On more than one occasion I've heard people refer to the song "He Lives in You" from Simba's Pride as a religious song. What's interesting about this interpretation, however, is that it was written before Simba's Pride was created, inspired by the first movie, and it was later used in the Broadway musical as a reprise of another version of the song called "They Live in You." This version was sung to Simba by Mufasa during the scene about the Great Kings of the Past, and so it refers specifically to them in this case, furthering the idea that the original is about Mufasa.
So, knowing as we do that the lions of Pride Rock venerate their dead, the kings anyway, what can we infer about their culture and/or their religious beliefs?
Ancestor worship on its own isn't usually seen as a religion, but it is a very spiritual practice, and that shows in the films. Simba is constantly looking to Mufasa's spirit for guidance, and Zira pleads to Scar to watch over her "poor Nuka," things many people turn to a god for, but that some cultures do look to their progenitors for. Considering that the lions live away from the influence of any humans, and especially Europeans and Western ideas, it is safe to say that, like most tribes separated from these, they do not share the spirituality of the "West" having no way to know about it. But do they see the Kings of the Past as gods themselves, or is it more like the Chinese practice sprung from a concept of filial piety?
Many Chinese, of varying religious faiths, engage in this same kind of ancestor worship, believing that, to quote Wikipedia, "the relationship and obligations of children toward their parents remains intact even after death." This sounds like the theme we see in The Lion King, doesn't it? Simba is always striving to be the good king Mufasa would have wanted him to be, and Zira is diligently vying for Kovu to take Scar's place as king and finish what Scar had started by getting rid of Simba. Many non-Western cultures share this vein of spirituality. It often ties in to communities that place a high value on family, which we know that real lion prides do, to a degree. In the wild, lions live in large, family groups consisting of a few males and many females. It is true that the young males are typically driven out of the pride, but this is to keep genetics from being too interbred, and to spread the lineage of those lions, not that lions actually think about this or think of lineage in real life. But in the case of these cognizant lions of The Lion King, it is easy to take pride life a step farther and see strong family ties. In fact all of the lions we see in the movies seem to have strong family bonds aside from Scar.
In the first film, the lionesses are almost as a unit, they are banded together, and they all support Mufasa, Sarabi, and Simba. Nala leaves to find help, but does not bail out on her pride to save herself; she goes back for them, with Simba in tow, and despite the sorry state of the Pride Lands, the two stay after defeating Scar, and take care of their family. In the sequel we see Simba being very protective of Kiara, and we see the Outlanders displaying strong family ties as well. Nuka struggles to win his mother's attention, Kovu is very conflicted about abandoning his family for Kiara, and even after he turns his back on them he still is upset about Nuka's death and tries to be there for them. Vitani's ceasing to fight has always seemed to me to come from a place of not wanting to lose her mother and Kovu as she had lost Nuka, again, being a strong family tie. And of course, no matter their relationship, Zira's devotion to Scar could stem from the same thing, whether she really is his mate or a relative or simply sees herself as a part of his family.
If it was nothing more than that, and Simba's occasionally seeing (or thinking he sees) Mufasa's spirit, then I don't know if there would necessarily be religious aspects to this belief. Then we have all that stuff with Rafiki though. He talks to Mufasa's spirit, and does the things Mufasa wants him to do, supposedly. That makes it take on a more religious tone, and makes Mufasa seem almost like a lone god, especially considering that Simba gazes up at his smiling face at the end. Of course other kings would not be shown, as they were not relevant to the story, but this begs the question: are they really up there? Is the universe of The Lion King "alive" with the spirits of the dead kings in actuality, rather than just in the spirituality of the lions? It would seem so. Unless we completely discredit Simba's Pride and mark off Simba's encounter with Mufasa's ghost in the first film as a hallucination. Is it fair to do that though?
And what about the other creatures? Do the herd animals get to speak with the spirits of their loved ones in the same way? Do they venerate their dead, as the lions do, or do they have a different belief system? What about the other predators? Specifically, what about the hyenas? Could this be part of what caused the bitterness between the two species? Did the hyenas know that the lions' Great Kings truly existed, and did they covet the position of the lions as not only the rulers of the land, but also the heads of the religion?
Obviously this is all just speculation for fun, and is mostly questions, but I'd like to know what you all think.
Let's all be friendly now and try to keep this as part of the movie's mythos, rather than worrying about our human religions too much. We don't want to offend anyone. It's just a fun thing to think about, what role the Great Kings of the Past truly served, and how much of an affect it may have had on the story.
