Cringey Truth Behind The Lion King Power Couple That We'd Rather Not Know
This fact is going to make you realize that your childhood is ruined.
The story about the adventures of the lion cub Simba is already almost thirty years old and four years ago, a movie version of the legendary animated film was released in theaters.
While not everyone liked the movie version of the story, the animation, which has already become a classic, is adored by millions of viewers around the world.
However, a closer look at the family ties within the animated film will make you see it very differently — in the least pleasant way possible.
The only adult males in the pride are Mufasa and Scar, who are brothers. Since there are no other males on the horizon and we know nothing about them, we can conclude that all the cubs are the offspring of one lion or another.
So Simba and Nala are either half-siblings or cousins. Anyway, it turns out to be something in the spirit of the House of the Dragon.
Dr. Craig Packer, director of Lion Research Center at the University of Minnesota, tried to answer this question. According to Packer, there are usually two or three males in a pride, but there are many more females, and they are all related.
"The females in a pride are all closely related to each other. They're sisters, cousins, grandmothers, nieces and aunts. So if Nala and Simba were not litter-mates, there is a chance they'd have the same father, but it's their mothers who would have been as close as sisters or cousins," Craig explained to Polygon.
So yes, we're sorry to say that, but Nala and Simba are indeed related. However, if the lions in The Lion King had behaved like real lions, this Rhaenyra and Daemon-esque situation could have been avoided.
In real life, when a lion reaches maturity, it will leave its pride of origin and look for a new one, simply in order to be able to mate.
So, yes, even your most beloved and cheerful children's animated movies may be hiding some dark secrets.
And now, the 2019 remake of The Lion King is starting to look even more like a National Geographic documentary.