Tear Jerker / The Lion King (1994)

"...help."

WARNING: Spoilers are unmarked.

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General:

• Simba’s relationship with Scar is pretty sad from his perspective, since as a cub, he actually liked his uncle. He genuinely looked up to him as a cool, somewhat quirky family member who he wanted to spend time with, but that’s not how Scar actually sees it. Scar hates his nephew, and only pretends to be on good terms with him so he can easily manipulate him. The fact that there was potential for a genuine friendship between them (if only Scar would let go of his hatred and obsession to be king) is heartbreaking, and makes this line of Simba’s even more poignant.
  Simba: Why should I believe you? Everything you ever told me was a lie.
• After Mufasa saves Simba and Nala. Imagine if your child and their close friend snuck out somewhere you explicitly forbade them from visiting because you knew it was way too dangerous, and the only reason they didn't get murdered by strangers miles away from home was because you managed to find them at the last possible minute.
  • Mufasa, the wise and powerful king, winces in a way that clearly states "This hurts me more than it hurts you" before he starts lecturing Simba. He knows his son is just a young, headstrong cub who overreached, but his little boy is going to be king someday so he MUST teach him right from wrong while he still can, even pulling out the Disappointed in You card.
    Mufasa: Simba, I am very Disappointed in You.
    Simba: I know...
    Mufasa: You could have been killed. You deliberately disobeyed me! And what's worse, you put Nala in danger!
  • Simba being on the verge of tears when he starts to realize how close him and his friend actually were to dying if he hadn't been so lucky. All because he wanted to prove how brave he was.
  • When Simba asks if him and Mufasa will always be together, Mufasa has to indirectly say no by explaining the Great Kings of the Past living on in the stars above — he's aware that between nature's brutality and the dangers of leading a lion pride, he could die at any time for any reason, but he also knows Simba is way too young to understand his dad won't be around forever. He's trying to prime his son and himself for the inevitable.
  • Just before Mufasa's scolding, Simba walks towards him and steps into one of Mufasa's pawprints. One of the most famous moments from the film is the sight of Simba's tiny paw inside Mufasa's giant one. That's when it sinks in for poor Simba just how much he has to live up to.
  • After Mufasa sends the hyenas scrambling towards the hills, Simba steps towards him but before he can finish, Mufasa looks at him and says to Simba in an angry, worried and disappointed voice "You deliberately disobeyed me..." Simba's resulting expression and broken attempt at an apology rings home for any child who has disappointed a beloved parent.
• Mufasa's demise, obviously.
  • The look of horror and disbelief on Mufasa's face when he realizes his own brother is about to throw him to his death. In spite of the vitriol between Scar and Mufasa, Mufasa is still a good, noble type who cares about his estranged family and is completely unaware of how much Scar actually hates him until the very end.
    • Making it even sadder? Not only that but he realized that not only was he going to die at the hands of his brother (who he trusted enough to stay with the pride and help raise Simba)...but that his son was next.
  • When Mufasa begs for Scar to help him, he addresses him as "brother" for the first and last time. Suddenly these two aren't just the good guy and the bad guy; they're adults who had grown up together as siblings until fate split their paths apart, before they intersected again for one final tragedy.
    Scar: Long live the king.
  • Simba's Big "NO!" moment right as Mufasa falls to his death, since it's pretty much a given what's going to happen at that point. And this follows Mufasa roaring helplessly as he falls to his death.
  • The music that plays during the scene certainly doesn't help, especially when the part when Mufasa's theme comes in (fittingly, it was based on parts of Mozart's "Requiem"). Add Simba trying in vain to wake his dad up (there’s a reason it provides the Please Wake Up page image), and then, in utter despair, trying to cuddle up under Mufasa's lifeless paw◊, so it will almost be like his father is holding him one last time. It's possibly one of the saddest scenes in the history of cinema. Rumor has it that this scene was going to be much shorter until a pencil test screening, where studio chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg turned to the animators, pointed to his dry eye, and told them, "I'm not crying yet."
    Simba: HELLLPPP! Somebody! Anybody... (sob) help.
  • The sound design of Simba pleading for help is particularly heart wrenching. Simba screams for somebody, anybody to help but all he hears is his own echo. It finally sinks in for him that he's all alone and all he can do is cry a weak "...help..." and return to Mufasa's body.
  • Co-director Rob Minkoff has noted that the scene stands out within the entire Disney Animated Canon in one important way: While the trope of killing off the parents is as old as the hills, they're typically already dead at the start, or it happens within the first ten minutes, or else the parent is a Flat Character with little to define them besides caring for their child. But Mufasa is the only parent they had the guts to flesh out as a character and give the audience time to get to know before their death. A lot of the crew was seriously worried it would be too traumatizing for any kids in the audience (and many who saw the film at a young age will be happy to confirm this).
• The scene following Mufasa's death when Scar convinces his own nephew that he (Simba) was responsible for it.
  • Don't forget that while waiting in the gorge, Simba made one of his "little roars" that echoed for several seconds, right before the stampede started. He probably thinks he caused it, not knowing about the hyenas. He also didn't see Scar throwing Mufasa to his death. From Simba's limited POV, everything was his fault.
  • One of Scar's lines during that little guilt trip: "Oh, what will your mother think?" That broken little look in Simba's eyes cements the hate for Scar in that moment.
    • Later on, years later, Nala inadvertently repeats these exact words to Simba when she meets him again. It probably dug up a lot of bad feelings for Simba.
  • Prior to that, Simba briefly cries into Scar's leg. He trusts his uncle, his father's brother, and he's so desperate for comfort and for someone to tell him it wasn't his fault...and he gets that.
  • In some countries, McDonald's has released a puzzle promotion of the film with four scenes, with this one◊ being the above scene of Scar "comforting" Simba.
• Afterwards, Scar tells Simba to run away and never return, before sending the Hyenas to kill him. Of course, there's a little bit of much-needed comedy courtesy of Banzai falling into a bramble patch (with the much-memed line "Cactus Butt!"), but that's it. Plus, unlike Bambi, where audiences don't actually see any onscreen death or body, this movie has the visual of Mufasa getting pulled off the cliff and falling all the way down into the stampede, followed by the drawn-out Please Wake Up scene described above.
  • As Banzai screams "Yeah! You hear that?! If you ever come back...WE'LL KILL YA!" you can see Simba's shadow stop for a brief moment before resuming running. He heard every word...
• We see Scar giving a none-too-sincere eulogy for Simba and Mufasa just before he takes the helm, and we see the lionesses' and Zazu's reaction to this, with Zazu comforting the heartbroken and shattered Sarabi, and Nala crying into her mother's leg. And then the hyenas come out. And these aren't the goofy trio that we know and love; these hyenas are Nightmare Fuel.
• Rafiki sadly smudging out his drawing of Simba, and then Simba is shown almost dead in the desert. A lot of people probably consider it a good thing Timon and Pumbaa showed up when they did.
  • Blink and you'll miss it, but if you look closely, Rafiki (just before he smudges Simba's drawing) actually wipes away a tear. It is the only time we see this wise old mandril cry and is arguably one of the few times he is completely serious, as he mourns the loss of his friend and the said friend's young son.
• While stargazing with Timon and Pumbaa, Simba remembers his father's words about the kings of the past. When Timon and Pumbaa laugh at the idea, Simba tries to laugh with them but fails to do so and he becomes sad and homesick. He then walks off to the edge of a cliff and stares at the sky before collapsing to the ground in utter sadness. It pretty much shows that in spite of living with Timon and Pumbaa and their "Hakuna-Matata" philosophy for years, Simba still hasn't put the past behind him.
  • When Simba walks off, Timon and Pumbaa both share concerned looks at him, worried that they might have hurt his feelings by being Innocently Insensitive.
    Timon: Was it something I said?
• After reuniting with Simba, Nala is practically in tears at one point and can barely look at him.
  Simba: (softly) What? What is it?
  Nala: (voice breaking) It's like you're back from the dead. You don't know how much this will mean to everyone... what it means to me...
  Simba: Hey, it's okay.
  Nala: (nuzzling Simba) I've really missed you.
  Simba: I've missed you too.
• Timon and Pumbaa having "sad" eyes at the end of "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" is both hilarious and this.
  And if he falls in love tonight
  It can be assumed
  His carefree days with us are history
  In short, our pal is doomed
  • Cue Timon and Pumbaa crying hysterically. It's Played for Laughs, but it can easily speak to any circle of friends, male or female, who have "lost" a member to romance. Or, since they've been Simba's Parental Substitutes, to any parents who have to watch their child grow up, leave the nest and start their own family.
  • The version of the song in the end credits, sung by Elton John, has a more emotional tone.
  • Even before that, Timon is upset to learn that Simba calls Nala his "best friend". Despite their long years together, Timon and Pumbaa are still second to her. Doubles as Heartwarming.
• Just before this, Simba is at his lowest point since the stampede; all of his feelings of guilt and shame having been brought back by his argument with Nala. He starts off in what seems like Calling the Old Man Out/Rage Against the Heavens, but it quickly turns once again into self-blame.
  • It's definitely a moment where Matthew Broderick proves that He Really Can Act.
    Simba: You said you'd always be there for me! But you're not... [beat] And it's because of me. It's my fault...it's my...fault... [chokes up and starts to sob]
• When Rafiki appears to him and declares that he knows Mufasa, Simba misinterprets this as the old monkey not knowing that Mufasa is dead. He visibly winces before trying to break the news to him as gently as he can.
  • And then when Rafiki says "He's alive, and I'll show him to you!" the young cub inside Simba starts grasping at the desperate hope that Mufasa is miraculously still around, and is once again crushed when it turns out that Rafiki was being metaphorical instead of literal.
• When Rafiki tells Simba, "You see, he lives in you." Anyone who's ever lost a loved one, which, given time, could be literally anyone, can tell you that one of the hardest parts of grief is thinking that the person who's died is gone forever. Rafiki teaching Simba that Mufasa will live on forever through the memories of those who loved him is An Aesop that most certainly needs to be taught.
  • The music in that scene gives chills every time.
  • The entire sequence where Mufasa appears in the clouds, when he tells Simba that he (Simba) has forgotten who he is because he has forgotten (him) you can just see the shame in Simba's face and hear the sadness in his voice at letting his father down and then the clouds start leaving Simba desperately chases after them begging Mufasa not to go, clearly still not quite able to accept that his dad is still really gone (and in the sequel we learn he still hasn't quite gotten over it yet).
• When Simba returns and sees what has become of his home. He doesn't look just shocked, but completely heartbroken as the reality of what Scar has done as king sinks in.
  Nala: It's awful, isn't it?
  Simba: I didn't want to believe you.
  • Made even worse when you think about the rest of the pride. They not only lost a beloved king and prince but on the same day were forced to accept hyenas (vicious enemies who had tried to murder the prince just a few days before) as part of their pride. And later, they can do nothing about their lands being reduced to a dry and lifeless place.
  • Simba seeing his mother for the first time in years. His pained expression says a lot, no doubt feeling guilt over leaving her to believe her son was dead. And when Sarabi first sees him, she even mistakes him for his father.
  • Although Sarabi says that the herds have moved on, the skeletonized remains of many animals are still visible in the desolate land. It makes you wonder: How many of the animals who came to welcome baby Simba at the beginning of the film are now dead and reduced to bones?
    • Fridge-Sadness: This entire scene is one big "Alas Horatio, I knew him well". Simba is looking upon the remains of animals he knew from cub-hood. And now, they're gone...
  • After comforting his mother and attempting to get the now cowering and excuse-giving Scar, the latter uses the guilt Simba is feeling to have him "admit" to be responsible for Mufasa's death. Simba admits to this, but then Scar twists this into something more heinous to be executed for while Simba is unable to defend himself out of both the suddenness of the accusation and the guilt he felt for his father's death, being metaphorically and literally corner to the edge of Pride Rock. Were it not for Scar telling the truth to twist the knife so that Simba will die in despair that he's been executed falsely, Simba would die, believing himself responsible for his father's death.
• The ending when Simba takes the throne, partly from Tears of Joy (and the intense emotional power of Zimmer's score) but also just the sense of sorrow for everything Simba went through to get to that point, and the relief that he is finally there, he's honored and avenged his father, and more than earned his rightful place as king. One word sums it up: "Remember."
  • When Simba runs off from Rafiki, declaring "I'm going back!"
  • Rafiki bowing to Simba in reverence and Simba grabbing him into a grateful bear hug, much to his surprise.

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