I think some of this comes down to your upbringing and another comes down to personal choice.
My SO is a Combat Veteran. He's not racist. He values human life. I see where there is outrage or disgust in the thought of soldiers being trained to kill... but I don't think the other side will agree to a tickle fight if the Americans just can't shoot back... They shoot and kill in order to not be shot and killed themselves. I think the entire subject is a lot easier to TALK about than the reality of actually SERVING in a war. I think any pedestrian given a gun and shot at will probably think to shoot that gun right back. Fight or flight exists in all things. The military trains you fight... not flight. A lot of animals that survive is because they fight. I think the better question is about the necessity of violence to solve problems to begin with. We learn in preschool and kindergarden that it doesn't solve anything
That being said, I'm sure that after having bullets, explosions, etc from the local population at war doesn't make him have tons of FOND memories of that country or even hearing the language... but he treated the locals from adult to child with the respect of another fellow human. He saw a LOT of hatred spread by the men of the country. Onto the local women and children especially. I think all judgement must be made on a human by human case, not a blanket judgement. The men and women overseas go through a lot all so that the majority can remain at home in their own chosen comforts not ever having the tiniest idea about what they go through.
Point number one talks about Simba. In regards to Simba being a lion and them not filming a movie about.. let's say a grasshopper.. well I think part of that is just obvious marketing. Will as many children want to be a grasshopper for Halloween? Fill their rooms with grasshopper memorabilia? Doubtful in comparison to some lions and lion cubs. Grown adults go out and buy lion cubs to this day because they're just so darn cute. Simba was also shown that by living with his herbivore/omnivore friends that he can survive without eating meat. Well... try feeding a lion bugs for life hahaha I can't even imagine the amount of grubs you would need or how well the lion would live to begin with. I mean obviously in general the concept of all the giraffes and zebra hanging out near the lions is absurd. Things don't worship their hunters haha but it's a cartoon and that's probably a lot cuter to see giraffes bowing down as opposed to running frantically with terror in their eyes. As it is, Timon and Pumba (who teach Simba to eat bugs) are omnivores themselves. Both warthogs and meerkats eat just about anything. They wouldn't object to eating meat to begin with. Lions eat meat. Pigs will eat meat. Meerkats will eat meat. Hell, BUGS eat meat too. At that rate, bugs are lives. They are living creatures. Is it JUST as wrong for the carnivores to eat meat as it is for other creatures to eat all the bugs? To the average person, no, because they don't like bugs. So it's okay.
Point number two talks about things like Happy Feet. I think part of Happy Feet's purpose was to show that humans interfere with EVERYTHING. From taking animals from their own habitat to shove them into enclosures for people to snap pictures and tap the glass, to going to those animal's natural habitats and devastating those areas. We have various animals right now that we are wiping out without any real efforts to help. I bet though that if those animals learned to bust a move and dance, people would be FREAKING OUT. Save the dancing animals! It'd break the internet I think. But they don't dance. So they don't make viral news. So the average person doesn't really care.
I think most people are distanced from where their food comes from, even if they choose not to eat meat. I think it's easier for people to keep their eyes shut and truck along than it is to open their eyes and accept the facts. We all know commercial farms aren't good for animals but that doesn't stop people from buying it. There's people who have seen it in person and they will be first in line to buy the stuff. Some people don't care period. I do think that it was only right to make Simba and lions meat eaters because that's what they are. I don't think it's right to force any individual to your way of thinking or eating. Your own children included. Everyone has a choice. Hopefully people will become more open to learning about the process, then maybe more people will fight so that ALL living things can be treated better.
As humans we affect all things around us. Something died in order for people to live somewhere, eat, etc.
I do agree that there's propaganda all around, in places you wouldn't expect, including things made for children. But I also think that if a child in a vegetarian family WANTED to eat meat that there'd be problems. I have heard of meat eating families allowing their children to choose to go vegetarian or vegan, but I have not heard of the veg/vegan families letting their children eat meat should they choose to. I think it's much more likely that your child is eating meat (or not) because of how their parents are raising them to be. Children don't grocery shop so watching a lion eat a zebra leg didn't make a kid want leg of lamb. Parents buy the food and relate their beliefs and systems onto their children. I don't think there's any extra amount of children eating meat just because of Simba. I don't think any vegetarian/vegan kids changed their ways for him.
If we hadn't domesticated dogs into what they are, then they'd be wolves really. We don't eat wolves. Carnivores just aren't known to be good or efficient eats. That being said, we have obviously taken many years to domesticate them. It's scientifically and psychologically proven that pets help people. Especially dogs. We have worked on dogs the most. Cats are still rather new in comparison. Birds, mainly parrots, are quite new (only talking pet birds here, not livestock). Livestock obviously are among some of the first things domesticated. We just figured out along the way that those dogs
will work and they weren't so bad to spend the day with. They also probably ate less than another grown man to help you work your livestock. If it had gone any other way, people could've just as easily been eating dogs right now. We made dogs. There is attachment. Most people have never seen a single "meat" animal up close. I bet if they spent any time with them then they would see just how much personality is in livestock as well.