Two Storylines

The Lion King's narrative technique is pretty conventional. You've got your hero (Simba), and you've got your villain (Scar). We alternate between their two stories several times over the course of the film.

Why? To build tension. And to emphasize the fact that the hero and villain are just circling each other for the entire duration of the story, waiting to finally face off in the end. Every time we cut from Simba to Scar, the audience wonders: what's Simba going to finally do to stop him?