Nala (The Lion King)
Nala is a fictional lioness character who first appeared in Disney's popular 1994 animated feature film The Lion King. As a cub she was voiced by Niketa Calame and as an adult she was voiced by Moira Kelly. Laura Williams and Sally Dworsky provided her singing voice as a cub and adult respectively.
The Lion King
Nala is the daughter of Sarafina. Her father is unknown; the implication is that her father is either Scar or Mufasa, the only male lions shown, but this is not mentioned in the film, due to the incest taboo.
We first see Nala in The Lion King as a cub, being bathed by Sarafina. Her best friend and Mufasa's son, Simba, appears and asks Sarabi and Sarafina to let them go to the waterhole. Actually, Simba had been lured by Scar to go the elephant graveyard, and wanted Nala to go there with him too. They are permitted to go, but not without being accompanied by Zazu, the majordomo hornbill. Along the way, the cubs plot to ditch Zazu. The cubs' plan succeeds and they reach the graveyard, but they encounter the hyenas Shenzi, Banzai and Ed (who were secretly controlled by Scar) who try to kill them. After a frantic chase, the cubs are finally rescued by Mufasa.
Later on, Scar engineers a wildebeest stampede that kills Mufasa. Scar causes Simba to believe that he was the reason for Mufasa's death, and tells the cub to run away. Simba does so and Scar assumes the throne. He rules tyrannically and mistreats the lionesses. Angered by this, Nala runs away from the Pride Lands to seek help. She spots a warthog, Pumbaa, and attempts to hunt and eat him, but an adult lion arrives and fights with her. The lion is no match for Nala and she pins him to the ground. In fact, the lion is Simba, and he instantly recognizes Nala as she had always pinned him to the ground when they were young. They are overjoyed to see each other again, and also begin to realize that their friendship has blossomed into love. However, Simba refuses to take his responsibility and go back to the Pride Lands with Nala, which leads to a quarrel.
Fortunately, Simba decides to reclaim his rightful throne after Rafiki's guidance and an encounter with his father's ghost. Nala, Timon and Pumbaa join him and an intense battle with the hyenas takes place while Simba battles Scar. In the end, Scar is killed by his own hyenas and the Pride Lands are restored, with Simba as the new King. Nala also becomes Queen, and later she and Simba have a new-born cub which is presented in a ceremony at the end of the film.
The Lion King II: Simba's Pride
Simba and Nala now have a headstrong and rebellious daughter, Kiara. In many respects, the cub Kiara resembles both her parents when they were cubs.
Simba is overprotective of his daughter and does not let her leave Pride Rock without Timon and Pumbaa keeping a close eye on her, but Nala reassures Simba that Kiara will be fine.
Nala features very little in this film, and her eyes are incorrectly coloured blue instead of the soft pale green that they were in The Lion King. In merchandise from The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, however, she retains her original green eyes.
In Simba's Pride, Nala has visibly aged; her frame is heavier and larger. Her character is also different after becoming Queen – she is calm, mild-mannered and motherly, in contrast to the fierce, brave young Nala of the first film (much like Faline in Bambi, who started out a bit wild and mischeivous but mellowed out a great deal when she became a mother).
The one reference to the first movie concerning Nala is in a short conversation she has with Simba, which ends with her playfully pinning him to the ground and then nuzzling him gently.
The Lion King 1½
Nala plays a minor role in this midquel, and we only see her during the Can You Feel The Love Tonight sequence and an extension of the scene in the original film where Nala explains to Timon and Pumbaa about what happened to Simba. Although a minor role, Nala was still voiced by Moira Kelly in this film.
Kingdom Hearts II
In the 2006 Disney/Square Enix video game Kingdom Hearts II, adult Nala is the first lion that the game's main protagonists (Sora, Donald Duck and Goofy) encounter (young Nala is never seen). She is first seen fighting Heartless, and then the main protagonists help her defeat them. After that she takes them to Pride Rock, where Scar reigns as king and is helped by a lion Pete. Scar and his hyenas attempt to kill the main protagonists but Nala stops Scar in time and escapes with them. They later arrive at the oasis and encounter Simba, Timon and Pumbaa. The seven characters then return to Pride Rock together to defeat Scar, Pete and the hyenas. Later, she asks for their help in bringing back Simba's confidence in the face of Scar's "ghost", and also reveals herself to be pregnant. Vanessa Marshall replaced Moira Kelly as Nala's voice in the game.
The Lion King musical
In the musical based on the film, Nala's role is considerably expanded, with the events leading up to Nala leaving the Pride Lands under Scar's tyranny depicted in detail. In the scene "The Madness of King Scar," the mentally ill Scar decides to take Nala as his mate, despite the fact that she is angrily opposed to the idea. This leads to the song scene "Shadowlands" () where Nala's character sings the lead about her need to leave the Pride Lands and find help. The other lionesses sing supporting choir, and Rafiki sings a blessing.
The song "Shadowlands" was based on the song "Lea Halalela (Holy Land)" from the Rhythm of the Pride Lands CD.
Trivia
- Nala and Simba have a son named Kopa in the book set The Lion King: Six New Adventures, but Kopa is non-existent in the The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, and no mention is made of him. Instead, he is replaced with the female cub Kiara.