20 Reasons Why Everybody Loves The Lion King

10. The Love Story

Disney love stories are often tarnished by the speed with which the fair maiden and hunky male lead fall in love. With The Lion King, Simba€™s and Nala€™s childhood friendship makes their happy ending feel much more natural and less€questionable. They already cared. Best of all is that neither Simba€™s nor Nala€™s arcs are driven by the romance. They fall in love very quickly, but their eyes stay on the prize. Simba does not heroically retake his place in the pride for the sake of his love for Nala, and Nala does not start swooning upon her reunion with Simba. Neither spends the epic final battle worrying about the other. From the start to the conclusion, it€™s surprisingly egalitarian for a romance in which one of the parties happens to be a king. Besides, Simba used her flip move to send Scar careening down a cliff. If that€™s not the sign of a healthy relationship, I don€™t know what is. Also, they're super cute and their love song won an Oscar. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRCjylRkG_c
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Fiction buff and writer. If it's on Netflix, it's probably in my queue. I've bought DVDs for the special features and usually claim that the book is better than the movie or show (and can provide examples). I've never met a TV show that I won't marathon. Follow on Twitter @lah9891 .