The irony incorporated into The Lion King

I've noticed at least four things in the Lion King that were a little ironic when you think about actual Lion behavior

A large amount of the story is centered around Simba's bond with Mufasa, who is portrayed as a loving and protective father that would lay down his life for his son in a heartbeat. But in actuality, the male lion is considered one of the worst fathers in the animal kingdom. They don't protect their young like Mufasa did and they frequently put their own needs above their cubs.

One of the things that put Scar in the Disney villains' hall of infamy was the fact that he killed his own brother and attempted to slaughter his own nephew, just so he could take over the pride. But, in actuality, this is standard lion behavior. Male lions frequently battle each other for dominance, and when one does take over, they actually do slaughter the cubs of the pride's last leader in order to confirm their place as "king". So, what Scar did was not very uncommon.

Scar attempted to make Simba look bad by framing him for Mufasa's death. But, once again, that was not uncommon among lions. I can't say for certain, but i think it's safe to say that if a male lion cub does live to see adulthood, he most likely would attempt to kill the current leader of the pride and take his place, regardless if said adult male is his father.

Sarabi was utterly devastated when she heard about Simba and Mufasa's "deaths", but in truth, when another male lion kills her mate and slaughters her cubs, the lioness is usually pretty nonchalant about it and is eager to move on.

Just some ironic stuff i felt i had to point out

Well that wouldn't make for a good kid's movie, would it? Disney just had lions in the studio to observe how they moved, not how they acted in real life. A mother going "Oh well, time to make more babies!" in response to her son apparently dying would probably present a bad message to kids. If you can't trust your own parents to worry about you, how would you feel?

The lions are essentially people with a few animalistic traits to keep the Willing Suspention Of Disbelief.

The lions in the movie could all talk with one another, even other animals, but in reality, they can't talk for shit.

And meerkats and warthogs don't sing

You know, we already have a general Lion King thread this could've gone into.

Scar didn't challenge Mufasa for dominance. He, very specifically, avoids doing that in the first scene of the movie. Scar connived a plot to betray and murder Mufasa because he knew he couldn't win a dominance battle, and used the hyenas to carry it out. Scar is an egotist, but also a coward. He craves admiration and respect, but is unwilling to do the things needed for himself. Ultimately, Scar is a spoiled manchild.

There's one very good line that sums it up. When Saraabi tells Scar he can't sentence the pride to death, he retorts, "I'm the king, I can do whatever I want!" This parallels Simba's attitude in the first act; it demonstrates that Scar has a child's understanding of what it actually means to be king.

Well yeah. Disney's Pocahontas is not like the real thing either.

Well, that's basically what I was getting at: if Scar had challenged Mufasa legitimately and defeated him, there would be nothing villainous in his actions. He would just be a lion being a lion.

He's villainous because even by lion standards, he's a treacherous, deceitful coward who stole the throne illegitimately and then led his pride to ruination. After his treachery, cowardice, and incompetence, Scar should have been eaten.

...which, he was.

edited 4th Sep '13 12:44:06 PM by TobiasDrake

I'm not sure this is really Irony.

Lionesses do tend to get angry over the loss of their cubs at least, but then the drive to make more kicks in and they mate with the new alpha male.

For that, lions are known to mourn deaths in the pride, for a little while before they get hungry and devour the bodies of their fallen friends and family. Lions are some of the worst animals to give a "human" perspective too. It really does not work.

But they're so purrty.

Yeah, Lion King is less based on lions, and more on the image of lions. And in that sense, it worked just fine.

edited 5th Sep '13 8:53:28 PM by kalel94

It's also Hamlet.

And my last thanksgiving with the gang in mexico.

So. All in all we learned that the Lion King isn't as ironic as the great S.M. tells us. What a trip.

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Mufasa's treatment of the hyenas is perfectly in line with Lion behavior too. Lions will kill Hyenas even if there they are not hungry, the hyenas are not in any position to take anything from them and they have to cross a river to do it because even though they generally hate water they hate hyenas more.

Still more of a faithful representation of the source material than Hercules, at least.

Of Hamlet or of Kimba the White Lion?

Yes.

I always thought that business with the Hyenas was misunderstood. They are hungry because they're stupid morons who overhunted and turned their land in a lifeless graveyard (as we see, the entire hyena territory is a massive elephant graveyard with no life), Mufasa is essentially saying "They ruined their land, I'm not going to let them ruin ours."

pretty much

Interesting. Never gave that much thought...

Personally, I'm more concerned about the fact that Zazu didn't peck anyone's eyes out.