Disney’s movie The Lion King was and still is a huge success.  Male characters were taught to be the stereotypical male.  Simba was raised to become the next king of Pride Rock but did not have the strength to confront his Uncle Scar when he was young.  As he grew older with Timon and Pumba, he gained confidence in himself and the courage to defeat Scar so the entire pack would be able to live.  Simba forced Scar to admit that he murdered Mufasa in order to gain trust in the pack.  Without this confrontation and motivation to be a leader, the entire pack on Pride Rock would have died.  All of the antagonists were dark colors, including Scar and the hyenas.
Nala and Sarabi challenged the stereotypical female in American culture.  When Nala and Simba would fight, Nala would always win and say, “Pinned ya.”  Usually, males are stronger than females and can physically overpower the females.  Nala was the one who persuaded Simba to return to his homeland.  Simba was reluctant to return because he did not want to be shunned by his own kind.  All humans are human, no matter their skin color and should not be judged by their appearance.  Without Nala’s persistence, the entire pack would have died under Scar’s reign.  Sarabi confronts Scar when he is “king” and tells him that they should move on to different land or else they will die.  In white society, the female should not question the male in charge.  This keeps the patriarchal hierarchy intact.  Heteronormativity is also enforced in the movie in order for the lions to keep their species alive.  The setting of the movie is also bothersome.  It takes place in Africa, where people inhabit the land, but a human is never shown throughout the entire movie.  It seems that Disney tried to avoid the racist critiques with this movie by not involving black people.