Continuity mistake: During the last notes of "I Just Can't Wait to Be King", a rhinoceros lands on top of Zazu. At first the rhino's front hooves are resting at its side. But in the following shot where the other animals retreat, they're suddenly planted firmly on the ground. (00:17:20)
Continuity mistake: When Simba and the animals begin to tower up on each other towards the end of the song "I Just Can't Wait To Be King", a shot shows that the red elephants are close to the bottom of the tower. The camera begins to scan upwards and the antelope are towards the top where Simba and Nala show up. When the animals all fall and quick shots show how jumbled they get, a red elephant somehow ends up falling on top of an antelope's antlers which shouldn't be possible. (00:17:50)
Continuity mistake: Before Simba and Nala tumble downhill into the elephant graveyard, Simba pounces on Nala but ends up getting pinned to the ground. At first she has her paws on his chest, but when the shot changes she holds him down by the upper arms instead. (00:17:50)
Continuity mistake: As Zazu, Simba and Nala are being confronted by the hyenas, Banzai says, "A trio of trespassers." Zazu's tail is somewhere out of sight at the moment, but between shots it abruptly lifts itself into view. (00:19:20)
Continuity mistake: Throughout the movie, every hyena is drawn with three toes on each paw. But in one shot when an off-screen hyena grabs Zazu in mid-flight to place him in the "birdie boiler", it has four toes instead. Also when the hyenas chase Simba out of the Pride Lands, Banzai has four toes when he tries to grab Simba with his claws. (00:20:20)
Continuity mistake: When the three hyenas (Ed, Shenzi and Banzai) have Simba and Nala trapped in a dark corner of the elephant graveyard, Mufasa suddenly jumps in to save them. After he wrangles the hyenas to the ground, look at how Mufasa's left paw is placed right beside Ed's ear. But in the next shot where they're begging for mercy, Mufasa's paw is all of a sudden positioned further down by Ed's feet. (00:21:40)
Deliberate mistake: At the elephant graveyard, little Simba claws Shenzi in the face. When Mufasa saves Simba from the hyenas, the cuts are gone, a few seconds later. [This was done intentionally, I'm sure, for two reasons. The first being, Disney doesn't let fresh scars linger on the screen too long. Secondly, during that same scene when Mufasa rescues Simba & Nala, he claws Banzai in the rear. To stress the point later in the movie, that severe scar is shown too, but only briefly, it too disappears because of reason 1. Still a "mistake", but there's why.] (00:21:50)
Continuity mistake: After the elephant graveyard hyena incident, there's a very wide shot of Simba and Nala trailing behind Mufasa and Zazu in the open field. Nala looks over at Simba, but in the next frame she's staring at the ground instead. (00:22:40)
Continuity mistake: In the open field where Simba gets scolded by Mufasa, he happens upon a large paw print in the dirt. An overhead view reveals several blades of grass near the impression (on the lower left hand side in particular), but as Simba begins walking once again in the following shot, no blades of grass can be seen anywhere in the vicinity. (00:23:20)
Continuity mistake: When Simba is lying on a rock awaiting Scar's surprise at the base of the gorge, he tries to intimidate a nearby chameleon with his (weak) roar. The shot changes and Simba finally scares it away, but notice how the rock has disappeared. Now all we can see is a blurry background of the gorge's edge. (00:32:10)
Continuity mistake: During the stampede in the gorge, when Simba jumps up on the dead branch, he leaves very distinct claw scratches. Then in the following scenes they're gone, although other marks and details on the branch remain. (00:34:10)
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Simba tries convincing Scar that Mufasa's death was an accident, Simba stands an inch or two apart from Mufasa's left paw. Once the angle changes, Scar reaches out to comfort Simba, but now Simba is positioned closer to Mufasa's face instead. (00:37:55)
Continuity mistake: When Simba is running from the trio of hyenas that Scar sent out to kill him, he's forced to stop in his tracks at the foot of a steep cliff. Down at the bottom are thorn patches, and the sun casts a shadow on their right sides. Obviously this implies that it's setting on the left hand side of the cliff - and it's visible on that horizon moments later as he tumbles down the face. Once Simba clears the bushes and heads off into exile, Banzai shouts "If you ever come back, we'll kill you!" At this point notice how Simba is chasing the sunset, but now it's in an entirely different location - opposite the cliff face. (00:38:50)
Continuity mistake: When the three hyenas are chasing little Simba, Banzai, (a hyena) flies into a thorn patch. When he comes out, he is covered in thorns. Then he walks over to the edge with Shenzi, and all of the thorns are gone (the ones he didn't pull out). (00:40:20)
Continuity mistake: Timon faces different directions on top of Pumbaa's snout after being asked about keeping Simba. At first he looks at Simba over Pumbaa's snout, but all of a sudden he's turned around and looking right into Pumbaa's eyes between shots. (00:42:00)
Continuity mistake: When Timon rides Pumbaa through the vultures that are crowding around Simba, they run right over where Simba should be, but he's not there. 2 seconds later, after all the vultures are gone, Simba is back. (00:42:05)
Continuity mistake: After cracking a joke about the food chain, Timon bursts into laughter and starts poking Simba with his elbow. Timon goes missing for the length of one shot but soon reappears in place, where he cuts his laughter short. (00:42:55)
Continuity mistake: During Pumbaa's flashback scene in "Hakuna Matata" he pauses at the waterhole's shoreline for a drink. At first he's standing on dry ground, but then all of a sudden his front paws are submerged in water one shot later. (00:45:00)
Continuity mistake: During Pumbaa's flashback scene in "Hakuna Matata" where he joins several other animals by the waterhole for a drink, an elephant with notches on its right ear gets a whiff of him and dashes away. But just before the elephant runs off screen its ear suddenly has no notches, but smooth edges instead. (00:45:05)
Continuity mistake: During "Hakuna Matata," Timon hoists Pumbaa high into the air from a vine. The excess length of vine gathers up on the ground at Timon's side - only to vanish just two shots later at the point where Simba sings his piece. (00:45:25)
Answer: (1) It's a real phrase from the Swahili language and, as stated in the film, translates roughly to "no worries" (literally "there are no worries"). (2) The line is a reference to Sidney Poitier's detective character Virgil Tibbs from In The Heat Of The Night and his famous reply of "They call me Mister Tibbs" when asked what they call him back home. The film's sequel, focusing on Poitier's character, actually used the line as the title.
Tailkinker ★