The Lion King is a propaganda film for Simba’s regime. Simba is indoctrinated with speciesist beliefs that hyenas are of lesser intrinsic moral value than lions by his father, Mufasa, who is the head of a fascist state that systematically oppressed hyenas. Mufasa’s dynasty gives lions precedence over other animals, refusing to show equal concern for the interests of all of its members. Mufasa means well, but he is under the delusion that hyenas are lesser creatures, a view he holds unreasonably and without adequate epistemic justifications. Under Mufasa, the hyenas are made to live in an elephant graveyard, an inhospitable environment. They are denied adequate nutrition and are kept in a state of perpetual poverty. This is not unlike the condition of the Jewish ghettos in Nazi Europe or the inferior living standards of blacks in South Africa under apartheid.
Scar adopts a non-conformist view against Mufasa’s speciesist policies opposing the segregation and the perceived superiority of lions. He is also a victim of primogeniture, the practice of awarding titles to the first born purely on the basis of birth order. Every existing monarchy today uses lateral agnatic seniority, even Saudi Arabia where human trafficking, torture, capital/corporal punishment and reduced female/LGBT rights exist. Because Scar was born second, Scar was denied the opportunity to govern the lion kingdom, and consequently Scar was denied the opportunity to extend to the hyenas equal status as citizens of the lion kingdom. After Mufasa has Simba, Mufasa’s lineage is secured. Mufasa takes Simba on walks in which Simba is indoctrinated with the beliefs held by his father. These beliefs include justifying the lions’ eating of their subjects on the grounds that when the lions themselves die, their bodies become the grass, an idea that the audience only accepts because the characters are lions. This is like Hannibal Lecter arguing in support of his cannibalism, because when he dies his corpse can be used for fertilizer.
At this point, it becomes clear that Simba is going to grow up to be just like his father. In order to liberate the hyenas it becomes necessary for the regime to be toppled. Scar devises a plan that is spectacularly light on bloodshed– as only Mufasa is killed in an attempt to alleviate almost universal suffering. He can’t bring himself to kill Simba, a small child so he sends him on his way, encouraged in his departure with the implication that he himself was involved in Mufasa’s demise. He immediately recognizes this folly and attempts to rectify it by sending the hyenas after Simba, but by then it is too late, and Simba escapes. It is a rare thing in human history for one individual to forcibly seize a crown from another with so little violence as happens here. This indicates Scar’s concern for the lives of his subjects, and his desire to bring everyone, even reactionary lions unlikely to support his policies, into the new era.
Timon and Pumbaa are not merely kindly eccentrics, they are anarchists–they reject the notion that they have any duties to a state of any kind and attempt to live outside the purview of the lion kingdom. Their slogan, “Hakuna Matata”, which means “no worries” is really one of cold indifference to the other animals they live among- as the black rights activist Leroy Eldridge Cleaver said“If you are not a part of the solution, you are a part of the problem”.
In the meantime, Scar attempts to create a new society in which animals are judged not by the color of their fur but by the content of their character. In order to do this, he allows formerly marginalized species access to the lion kingdom. During the course of this process, a drought ensues, as evidenced by the decay in the vegetation (hyenas, as carnivores, would not have produced widespread plant death) and by the fire that rages late in the film. The resultant low food and water supplies are blamed by xenophobes on the hyena immigrants (used as scapegoats) when in reality they were naturally caused. When Nala encounters Simba, she sees an opportunity to expel the migrants she views both as inferior and as the cause of the reduced food supply and persuades him to return to the lion kingdom by seduction.
Scar rightly recognizes that Simba is a figure around which his political opponents, all of whom are speciesist, xenophobic crypto-fascists, can rally. He initially attempts to discredit Simba, and is very nearly successful, when hubris (arrogance) gets the best of him, and he foolishly tells Simba that he himself brought about Mufasa’s demise.
When cornered, Scar appears to sell out the hyenas, but it is shortly thereafter revealed that this is a stall tactic so that Scar can fling hot coals at Simba and gain an advantage in the subsequent physical encounter. Scar is unceremoniously kicked off a cliff. He manages to recover, only to be greeted by the hyenas. The hyenas are unable to recognize his words as a stall tactic. They are too used to lions mistreating them due to their continued systematic persecution (brought about by the lions) and are too ready to believe that Scar is like all the others. They tear to shreds the very lion who championed their interests, and so Simba restores the fascist regime of his father to power.