Simba Henn animated the character's first appearance as an adult that occurs near the end of the "Hakuna Matata" musical number. Released in theaters in 1994, "The Lion King" marks Simba's first appearance. All the animals in the Pride Lands gather at the foot of Pride Rock to commemorate the birth of Simba, who will eventually succeed to the throne and take his father Mufasa's place as king. Furious by the fact that he is no longer next in line, Simba's jealous uncle Scar refuses to attend the ceremony. While Simba grows into a rambunctious lion cub who frequently boasts about
Simba Lion King"s place as an utterly timeless piece of work." James Berardinelli of "ReelViews" enjoyed the fact that the film focuses more on the story of Simba himself as opposed to the romantic relationship developing between the character and Nala. However, Berardinelli criticized Matthew Broderick's vocal performance, describing it as "nondescript." Rob Humanick of Slant Magazine hailed the fact that "it's never laid on [Simba] that his time as king will directly correspond with the eventual passing of his father" as one of the film's "most important facets." However, he criticized "The Lion King"s characters, describing them as well-designed but