Simba Zira, consumed by her resentment towards Simba, falls to her death. Simba finally approves of Kiara's love for Kovu and reconciles with his daughter, and accepts the two lions as the future king and queen of the Pride Lands. In "The Lion King 1½", a direct-to-video followup released in 2004, Simba appears as a less prominent character because the film's primary focus is on Timon and Pumbaa's behind-the-scenes role and involvement in "The Lion King", in which they appear as supporting characters. Although the two films technically share the same story and timeline, the plot of "The Lion King 1½"
Kimba the White Lion Symphonic Poem" (by Isao Tomita) was released on LP in 1966. As a number of media journalists and fans watched Disney's animated feature film "The Lion King" they noticed characters and events in the story resembling those of "Kimba". Although the two works follow different screenplays, there are strong artistic similarities, and "The Lion King" contains numerous sequences that closely match "Kimba"′s. Other similarities are thematically deeper and more pronounced, such as that both feature the theme of the circle of life. Alleged similarities in the characters, beginning with the protagonist lion cubs "Kimba" and "Simba", include the evil lions,