The Lion King is a popular children’s movie created by Disney in which a lion is the king. The story of The Lion King focuses on a young lion named Simba who grows up as the son of Mufasa who is the current king of an African savannah named The Pride Lands. This particular story follows the 14 steps of a hero’s journey, starting from the call to adventure and ending with the freedom to live.
The first step of the hero's journey that’s seen in the movie is when Simba's uncle, Scar, kills Simba’s brother, Mufasa, who’s also the king. After Simba's father is killed, Scar tells Simba that the death of his father was his fault and told Simba to, “Run away and never return.” To this information, Scar’s hyaenas were set on a mission to kill Simba. At this moment Simba knew he must do something in order to avenge his father's death. This was Simba’s call to adventure and the first time we see the hero’s journey come into play. From Simba’s ordinary world being The Pride Lands to suddenly being banished and blamed for his father's death, Simba is left with no choice but to run away and plan his next move.
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After Simba escapes The Pride Lands, Scar sends the hyenas after Simba. These hyenas do whatever Scar tells them to and works as a personal army for Scar. Luckily for Simba, he was able to lose the hyenas. As much as Simba wishes he could go back and take back his land, he does not want to take the journey thinking that he is not prepared or strong enough to defeat Scar. As Simba is sleeping, he is found by a meerkat named Timon, and a warthog named Pumba. At first, Simba does not want to talk to them and is very upset about what had happened. After explaining his situation to Timon and Pumba, they show him this paradise land that they live in. Simba chooses to stay with them as he grows up throughout the years. Years later, Simba is found by Nala, his best friend from The Pride Lands. Nala asks Simba to return but Simba does not want to at first and refuses the call to adventure. Nala then explains everything that has happened and changed since Simba left before realizing that since Simba is still alive, he is the new king of The Pride Lands. Since Simba’s “death”, Scar has told the kingdom that Simba was sadly killed in the stampede and that his father was also killed. Simba refused that he was the king as he believes it was something he was going to be, but not anymore. Simba was afraid to take on this journey because he felt like his father's death was his fault and therefore he did not have any confidence to return to his ordinary world and overthrow Scar.
One night, Simba meets Rafiki while thinking about his call to adventure. Rafiki is a huge step in initiating Simba’s return to The Pride Lands. After Rafiki shares with Simba that he knows exactly who he is, he is able to give Simba the confidence to fight for his kingdom back. That same night, Rafiki brings Simba into an enchanted jungle of tangled trees where he shares that Mufasa is alive. He is guided to a small pool of water where he is instructed by Rafiki to look into the water and tell him what he sees. In the ripples of the water, he is able to see his father. Rafiki tells Simba that the spirit of Mufasa lives inside Simba. This is Simba’s realization that he was meant to be king. Mufasa’s spirit appears in the clouds where he tells Simba that he has forgotten who he was, meaning that he has also forgotten his father and that Simba must go back to The Pride Lands to take his place in the circle of life. He reminds him to remember who he is and to remember that he is the king of The Pride Lands. This interaction changes Simba’s perspective entirely as he has now learned that he needs to stop running away from the death of his father, and instead put it behind him and take back what is his. Simba wastes no time and departs back to Pride Rock. Rafiki exclaims that the king has returned and Nala, Timon, and Pumba all offer their support to help Simba take back his kingdom.
As Simba prepares to take back his kingdom, he decides to come up with a plan. First, he wants the people of the kingdom to still believe that he is dead. Secondly, Simba wants Timon and Pumba to distract the hyenas while he and Nala sneak in. Finally, Simba tells Nala to rally up the other lions so that they have a chance to fight the hyenas. They split, and get their plan into motion. Once their plan is ready, they all go off to take back the kingdom. When fighting, Scar makes Simba walk to the edge of a cliff just like he made Mufasa do before his death. At this point, Scar takes time to admit that he is the one who killed Mufasa and that Simba had no involvement with it. Simba feels a burst of rage and jumps on Scar before attacking him. Simba holds Scar down by his neck and makes him admit that he killed Mufasa in front of the entire kingdom. This causes a huge fight between everyone in the kingdom including Simba and Scar. As Simba and Scar return face to face again, Scar begs Simba to not hurt him and blames his wrongdoings on the hyenas. The hyenas hear this through the ring of fire as Simba and Scar continue to fight. In the end, Simba throws Scar off a cliff. The hyenas then surround Scar at the bottom of the cliff and attack him after hearing him blame them for Mufasa’s death. Simba finally gets to reunite with his family after being away for so many years. Simba goes back to Rafiki who points to Pride Rock and says “It’s time” meaning it is time for Simba to take his rightful place on the throne as king. He climbs to the top of Pride Rocks and lets out a loud roar to let everyone know that the king has returned.
If Simba did not take on his call to adventure, he would have never returned to The Pride Lands to take his place as king. While thinking about going on his call to adventure, he is met by Rafiki who changes his heart and convinces him to view the situation from a different perspective. Rafiki becomes Simba’s mentor from here on out. After meeting with his father's spirit, he experiences his initiation before returning home and taking back the throne. Along with his old and new friends, Simba returns home to The Pride Lands. Although he gets very close to death the same way his father died, he survives and overthrows Scar. Through this journey, Simba has had a change of heart and regained his place in the kingdom as king.
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