba and Nala watch their friend's diversionary display, then - while the sentries dream of chitterlings - they dash towards Pride Rock. As the thunder rumbles all around, Scar calls on Sarabi, Simba's mother, demanding that her hunting parties scour the land for food. Flashes of lightning set the brush afire. Flames throw Simba's noble head and muscular body into silhouette. For a moment Scar panics, believing Mufasa has returned to haunt him. Simba nuzzles his mother, assuring her that it is he, back to fulfill his destiny. Seeing that Simba, not Mufasa, is his foe, Scar feels his confidence return. Simba admits his past mistakes, failing to notice that Scar has backed him up against a precipice. Simba slips and hangs from the rock, seeming completely at Scar's mercy just as Mufasa had been years before. Gloating, Scar recalls Mufasa's death. Murderer! Simba pins Scar and forces him to confess to the listening pride that it was he, not Simba, who caused Mufasa's death. As the Pride Lands burn Simba and Scar are locked in mortal combat. The battle is joined once more, with lionesses clawing at hyena throats and Rafiki wielding his staff with furious skill. To save himself Scar lies again - not realizing that his closest allies are listening as he betrays them. Giving his uncle one last chance, Simba tell Scar to flee. Scar capitulates. Another trick. Scar lunges at Simba once again, but Simba sends his father's assassin flying off the ledge. Scar lands in the burning brush, Pride Rock at his back. Led by Shenzi, hyenas advance upon him through the flames. Friends, Scar calls them, but they are friends no more. Simba reunites with Nala and the Pride, and then, through the smoke and rain, Rafiki appears once more and motions for the youthful king to take his rightful place. King at last, Simba climbs through the rain to the summit of Pride Rock and lets out a mighty roar. Simba looks up to the heavens once again and sees the clouds part to reveal an ocean of stars. Distant thunder rumbles and the new king hears the old king's voice: Remember! The Pride Lands return to life. Tender shoots and sweet grasses bring the great herds back to the water hole, and the union of Simba and Nalabrings a new cub into the world. The sacred ceremony is repeated.Rafiki holds the infant aloft for all to see,and the world resounds with song once more.

The End