- Warning: There are spoilers ahead for the “Lion King” remake.
- The end of the original “Lion King” movie shows Simba defy gravity.
- When he learns the truth about his father’s death, Simba somehow manages to pounce up into the air and lunged on his uncle despite hanging off of a cliff and having nothing to leap off of.
- In the new movie, Simba simply bites his uncle so he can climb back up onto the cliff in a less dramatic fashion.
- Though it’s less exhilarating, it makes more logical sense to a moment that never really added up.
I’ve watched the original “Lion King” dozens of times since its 1994 debut, and there’s one scene near the end that has always left me a bit perplexed.
When Scar finally tells Simba the truth about his father’s death, Simba’s hanging dangerously from a cliff. Despite his precarious situation, Simba musters up some extra energy and propels himself miraculously through the air to pounce atop his uncle.
It’s a quick scene that flashes by in seven frames, and it’s beautiful when slowed down.
But Simba shouldn't be able to pull off the jump.
A close watch of the scene shows that there's no physical or logical way Simba should have been able to make the leap back onto Pride Rock (even if it looked really cool).
Moments before Scar tells Simba he murdered Mufasa, Scar has Simba trapped. He's holding onto both of his paws as he hangs helplessly over the edge of Pride Rock's cliff.
If you look at his back paws, there's nothing supporting or propping them up. He's just hanging off the edge of the cliff. So he would never have any way to propel himself back up onto the cliff. And Simba definitely wouldn't have a way to spring himself into the air to leap onto Scar.
And then there's the little problem about Scar digging his claws into Simba's paws. How does he get free without falling?
The 1994 movie shows Simba defeated and trapped by Scar one moment. In the next frame, after his flashback of Mufasa's death, he's simply leaping into the air. We never see how he goes from one position to the other.
Here's how it occurs in the 1994 movie:
The new movie remedies this physics conundrum.
Instead of leaping onto Scar when he learns the truth about Mufasa, Simba bites his uncle. This way, Scar backs up and gets off of Simba's paws. Instead of leaping back onto the cliff, Simba climbs his way back onto the ledge slowly.
It's not as dramatically cool to watch, but it makes a lot more sense than Simba springing up onto a ledge without any support under his hind legs.
It's a very subtle change in the new movie you may miss. But if you've been watching this movie for years, it's one that makes a lot of sense if you know what came before it. It's a fix that's been 25 years in the making.
- Read more:
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