The Lion King Simba is given some valuable perspective from his childhood friend, Nala, and his shaman, Rafiki, before returning to challenge Scar to end his tyranny and take his place in the Circle of Life as the rightful King. Development of "The Lion King" began in 1988 during a meeting between Jeffrey Katzenberg, Roy E. Disney, and Peter Schneider while promoting "Oliver & Company" in Europe. Thomas Disch wrote a film treatment, and Woolverton developed the first scripts, while George Scribner was signed on as director, being later joined by Allers. Production began in 1991 concurrently with "Pocahontas", which wound up attracting
The Lion King (franchise) of five games. It features the characters Rafiki, Timon and Pumbaa. A game called "The Lion King 1½" was published in 2003 for the Game Boy Advance, based on the direct-to-video film and featuring Timon and Pumbaa as the playable characters. Some of the film's characters are playable in "Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure", a spin-off of the Tony Hawk games. In the Disney Interactive Studios and Square Enix video game "Kingdom Hearts", Simba appears as an ally that Sora can summon during battles. He also appears again as a summon character in "". In "Kingdom Hearts II", the Pride Lands