As well as Wise Old Man, Disney shows the importance of moving beyond the past through the good women. Nala in The Lion King provides Simba with constant support and wisdom because he is the rightful king. But, she wants him to move on from his past mistakes and take his rightful place as King, for the greater good of the Pridelands. Having Nala as a symbol shows the audience how you need the right people to help you through times of trouble or to illustrate the path of healing that comes during a traumatic event. This ties in with the theme because the path of healing is part of the process when trying to move on from a past mistake or accepting the mistake made. Having Nala portrayed like this aides the viewer to relate to the theme that is being developed in
An archetype that Disney uses to teach the importance of moving beyond the past in The Lion King is through Wise Old Man. In the movie,
Disney shows that Simba loves his father and feels guilt from his fathers death, Rafiki is there to provide him with wisdom. For example, he bonks him on the head and Rafiki tries again but Simba dodges it. Using this interaction was Rafikis way to provide the wisdom to Simba on how to move on from the past and learn from it, which establishes the movies main theme. Similar to Rafikis wise teachings, Mufasas wise teachings help Simba, later, to come to terms with his past and move on from it. Having Mufasa be this wise father helps Simba become a stronger leader and one quality of being a leader is moving beyond the past. The movie uses Mufasa teachings to help develop the theme because the movie has Simba remembering Mufasa saying which aides him to move beyond the past and save the Pridelands. Therefore, The Lion King uses the archetype Wise Old man to teach the lesson to move beyond the past.