Simba like them, Simba is "born into royalty, is then exiled, and has to return to claim [his] kingdom." Unlike the studio's three previous films "The Little Mermaid" (1989), "Beauty and the Beast" (1991) and "Aladdin" (1992) which are essentially love stories, "The Lion King" revolves around Simba's relationship with his father instead, which Allers identified as "The real heart and emotional underpinning of the whole story". In April 1992, the filmmakers hosted a "brainstorming session" in which much of the film's original story was largely re-written, particularly Simba's personality. Originally, Simba was intended to remain with the pride after Mufasa's
Simba: King of the Beasts Simba: King of the Beasts Simba: The King of the Beasts is a 1928 American black-and-white silent documentary film, directed by Martin and Osa Johnson, which features the couple's four-year expedition to track the lion across Kenyan veld to his lair. The film, which went on nationwide general release on , was premiered at the Earl Caroll Theatre in New York on . Footage for the film was shot from 1924 to 1927, during the couple's second and longest trip to Africa, when spent much of their time in northern Kenya by a lake they dubbed Paradise, at Mount Marsabit.