The Lion King

Factual error: When Mufasa is initially showing Simba the pridelands they are facing the rising sun - in other words east. Simba asks about "that shadowy place" which is off to the right, and is told he must never go there. When Simba is later telling Scar about seeing the whole kingdom, Scar says "He didn't tell you what's beyond that rise on the northern border." It's the same place that Mufasa was talking about, as Simba says he's not allowed to go there, but if it was to the right as they faced east it would have been the southern border of the pridelands. (00:12:40)

Factual error: When Simba and Nala meet as adults, they rub heads and begin to purr. Lions can purr, but they only purr when they exhale, and Simba and Nala were purring when inhaling and exhaling, like house cats. (00:58:15)

Factual error: When Mufasa is showing Simba the kingdom from Pride Rock they are facing the sun, yet Pride Rock's shadow is visible below them. Also in the same position, you see that they have shadows behind them. Then a few seconds later when Simba sees the shadow area the shadows are in front of them while you can see part of the sun to their left side. They would be facing south when the sun is east. How are their shadows in front of them?

Audio problem: (May only apply to the original VHS release.) When Scar has Zazu locked up in a cage, Zazu mentions Mufasa's name and Scar yells at him, "What did you say?" Right before Scar's actual line, whilst Zazu is talking, you hear Scar's "What did you say?" line very faintly in the background, even though Zazu has not even mentioned Mufasa yet.

More mistakes in The Lion King

Pumbaa: Hey, Timon, ever wonder what those sparkly dots are up there?
Timon: Pumbaa, I don't wonder; I know.
Pumbaa: Oh. What are they?
Timon: They're fireflies. Fireflies that, uh... Got stuck up on that big bluish-black thing.
Pumbaa: Oh, gee. I always thought they were balls of gas burning billions of miles away.
Timon: Pumbaa, with you, everything's gas.

More quotes from The Lion King

Trivia: Disney wanted people to despise Scar, the film's villain, so, during Scar's big song 'Be prepared', they made references to Adolf Hitler. When Scar's army begins to march, they are goose-stepping like Nazi soldiers and have their snouts raised like a Nazi salute (their snouts appear longer here than in any other part of the movie, and pointed to their right). Scar is on a large ledge, which resembles a balcony, much like that used by Hitler - on the side, the rock has a pattern resembling a giant Swastika. And finally, on the ground where the army marches, lines appear. These lines were on the streets of Germany, where the Nazis paraded.

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Question: We're only told about two males in the pride, Mufasa and Scar. Who was Nala's father? It can't be Mufasa because then she and Simba would either be siblings or half-siblings and they wouldn't have got together. And it can't be Scar because she called him by his name, not Dad, and she and Simba would still have been cousins.

Answer: Lions are not like humans, even though Disney tends to make them that way. It's rare for more than one or two full grown lions to be in a pride. Other males are in "bachelor prides" until they win a pride of their own. It's likely that Scar or Mufasa sired Nala.

Brenda Elzin

Answer: It is possible that Nala is older than Simba and her mother was pregnant when a male, Mufasa, took over and she avoided getting killed. She could be the daughter of the previous male that Mufasa conquered as he opened the Pride Lands for him and his brother. Then, Simba was born a little while after Nala.

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