人類中心的「擬人化」有扭曲真實性之虞。晚近隨新物質主義崛起的「化人主義」，則認為非人存有擁有不輸人類的能動性，希望以此祛除人類視角、捕捉更加「真實」的自然。本文通過討論1994年迪士尼動畫電影《獅子王》，以及奠基其上的另兩部電腦動畫電影──夢工廠的《馬達加斯加2》與迪士尼的「擬真」《獅子王》──分析電影裡徘徊在擬人與化人之間的動物角色，如何折射出相異的人類－動物－自然關係，從而傳達秩序復歸、認同漂移，以及生態循環意識的神話補缺，這三個當代課題。筆者借鑑新動物地理學的動物惡地概念，並深化「擬真」意涵，以此討論電影文本中的動物之於自然／真實的關係。筆者藉此反思他者世界的再現倫理，主張須正視非人世界的不透明性，但在此基礎上有意識地運用科技中介的再現文本去描摹真實的可能樣貌，讓「擬真」不只是擬形，而是一種人類對自身與複雜自然如何共存的啟發性探索。

“Anthropomorphism” is associated with human-centrism that seems to distort reality. Recently this term has however gained new significance: it implies that non-humans have agency equal to humans—an epistemological turn that seems to unveil “real” nature. This paper explores this tension between anthropomorphism and de-anthropomorphism by analyzing three animated films featuring the lion king story: Disney’s Lion King (1994), DreamWorks’ Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008), and Disney’s computer-animated remake of Lion King (2019). We discuss how the animal characters, vacillating between humanoid likeness and anthropomorphic agency, showcase human-animal-nature relations which epitomize three social motifs. The first is about the importance of place, the second about drifting identities, and the third about a prosthetic myth that gratifies environmental consciousness. We draw upon the concept of “beastly place” and reframe the idea of “simulation” to illuminate how the human-animal-nature relations in the filmic representations address the issue of nature/reality. We conclude by reflecting on the ethics of representation of the Other. We argue that the Other is always opaque, and that with such understanding humans should consciously regard representation as technically mediated in their simulation of the real world, thereby facilitating inspiring ways of coexistence with nature.