Leo Rex Epic: Part III

In Virgil's Epic Poem, the Aeneid, pious Aneas goes to the Sybil, the prophetess of Apollo to seek admittance through Hades' gates. The Priestess, by the inspiration of the god, knows Aeneas' and speaks of his past and of his future. He gains entrance to the underworld, through sacrifice and is led by the priestess through a cave and along a difficult path. During his journey to the land of the dead, Aeneas sees long dead friends and future generations.
He looks on hosts of Roman soldiers who are yet to be born and who will conquer the known world. This trip seals Aeneas' determination to reach Latium and gain the newly destined homeland for the surviving Trojans.

In The Lion King, the trip to the underworld is uniquely presented by Simba following the unlikely and perhaps crazy guide: Rafiki. He also is a priest of sorts, being the one who, in his own fashion, blesses and coronates kings. He first prophesies of Simba and knows him better than Simba knows himself. After revealing this to Simba he leads him on to the edge of a sort of briar patch where he declares that his father is still alive. Raffiki then leads the lost king through the cave of briars to the far side and it is there that Simba encounters his long dead father, the king.

This then fulfills yet another expectation of an epic. This story then fulfills the given requirments of having an invocation of the muse, starting in media res, deals with the lacrimae rerum, it is concerned with the fate of a nation, and has a visit to the underworld. The Lion King, then, is an a traditional epic according to its own medium of film. Q.E.D.