Heartwarming / The Lion King (2019)

• When Simba gets in trouble with Mufasa for going into the Elephant Graveyard, Zazu comes to Simba's defense by pleading with Mufasa to not be so hard on him, directly quoting his Broadway counterpart in a way that shows he knows and loves Mufasa as his own family.
  Zazu: I remember a certain headstrong cub who was always getting into scrapes. And he achieved some prominence, did he not, sire?
• When the hyenas arrive to take over Pride Rock after Mufasa's death, Sarabi immediately orders Nala to stay close to her for her own safety. The novelization goes a step further by having Sarabi comfort Nala how she would comfort Simba whenever he was in distress, knowing she isn't the only one who lost a loved one today.
  • The fact that the lionesses actually look to Sarabi as their ruler as opposed to Scar, who is by all appearances the rightful king with Mufasa and seemingly Simba dead. It's to the point that some of Scar's motivation for trying to take her as his queen is simply for political reasons so he can finally take control of the pride.
  • As before, Mufasa's ghost comes to bring Simba out of his misery and inspires him to return to Pride Rock. This time, Mufasa has a very particular added line to his dialogue;
    Mufasa: As king, I was most proud of one thing. Having you as my son.
    Simba: That was a long time ago...
    Mufasa: No, Simba; that is forever. (clouds begin to dissipate)
    Simba: Please, don't leave me again!
    Mufasa: I never left you, and never will.
• When Simba returns to Pride Rock, Zazu finds Simba alive much earlier than the original and expresses disbelief. Simba happily greets him and Zazu warmly welcomes him home and bows to him.
• A brief one, but at the end of the film where Rafiki presents Simba's and Nala's cub, Timon and Pumbaa are watching from the sides with the other animals from the oasis, implying that either they're simply attending the presentation to be there for their friend, or Simba invited them to be members of the Pridelands.
• While the choice to remove any anthropomorphizing to make the animal characters more true-to-life also means eliminating human-like embraces, the emotive gesture where Rafiki greets Mufasa during the "Circle of Life" (and its Call-Back with Simba just before he ascends Pride Rock as king) is still moving; gently placing a hand on his forehead and stroking down the bridge of his nose.