Nala (The Lion King) in "The Lion King" (1994) as the daughter of Sarafina and the best friend of Simba, who she often accompanies on his adventures throughout the Pride Lands. Simba invites Nala to visit the forbidden Elephant Graveyard with him, despite his father Mufasa's orders. The cubs are soon ambushed by Shenzi, Banzai and Ed, a trio of hyenas chosen by Simba's treacherous uncle Scar to kill Simba in order to improve his own chances of becoming king, but are ultimately rescued by Mufasa. The following day, however, Nala is devastated to learn from Scar that both Simba and Mufasa have perished
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