Did Simba and Nala *liked* each other as cubs?

[SummerSnowLeopard]

They had a little cubby crush

[Simba1]

I believe Simba and Nala did have a crush on each other as cubs but just didn't want to show or admit it. You can tell in alot of pics from the movie, Simba looks at Nala sweetly a couple times.. and so does Nala in a couple.

[Godric]

Yes, probably they liked each other a bit. But, we can't tell for sure.

[SimbasGuard]

I agree with what several others have said, I believe they were crushing on each other, but may not have been fully aware of how they felt.

[SweetNala]

Yes. When Zazu talked about betrothal they reacted pretty quick to say "Ew!"
And I know from experience that little kids pretended to not like each other usually do

[Flowertall]

Very quick to say "eww", yeah. Only indicates that they might be hiding something.

[Regulus]

I'm not sure if someone has mentioned this yet, but there is something else to consider.

When Simba introduces Nala to Timon and Pumbaa, he says that she is his best friend. Doesn't something seem a little bit strange about that? He had been living in the jungle for almost a decade. If he didn't have a crush on Nala when he was a cub, he likely wouldn't have even recognized her. I don't think they would have reacted the same way after all those years if there wasn't at least some love interest between them previously.

[SimbasGuard]

Excellent point

[DGFone]

I'm not sure if someone has mentioned this yet, but there is something else to consider.

When Simba introduces Nala to Timon and Pumbaa, he says that she is his best friend. Doesn't something seem a little bit strange about that? He had been living in the jungle for almost a decade. If he didn't have a crush on Nala when he was a cub, he likely wouldn't have even recognized her. I don't think they would have reacted the same way after all those years if there wasn't at least some love interest between them previously.

Yes, that reaction does in fact prove that Nala and Simba liked each other as cubs. Otherwise Simba would have forgotten her when he tried to forget about his past. Also, his quick recognition when Nala pinned him in the fight for Pumbaa also demonstrated how much she left an impression on him after all the time he spent in the jungle.

But as a minor point, because lions live at most around 20 years, 10 in the wild, Simba would have spent roughly a year to two years in the jungle, not a decade or more.

[Regulus]

A decade in human years. It makes more sense to use human years for measurements.