Interesting fact:

The different relationships between characters in ‘The Lion King’ provide some of the most gripping and hilarious scenes in the film. In the original script, Timon and Pumbaa were friends with Simba from the start and Rafiki was a cheetah. Scar was also unrelated to Simba. Instead, he was written as a lone lion who was the leader of a pack of ferocious baboons.