(Edit for the curious: Shenanigans didn't work.)
Heya! You may or may not be aware of Browser Ponies, a fork of Desktop Ponies. Basically, cute pixel ponies that wander all over your desktop or blog. Like this! http://panzi.github.io/Browser-Ponies/
And you can find the full-featured download here (.ZIP, 41MB).
The program has pretty good support for using your own sprites, though it's been a while since I've looked into it. My question is- since ponies and lions are both quadrupeds, and there's even a manticore in there, which is a half lion, half scorpion beast- would there be any pixel artists curious/interested in making a Simba or Kion in this fashion? (Walk cycle, run cycle, maybe the "Hakuna Matata" log strut walk, a sleeping mode, a roar maybe. It'd be up to you how much you wanted to do with it.)
Here's a .GIF of the log strut walk I was sadly unable to find the source of, but it's a good reference.
If it adds any incentive, I'd be happy to send off one of my Kion plushies to you if you manage to get a character done!