Lion King Coloring Pages

The circle of life starts on paper here. These Lion King coloring pages follow young Simba across the Pride Lands, from Pride Rock to the water hole and the jungle where Timon and Pumbaa live, and every page prints for free.

Inside the collection:

• Simba, pouncing in the grass, chasing a beetle, napping on a rock and in a big face portrait.
• Simba and Mufasa side by side on a hill and on Pride Rock, and a portrait of the king with his great mane.
• Simba and Nala, napping together and drinking at the water hole.
• Timon and Pumbaa on a log, in a hammock and riding through the jungle.
• Rafiki and Zazu, the wise baboon and the king's hornbill.
• Holiday cubs for Halloween, Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day and birthdays.

The Lion King, from 1994 to today

The Lion King was released by Disney in 1994. Young Simba, son of King Mufasa, is born to rule the Pride Lands, but his uncle Scar wants the throne for himself. After a terrible night in a stampede, Simba runs away, grows up in the jungle with Timon and Pumbaa, and finally comes home to take his place.

The film won two Oscars for its music, with songs by Elton John and Tim Rice and a score by Hans Zimmer. It became a Broadway musical in 1997 and a photorealistic remake in 2019, followed by Mufasa: The Lion King in 2024.

The story's African setting runs through these pages: rocky outcrops, acacia trees, a baobab and a quiet water hole.

The animators traveled to Kenya to study real lions, landscapes and light before drawing the film, and Pride Rock was inspired by the rocky outcrops called kopjes that rise from the savanna. Many of the characters' names are Swahili words: Simba means lion, Rafiki means friend, and Pumbaa means foolish or careless. It is a nice detail to share with kids while they color, and a way into the Earth coloring pages and maps of Africa.

Simba, the Lion King cub

Most sheets show Simba as a playful cub, the age when kids love him most. He stands on a rock at sunrise, crouches to pounce in the tall grass, chases a beetle and naps on a flat rock. A close portrait shows his big eyes and the tuft of fur on top of his head.

One scene is a little braver: Simba creeping through the elephant graveyard, the shadowy place his father told him never to visit. It is drawn friendly rather than scary, with old bones half hidden in the grass.

Simba's colors

• Fur: golden tan or light orange, with a paler cream belly and muzzle.
• Tuft and tail tip: a darker reddish brown.
• Nose: pinkish brown.
• Eyes: amber or brown.

Kids who want more big cats can head to the lion coloring pages, the tiger coloring pages and the cheetah coloring pages.

Mufasa and Pride Rock coloring pages

Mufasa stands tall next to his son on a grassy hill and on Pride Rock, and his own portrait shows his thick mane falling around his face. Color his fur a deep gold and his mane a dark red-brown, darker than Simba's tuft.

Another page shows a lion lifting a cub high on top of a rock, an echo of the opening of the film, when Rafiki presents baby Simba to the animals of the Pride Lands. A lioness walks with three cubs by a stream, and a mother lioness and her cub peek over a rock together.

Simba and Nala coloring pages

Nala is Simba's best friend as a cub and later his queen. They nap side by side under a little bird on a branch, and drink together at the water hole. Nala's fur is a little lighter than Simba's, more cream and pale gold, with blue-green eyes.

The quiet lioness pages, resting under an acacia tree or in a calm portrait, work well as grown-up Nala or as Simba's mother, Sarabi.

Timon, Pumbaa, Rafiki and Zazu

Timon the meerkat and Pumbaa the warthog teach Simba their motto, Hakuna Matata, which means "no worries" in Swahili. They sit on a log over a stream, smile behind a fallen trunk, and Timon rides on Pumbaa's back through the jungle. Timon also relaxes in a hammock above a leaf with a beetle, his favorite snack; more creepy crawlies wait in the bug coloring pages. Pumbaa sits by a muddy puddle, and he and Simba look at the stars together.

Color Timon tan with a brown stripe down his back and Pumbaa reddish brown with a dark mane and cream tusks. Three warthogs run across cracked ground on another page.

Rafiki, the wise mandrill, sits high in his baobab tree, paints on its trunk and stirs a bowl of seeds. Zazu, Mufasa's fussy blue hornbill adviser, perches on a rock next to Simba. Animal lovers can keep exploring with the animal coloring pages, the monkey coloring pages and the bird coloring pages.

Lion King cubs through the holidays

Simba celebrates the holidays too. He carves a jack o'lantern and goes trick or treating in a witch hat for the Halloween coloring pages. In December he wears a Santa hat with a present, hangs a star on a little tree and builds a snowman, ready for the Christmas coloring pages.

A lion cub also holds a basket of decorated eggs for Easter, and Simba hugs a big heart for Valentine's Day. A cub with a birthday cake is a fun card for a jungle party.

Easy Lion King pages and a detailed one

The portraits and most of Simba's solo scenes have big shapes and very little background. Quick to color shows these roomy Lion King pages first:

• Mufasa Portrait
• Simba Napping on a Rock
• Simba Chasing a Beetle

The Easter basket, with its woven pattern and painted eggs, needs more patience. Lots of detail brings the fuller pages forward:

• Lion Cub with an Easter Basket

A Pride Lands party

1. Print Simba, Nala, Timon, Pumbaa and Rafiki.
2. Set out gold, orange, brown, red-brown and green.
3. Teach everyone to say "Hakuna Matata" before they start coloring.
4. Line the finished pages up along a wall as the animals of the Pride Lands gathering at Pride Rock.

For a whole savanna table, add the giraffe coloring pages, the elephant coloring pages and the zoo coloring pages.

Printing Lion King sheets for a party or a classroom

Every Lion King page downloads as an A4 PDF drawn at 300 dpi, at no cost. Mufasa's mane and Simba's tail sometimes reach the edges, so on US Letter choose fit to page to keep them whole. Collect the characters with Add to pack to print them in one go; the printing guide shows each browser's settings.