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
Simba Magic Kingdom, which retold the story of the film using fully articulated puppets. Other Disney attractions that have featured Simba include the Mickey's PhilharMagic 3D show and the Hong Kong Disneyland version of "It's a Small World". He appeared as one of the main characters at Epcot's Land Pavilion 12-minute edutainment film "", until its closure in 2018. He currently appears in animatronic form in Festival of the Lion King at Disney's Animal Kingdom. Although "The Lion King" itself has garnered universal acclaim from film critics, reception towards Simba has been generally mixed. "The Christian Science Monitor"s David Sterritt hailed