As the sun rose over the African plains, animals and birds gathered eagerly at the foot of Pride Rock. ‘There he is!’ one of them cried, ‘There’s the new Prince’. At once everyone cheered and stamped their feet. ‘Welcome Prince Simba!’ They watched in silence as Rafiki, a wise old baboon, raise the lion cub high in the air. It was a very special day.

Time passed quickly for Simba, there was so much to learn. One morning the King showed his son around the kingdom and told him of the circle of life.

Later that day Simba met his uncle Scar. The little cub proudly announced that he had seen the whole of his future kingdom. ‘Even beyond the northern border?’ Scar asked. ‘No my father has forbidden me to go there’. ‘Quite right, only the bravest lions go there to the elephant graveyard’.

Simba hurried away to find his best friend Nala. Even though he knew it was wrong he went to visit the elephant graveyard with Nala that very day. He had no idea that Scar had ordered the hyenas to go to the graveyard to kill him.

Simba and Nala raced ahead across the plains, when they arrived Nala said ‘its scary here, where are we?’ ‘This is the elephant graveyard’, Simba cried. Just then they saw the drooling Hyenas, they had surrounded them, laughing menacingly. Simba tried to roar but only a squeak came out, he took another deep breath and ROOOAARRR! The hyenas fled into the mist.

‘Simba, I am very disappointed with you, you disobeyed me and put yourself and others in danger’, said the king. ‘I was only trying to be brave like you’ said Simba. ‘Look at the stars! From there the great kings of the past look down on us’ said the king.

Scar had thought of another plan to get rid of Simba and his father. The next day he led Simba to the bottom of a gorge and told him to wait for his father. Then the hyenas started a stampede among a herd of wildebeest, rushing them towards the gorge. As Simba’s father tried to save him, Scar pushed him into the path of the wildebeest.

When the stampede was over Simba ran to his father, ‘Father!’ he whimpered, but the king did not reply and Simba started to cry, the king was dead. Scar blamed Simba for the death of his father and said ‘you must never show your face in the pride again, Run away and never return’.

Scar returned to the pride to take the throne as the new King.

Eventually Simba stumbled across a warthog called Pumba and a meerkat called Timone. They gently poured water into his dry mouth. ‘You look like you need somewhere to live, why not stay with us’, said Pumba. ‘Remember Hakuna Matata – no worries, that’s the way we live’. Simba decided to stay in the jungle with his new friends.

Many years later, deep in a cave, Rafiki stared at a picture of a lion, ‘Its time’, he said, smiling. The very next day Simba rescued Pumba from a hungry lioness – it was Nala. ‘I can’t go back’, said Simba, ‘I am not fit to be a king’.

Simba showed Nala his favourite place in the jungle, ‘Its beautiful, I can see why you like it’, said Nala ‘but you need to come back to the pride’.

That night Simba lay by a stream thinking and he heard a noise. ‘Come with me and I will take you to your father’, said Rafiki. Simba followed him in wonder. As Simba looked into the stars he saw his fathers face appear. ‘You are my son and the one true king’ said his fathers voice. His father disappeared and Simba knew what we had to do.

Back at pride rock the rains were late and the land was parched. There was nothing to eat and the animals were hungry. Storm clouds gathered and lightening scorched the earth, as the dry grasses caught fire huge fires swept towards pride rock. A lion appeared through the smoke. It was Simba Scar lunged at Simba determined to kill him. In the fierce battle Simba heaved Scar over the cliff.

Simba was the king of the pride and when his son was born all of the animals gathered once more to celebrate the birth of the new prince. The End