You know, as a kid I didn't really realize what the hyenas did to Scar. I just knew they were mad at him and he wasn't in the movie anymore.
It wasn't until I watched it again when I was 17 or so and I realized how completely dark that actually was.
My seven and four year old girls definitely understood what the hungry hyenas were doing; but then, I've never really sheltered them from the horrors of nature.
I wonder how it works psychologically. Even in Avengers, the "good people" turning into dust clearly affected the audience much more than "the bad people" being killed in various ways during the movie.
Media that highlights this dynamic is interesting, though it implies some fourth-wall breaking. Funny Games did it (and I hated it, but it was interesting.) Sometimes video games do it too; Metal Gear Solid criticizes the player for enjoying all the killing.
> Metal Gear Solid criticizes the player for enjoying all the killing.