Soon after the young Simba is born, various animals across Pride Lands gather at Pride Rock to celebrate and cheer as the prince has been ceremonially anointed as the son of King Mufasa and Queen Sarabi as heir to the royal throne. Meanwhile, behind Pride Rock, we are introduced to a disgruntled Scar (brother of Mufasa) who is now further angered by the news that his brother now has an heir to the throne and learns that he will never be eligible to be king now. The movie’s timeline fast forwards to Simba as a budding youth as he is filled with energy, excitement, and much curiosity. One morning, Simba excitedly awakes his father and urges him to take him to see all of the Pride Lands to fully know the lands he will inherit one day. Mufasa simply illustrates that everything the light touches is a part of the kingdom and that the lands hidden in the shadows are forbidden to Simba. Mufasa goes on to talk about the Circle of Life and how everything in life has a balance, which soon becomes a central theme of the movie as the storyline continues. After talking and learning from his father, Simba must return home as his father, Mufasa, had to tend to the kingdom.

When Simba returns to Pride Rock, he notices his Uncle Scar is lurking about and begins to brag about his fate to be king of the Pride Lands one day. This clearly upsets Scar and he devises a plan to rid of Mufasa and Simba so that he may become king of the Pride Lands. With some not-so-subtle urging, Scar convinces Simba to venture into the elephant graveyard, which is apart of the land that King Mufasa said was forbidden to Simba. With the company of Simba’s friend Nala and Zazi (King Mufasa’s majordomo), they set out to explore the elephant graveyard and are quickly faced with bloodthirsty hyenas. Thankfully, Mufasa sweeps in just in time to save the cubs. Meanwhile, Scar wages agreement with the hyenas that if they join his plan to kill Mufasa and Simba, he will supply them unlimited food when he is named King. The hyenas agree and continue to work alongside Scar to see their plan to completion.

Knowing Simba to be a curious cub, Scar lures Simba to a giant gorge by promising him a “surprise”. Behind the scenes, the hyenas sent a stampede of wildebeests over the edge of the gorge. Consequently, Simba has been swept away in the stampede and is at risk of being taken over the edge of the gorge also. Mufasa gratefully sweeps in and is able to get Simba to safety, but is then swept away into the herd of wildebeests himself. In Mufasa’s final efforts, he clings to the edge of the gorge and pleads for his brother, Scar, to help in pulling him up. Power-hungry Scar throws Mufasa off the cliff and allows him to fall to his death. Amidst mourning his father, Simba is easily manipulated by Scar into thinking that he is responsible for his father’s death and urges him to flee from the Pride Lands and into exile.

While in exile, we continue to see Simba grow into his adolescence as he befriends Timon (a meerkat) and Pumbaa (a warthog) who show him the ways of the jungle. However, it is made apparent that Simba soon forgets his role as King of the Pride Lands, until he stumbles across his childhood friend, Nala. After some convincing from Nala, Rafiki (who anointed Simba at birth), and his father’s ghost, Simba finally decides to return to the Pride Lands to resume his role as king. Upon Simba’s return, we see that Scar has completely destroyed the once-beautiful kingdom with all the greenery being tarnished and the lions of the kingdom are left famished. Simba goes onto urge Scar to descend from the throne and allow him to take his rightful place as King of the Pride Lands. Scar isn’t very fond of Simba’s proposal and announces to the kingdom that Simba was responsible for Mufasa’s death. Ultimately, this revelation leads to a fight between Simba and Scar for the throne. Simba results in dangling from the edge of Pride Rock and Scar is prepared to send Simba to his death. In this time, Scar confesses that he is responsible for Mufasa’s death to Simba. That acknowledgment brought forth a burst of energy for Simba to pull himself up from the cliff and finish Scar into the pit of hungry hyenas who have now turned on him. After defeating Scar, Simba assumes his rightful place as King of the Pride Lands. Simba and Nala soon get together, create a family of their own, and the Circle of Life continues.