The Lion King as a recurring summon, as well as a playable in the "Lion King" world, known as Pride Lands, in "Kingdom Hearts II". There the plotline is loosely related to the later part of the original film, with all of the main characters except Zazu and Sarabi. "The Lion King" also provides one of the worlds featured in the 2011 action-adventure game "Disney Universe", and Simba was featured in the Nintendo DS title "Disney Friends" (2008). Walt Disney Theatrical produced a musical stage adaptation of the same name, which premiered in Minneapolis, Minnesota in July 1997, and later opened on Broadway
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