Nala (The Lion King) is introduced as the childhood best friend of Simba, and ultimately becomes his wife by the end of "The Lion King". Several years after Simba's uncle Scar has killed Simba's father Mufasa and usurped the throne, Nala desperately ventures into the jungle to find help. Upon unexpectedly reuniting with a grown Simba, who she had long been tricked by Scar into presuming dead, Nala encourages him to return to Pride Rock, overthrow his uncle and ultimately become king. As Simba's queen, Nala has a daughter, Kiara, whose story is explored in "The Lion King: Simba's Pride" and also has a
The Lion King (franchise) relation to "The Lion King" canon is questionable with the introduction of "The Lion King 1½". "The Lion Guard" follows the adventures of Simba and Nala's son Kion as he assembles the titular group of animals to protect the Pride Lands. A total of thirteen supervising animators from Walt Disney Animation Studios and Disney-MGM Studios were responsible for establishing the personalities and setting the tone for the first film's main characters. The animation team studied real-life animals for reference, as was done for the earlier film "Bambi". The animation of the characters counted with supervision by wildlife experts such as