The Lion King 1994 / Tropes A to C

The Lion King (1994) Trope Examples
A - C | D - M | N - Z

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• 0% Approval Rating: Scar does an utterly horrible job of running the Pride Lands, rendering them a barren wasteland, but refuses to let the pride move somewhere more livable. This earns him plenty of contempt from all of his underlings.
• 2D Visuals, 3D Effects: The wildebeest from the stampede are computer-generated but were cel-shaded to make them less obvious. Compared to other mixed CGI-in-hand-drawn-animation examples, this one still holds up pretty well after all these years.
• '90s Hair: Simba's mane resembles the curtain hairstyle that was popular during the '90s.

A

• Accent Adaptation: The te reo Māori dub has characters of different species speaking in different dialects:
  • The lion pride speaks Te Reo o Tainui, the dialect of the iwi from which the Māori King Movement began.
  • The hyenas speak Te Reo o Ngāti Kahungunu, the dialect of the most comedic script advisor, Tātere Macleod.
  • Timon and Pumbaa speak Te Reo o Te Taitokerau.
  • Zazu speaks Te Reo o Taranaki.
  • Rafiki speaks Te Reo o Tūhoe.
• Accidental Ventriloquism: Young Simba tries to roar to intimidate the hyenas but they just laugh at him and tell him to do it again. The second time, the adult Mufasa roars, and for a moment everybody (including the young lion himself) believes that the roar came from Simba.
• Actor Allusion: When Scar says "You have no idea," in response to Simba telling him he's weird, he says with the exact same intonation as when Claus von Bülow says it in Reversal of Fortune. Both characters were played by Jeremy Irons.
• Actually Pretty Funny:
  • After confronting Scar for his absence at Simba's presentation, Mufasa wonders to Zazu on what to do about his brother; Zazu suggests that he'd make a handsome throw rug. While Mufasa playfully chastises him for the suggestion, he can't help but chuckle when Zazu states that with Scar as a throw rug, he can take him out and beat him whenever he gets dirty.
  • During their love song, Simba playfully pulls Nala into the oasis. She emerges gasping for air and immediately gets out while shivering with a horrified expression, as Simba grins at her. Then she smirks at him in amusement over his joke, as well as his ridiculous appearance, but still pushes him back into the water as revenge and runs off.
• Advertising by Association: Appropriately, a preview included on the Aladdin 1993 Walt Disney Classics VHS informs viewers that both of these movies share a lyricist, Tim Rice.
• Aerith and Bob: The hyenas: Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed.
• African Chant: The intro is probably the most famous example of the trope in all of media. The opening sequence starts with a shot of a sunrise over a savannah as an isiZulu chorus plays:
  "Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba ^note  Here comes a lion, Father.
  Sithi uhm ingonyama." ^note  Oh yes, it's a lion.
• Again with Feeling: Zazu arrives to speak to Mufasa and give him the morning report on how things are faring in the Pridelands. Simba gets bored with this and begins pouncing, and when Mufasa notices, he decides to give Simba a proper pouncing lesson. He instructs Zazu to turn around, prompting this exchange.
  Zazu: What's going on?
  Mufasa: A pouncing lesson.
  Zazu: Oh, very good, pouncing. [finally realizing he's the target] Pouncing!??
• Age Cut: Done during "Hakuna Matata" as Simba, Pumbaa and Timon are walking across a log and we see Simba change from a cub into an adult.
• All Deserts Have Cacti: Not directly shown, but when Banzai falls into some brambles near the desert, Shenzi calls him "Cactus Butt".
• All Monks Know Kung-Fu: Rafiki, who serves as the Pride Lands' main spiritual authority, breaks out some wicked martial arts moves during the final battle against Scar and the hyenas.
• Alternate Animal Affection: Rubbing heads, crossing necks, and a lick on the cheek.
• Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: For the most part, many of the animals are at least close to their realistic coloring. Then there's Zazu (a blue hornbill), Pumbaa (a red warthog, although that one isn't quite so far-fetched) and the hyenas (who are grey). This is especially used during the "I Just Can't Wait To Be King" segment to fit with the song's bouncy and upbeat tone.
• Ambiguous Time Period:
  • Except for minor pop-culture references that may have slipped into the plot, there is no indication of when the story takes place, at least across the whole current Holocene epoch (or even the very late Pleistocene, since the glaciers never reached Africa). The story does not feature any humans or even reference their presence, only animals in the wild, so there's hardly anything within the setting that could ever became dated.
  • In Hercules, during one short scene, Hercules wears a lion skin that looks exactly like Scar (including the eye scar and the fur color). However, it is more of a cross-canon tribute, as is common in Disney animated features. Even within the Disney Canon continuity, there is very little chance the rug is Scar's skin, because he was mauled to death by the hyenas in the middle of a fire, so the skin would have borne marks of this.
  • The total absence of any human activity (even the slightest trail left by safari vehicles or livestock) and additional material suggesting the characters aren't even certain that humans exist, indicates that the film probably takes place at a time before human settlements became widespread in Africa but during which animals such as the elephant had reached their modern-day stage of evolution, likely mid-Pleistocene epoch. At the very least, the story takes place either before the colonial era, or in a (not far) future post Humanity's Wake. In the second case, the kingdom of the Pride Lands would be the result of animals rebuilding a rudimentary civilization.
  • Further muddying this is the spin-off series Timon & Pumbaa, which itself is a bit ambiguous with its time period, characters traveling around the world and meeting modern humans. The whole series being a parody, none of theses indications should be considered canon.
• Amusing Injuries:
  • Zazu being launched high into the air by a geyser. It's even called the "Birdie Boiler." Zazu gets by with nary a ruffled feather.
  • Banzai falling into a thorn pit. Shenzi and Ed find it funny enough, with Shenzi even calling him "cactus butt" as he plucks thorns out of himself.
  • Rafiki hitting Simba on the head with his stick. This one's justified as Rafiki didn't want to hurt Simba, just knock some sense into him.
• An Aesop: Don't run away from the past, escaping from problems is not the way to solve them.
  • You have responsibilities towards things and other people. Don't neglect them.
• Anger Born of Worry: Mufasa displays this to Simba as he is disappointed in him for disobeying his warning not to go into the forbidden elephant graveyard and also for endangering Nala. He teaches Simba a lesson in the real meaning of bravery and how scared Mufasa was by the thought he might lose his son.
• Animals Not to Scale: During the "I Just Can't Wait To Be King" scene, a group of animals trample Zazu that are absolutely not in scale with each other; there is a gorilla about the same size as an elephant, and a gazelle that is smaller than a zebra, among others.
• Animals Respect Nature: Mufasa tells Simba that as king he needs to understand the balance of nature and respect all creatures in it, noting that when they lions die their bodies will become grass and antelope will eat the grass, which connect them in the "great Circle of Life".
• Anaphora: In the song "I Just Can't Wait to Be King"
  No one sayin' "Do this"
  No one sayin' "Be there"
  No one sayin' "Stop that"
  No one sayin' "See here"
• Animal Stampede: In one of the film's most iconic scenes, young Simba gets in the way of a wildebeest stampede in a gorge that was started by the hyenas startling the wildebeest. Mufasa comes to rescue his son, only to be killed when his treacherous brother Scar pushes him back into the gorge.
• Animal Talk: All animals seem to understand each other, regardless of species.
• Animated Outtakes: For the Blu-ray release, the animators (though apparently, not the same animators who worked on the film) made a short blooper reel. Most memorably, the "Rafiki drops infant Simba" gag, already overdone in various parodies (including one by Disney themselves), was officially done. Many of the outtakes were designed around voice acting errors.
• Arc Words:
  • The phrase "Our/Your/My little secret" is said three times, all by Scar. It's easy to miss as the first instance is relatively early in the first act, and the last two are right before and during the film's climax.
  • "Remember who you are." by Mufasa
  • "It is time." by Rafiki
• Armor-Piercing Question: The look on Simba's face says it all.
  Simba: [annoyed by Rafiki] Who are you?
  Rafiki: The question is, who are you?
  Simba: [Beat] I thought I knew. Now I'm not so sure.
• Armor-Piercing Response:
  Nala: You're not the Simba I remember.
  Simba: You're right. I'm not. Now are you satisfied?
  Nala: No. Just disappointed.
  Simba: You know, you're starting to sound like my father.
  Nala: Good. At least one of us does.
• Arranged Marriage: Simba and Nala; a rare happy one, although they're not too thrilled by the idea when they first find out.
  Young Simba: I can't marry her! She's my friend!
  Young Nala: Yeah! It'd be too weird!
• Art Shift: The backgrounds for the "I Just Can't Wait To Be King" number are given a more stylized, colorful appearance, in contrast to the more realistic ones seen throughout the rest of the film.
• Artistic Licence – Geography: The film appears to take place in a mythologized version of the Serengeti/Mara, which is located in northern Tanzania and western Kenya, and most of the names are Swahili, a language spoken throughout East Africa. However, the song lyrics, when not in English, are in Zulu, which is spoken in South Africa. This is the equivalent of scoring a film set in Spain with songs sung in Russian. The only exception is "Hakuna matata", which is also Swahili. (This is further muddled by a couple of frames during "Circle of Life" that show Mt. Kilimanjaro (located about 194 miles to the east of the Serengeti) and what appears to be the panhandle of the Okavango River (in northern Botswana).)
• Artistic License – Biology: Has its own page.
• Attack! Attack... Retreat! Retreat!: A two-person variation.
  Zazu: [trapped] Let me out, let me out!
  Timon: [chased] Let me in, let me in!
• Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: The lions believe that the spirits of kings become stars when they die. Famously, Mufasa's face appears in the clouds to call Simba out of his Self-Imposed Exile.
• Award-Bait Song: "Can You Feel The Love Tonight." ("Circle of Life" also earned nominations, but the first is the only one that fits the "Award Bait" formula.)
• Awesome Moment of Crowning: There is no physical crown, but the scene in which Simba ascends Pride Rock and finally lets loose with a full-throated lion roar signifies that he has taken his place as King.
• "Aww"-choo: Baby Simba sneezes in a cute way when Rafiki sprinkles powder on him.

B

• Babies Ever After: Simba and Nala's cub appears in the final scene, hoisted by Rafiki as Simba was.
• Backstab Backfire: Scar's Chronic Backstabbing Disorder becomes his undoing when he tries to blame the hyenas for his atrocities. By the time he realizes they overheard, his fate is already sealed.
• "Back to Camera" Pose: Mufasa takes his son Simba to a promontory, and presents him with a spectacular view of the lions' realm. Both father and son have their backs to the audience, the better to see the vastness and splendor of the domain. "Everything the light touches is our kingdom."
• Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: The hyenas are none too happy about Scar trying to throw them under the bus earlier, and they're mighty hungry...
• The Bad Guy Wins: Deconstructed. As far as Scar knows, his plan to take the throne goes off without a hitch. Mufasa is dead thanks to Scar throwing him down a cliff, and he was told by the hyenas that Simba was dead too, leaving Scar as the sole heir to the throne of Pride Rock. Too bad for Scar that his minions lied to him, and Simba eventually comes back to take his rightful place. And even if Simba hadn't come back, Pride Rock was on the verge of falling apart due to Scar being such a Bad Boss. The hyenas were openly discussing rebellion, the lions all hated Scar for what he'd done to their home, and there was nothing left to hunt due to over-predation and/or the other animals leaving in fear. So while Scar did get what he wanted, it was a victory so costly that it ended up becoming a defeat.
• Bad Vibrations: The stampede is signaled by a group of pebbles beginning to shake.
• Batman Gambit: A particular talent of Scar's. He plays everyone like a fiddle because he knows them so well.
• Battle Amongst the Flames: One of the most famous examples occurs at the end, where the climatic fight between Simba and Scar happens surrounded by flames created by dramatically-timed lightning.
• Beauty Equals Goodness: While no one is necessarily "beautiful" or "ugly" by the standards of the human viewers, most of the good characters (Zazu and all the lions except for Scar) are quite normal looking, while the antagonists are rather creepy looking. Case in point: Scar and Mufasa. Mufasa is light-furred and red-maned with the animal equivalent of a Heroic Build. Scar is lanky with a black mane, and a sinister scar on his eye.
• Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Simba and the lionesses get malnourished from living off of bugs, and lack of prey respectively. None of them are shown with ribs or any other visual indicator of this. The hyenas, while probably not beautiful to most, are also malnourished without showing it. Scar may or may not be also. While he's the king, he probably has first access to what little food they have.
• Be Careful What You Wish For:
  • "Oh I just can't wait to be king!". Simba probably forgot that his succession implies his father's death. However, one can argue that Mufasa could have abdicated in his old age. In the context of the film, "to be king" should rather be interpreted as a metaphor of "adulthood".
  • A minor one goes to the hyenas, who despised Mufasa, and eagerly (and blindly) supported Scar's quest to kill him and take over the Pridelands. Before very long, they have hunted everything into nothingness, the herds have abandoned the place entirely, the riverbed has dried up, and the place is very much a wasteland. Growing restless, they constantly confront Scar on the lack of food in the kingdom, and the most Scar does is level blame on either them or the lionesses, forcing the hyenas to question what they signed on for.
    Banzai: And I thought things were bad under Mufasa!
• Bedouin Rescue Service: Timon and Pumbaa save Simba from dying in the desert and being eaten by the Circling Vultures.
• Best Her to Bed Her: Downplayed with Nala. When she and her childhood best friend Simba reunite after not seeing each other for years, they almost instantly fall in love with each other. They proceed to have a Falling-in-Love Montage where they do many romantic things together while essentially having a "first date" together, including nuzzling, teasing each other, and flirting together. At the climax of this though, they start playfully wrestling together, with Simba ending up the "winner" by (accidentally) pinning Nala. Nala noticeably becomes even more affectionate with Simba after this, giving him a surprise lick on the cheek as a "reward" for finally beating her, and stares up at him seductively as he lays on top of her. It is also heavily implied that they mated together after this, resulting in Nala getting pregnant with their daughter Kiara.
• Better Living Through Evil: While Scar sings about gaining power, the hyenas sing only about getting food:
  "We'll have food! Lots of food! We repeat! Endless meat!"
• Beware the Skull Base: The Elephant Graveyard has several massive skulls of elephants strewn about, which are used as shelters by the hyenas that reside there.
• Beware the Silly Ones: Both sides of the final battle display this—on Scar's side, the hyenas prove themselves to be viciously brutal killers. On Simba's side, Rafiki shows that you shouldn't judge him based on his age while Timon, Pumbaa and Zazu manage to beat up Shenzi and Banzai offscreen.
• Big Damn Heroes:
  • Mufasa arrives just in time to rescue Simba and Nala when the hyenas finally have them cornered in the Elephant Graveyard.
  • Timon and Pumbaa have this as an Establishing Character Moment. Just as Simba is about to be eaten by vultures, they charge through and save him, though at first they think he's dead.
  • Nala attacks Pumbaa in the forest and almost eats him and Timon but is stopped when Simba suddenly arrives to save them, pouncing on her and managing to pin her for a moment. Zigzagged as Simba ultimately lost the ensuing fight and could have been killed had he not recognized Nala, but despite his defeat he still managed to save his friends.
  • In the final battle, Rafiki whacks a hyena biting Simba's neck. Then Pumbaa pulls a One-Man Army charge on Shenzi and Banzai to save Timon and Zazu just as the two are cornered.
• Big Damn Reunion: Simba and Nala coincidentally meet again as adults and have a joyous reunion, particularly from Nala's point of view as she had thought Simba was dead.
• Big Gulp: The hyenas when a returning Simba earns them a Death Glare from Scar.
• Big "NO!":
  • Twice by Simba. As a kid when Mufasa dies, and as an adult when he finds out who did it.
  • Scar just before he is devoured by the hyenas.
• Bilingual Bonus:
  • "Hakuna Matata" is a touristy phrase — versus Hamna Shida — translating roughly as "there are no worries" in Swahili.
  • The first line of Rafiki's chant is "Asante sana squash banana." In context, it doesn't mean anything, but "asante sana" is Swahili for "thank you very much." In addition, the second line does mean "You're a baboon and I am not". (Well, technically, it means "You are a DOG, and I'm not," but the sentiment's the same.)
  • Most of the characters' names are Swahili words: Simba ("Lion" or "Courageous Warrior"), Pumbaa ("Simpleton"), Nala ("Gift"), Rafiki ("Friend"), Shenzi ("Savage") and Banzai ("Skulk").
• Biting-the-Hand Humor: Zazu starts to sing "It's a Small World". Scar freaks out and demands him to sing anything else but that. Even funnier, in the Broadway show, Zazu may sing "Be Our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast or "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" from Mary Poppins (two other Disney movies that also became successful Broadway musicals; they have all been "rival" shows at one time or another). In the Las Vegas production, he sings "Viva Las Vegas", and the touring production has, naturally, also used "Let It Go."
• Bizarre Taste in Food: Timon and Pumbaa's taste for insects is shown to be weird (though Justified considering their species).
• Black-and-White Morality: A Disney hallmark after all. Every hyena is bad while the lions (save for Scar) and the others animals are good. The closest thing to moral ambiguity is that Simba and Nala start off mischevious and self-centered as cubs, but never to the point where they're okay with causing serious harm, and they both end the movie entirely good and heroic after they mature.
• Black Comedy: When Simba fights Nala to protect Timon and Pumbaa from her, Timon loudly cheers him on from the sidelines, shouting at him to use lethal force against Nala with enthusiasm.
  Timon: Get her! Bite her head! Go for the jugular! The jugular!
• Bloodless Carnage:
  • Mufasa's body, despite being trampled by a stampede, is almost intact.
  • Scar and Simba duke it out with claws extended, but neither actually sheds blood, aside from a very quick "spray" from Simba's muzzle after taking a hit, though it could be saliva or sweat. Simba wins the fight by knocking Scar off a cliff.
  • Averted with Shenzi; when Simba slashes her face to protect Nala, it leaves three small but clear and bloody marks. Similarly, Banzai gets bloody claw marks on his rump from the aftermath of being attacked by Mufasa.
  • Acknowledged in the commentary in that the meat the hyenas pull from a zebra haunch looks closer in appearance to striped neckties than it does flesh, and there is no blood anywhere from the carcass.
• Blowing a Raspberry: Young Nala does this to Zazu behind his back during "I Just Can't Wait to Be King."
• Blunt "Yes":
  Banzai: What were we supposed to do? Kill Mufasa?
  Scar: Precisely.
• Bond Villain Stupidity: Scar could have avoided all this trouble if he had just killed Simba himself rather than sending him running off and delegating the killing to the incompetent hyenas, although that would have included the danger of him being seen or found out. More obviously, Scar telling Simba that he killed Mufasa, which gave Simba both the determination and the support of the pride that he needed to win.
• Bookends:
  • The film begins with Mufasa's cub Simba presented to the kingdom, and ends with Simba's cub similarly presented, both accompanied by the same song, "The Circle of Life", ending with a snap to the title. This not only drives home the song's meaning, but also the idea of a story arc coming full circle.
  • The film also starts and ends with a lion hugging Rafiki. Mufasa at the beginning, and Simba at the end.
• Bowled Over: We first see Timon and Pumbaa playing "bowling for buzzards".
• Brains Evil, Brawn Good: The strong and noble Mufasa, (and later Simba) vs. the Lean and Mean Scar. Subverted, seeing as Mufasa is for the most part smarter than Scar.
• Brains Versus Brawn: Cited by Scar when Zazu asks him why he doesn't challenge Mufasa for the throne. While Scar claims to have gotten "the lion's share" when it comes to intellect, a fight for supremacy is a matter of brute strength, where Scar is "at the shallow end of the gene pool." While gauging which brother is smarter would be subjective, it's clear Scar is more devious and guileful, in that he engineers his brother's demise to attain kingship of the pride. However, it's subverted when we see that after Scar takes control, he turns out to be a terrible leader, leading Pride Rock to ruin.
  Scar: Well, as far as brains go, I got the lion’s share. But, when it comes to brute strength [looking at Mufasa] …I’m afraid I’m at the shallow end of the gene pool.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall:
  • In “Be Prepared”, after Scar’s line “The lights are not all on upstairs”, Ed winks at the camera as if to say, “That’s what he thinks.”
  • In the middle of "Hakuna Matata", Timon and Pumbaa do this.
    Pumbaa: And I got downhearted...
    Timon: How did you feel?
    Pumbaa: Every time that I—
    Timon: [claps hands over Pumbaa's mouth] PUMBAA! [looks right at the fourth wall] Not in front of the kids!
    Pumbaa: [also looks] Oh! Sorry.
  • Simba gets in on the act a second later as he seems to give the fourth wall a puzzled Aside Glance in response to the above exchange.
  • At least the Hungarian dub turns this joke into Leaning on the Fourth Wall, as Timon says "Not in front of the kid!" instead of "kids", which could refer to Simba just as well as a kid watching the movie.
• Break-Up/Make-Up Scenario: This happens between Simba and Nala. After the two reunite and fall in love they quickly become an Official Couple after a Falling-in-Love Montage. But when Nala confronts him about how he needs to return to the Pride Lands to become king and save everyone from Scar, and Simba refuses, the two get into a heated argument that ends with the two of them essentially breaking up temporarily. They get back together once Simba decides to return to the Pride Lands.
• Briar Patching: Scar tempting Simba to visit the elephant graveyard by telling him not to go because it's too dangerous and prodding his ego by saying it's only where the bravest lions go. Simba promptly decides to prove his bravery by ignoring the warning and going there, something Scar is shown to have expected him to do.
• Brick Joke: Early on, Scar said that he would be a monkey's uncle when Simba becomes king. Later, when Nala is looking for Simba after he has left for Pride Rock to become king, we have this conversation.
  Nala: Have you guys seen Simba?
  Timon: I thought he was with you.
  Nala: He was, but now I can't find him. Where is he?
  Rafiki: [chuckles] You won't find him here. The King has returned.
  Nala: I can't believe it. He's gone back!
  Timon: Gone back? Whaddaya mean?
  [looks up and sees Rafiki has disappeared]
  Timon: Hey, what's going on here? Who's the monkey?
  Nala: Simba's gone back to challenge Scar.
  Timon: Who?
  Nala: Scar.
  Pumbaa: Who's got a scar?
  Nala: No, no, no. It's his uncle.
  Timon: The monkey's his uncle?
  Nala: No! Simba's gone back to challenge his uncle to take his place as king.
  Timon and Pumbaa: [beat] Oh.
• Brief Accent Imitation: Timon does this during his and Pumbaa's opening to "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" when describing how Simba has fallen in love, speaking in a sarcastic mock French accent...
  Ze sweet caress of twilight!
• Broken Pedestal: As a cub, Simba is always excited to hang out with Uncle Scar. By contrast, adult Simba is filled with Tranquil Fury towards Scar for what he's done, no longer calling him "Uncle".
• Broken Record: Simba as he tries to wake up Mufasa in the beginning.
  Simba: Dad! Dad! Dad! Dad! Dad! Dad! Dad! Dad! (etc.)
• Broken Win/Loss Streak: Downplayed between Simba and Nala. Simba loses to Nala three times throughout the film, the first two in a row when play wrestling as cubs and then again years later when fighting seriously as adults. During their Falling-in-Love Montage, the two begin to playfully wrestle again and accidentally tumble down a hill together. Simba ends up the "winner" by landing on top of Nala, finally pinning her and ending her winning streak against him.
• Bros Before Hoes: Timon and Pumbaa are firm believers, which is why they're more than a little upset when Nala comes along to break up the trio, and not just because they thought she was going to eat Pumbaa.
• Butt Sticker: Over the course of "I Just Can't Wait To Be King", Zazu is flattened by the bottoms of larger animals several times — first towards the beginning when he unwittingly flies into the rear end of a grazing rhino, second when he tries to interject to Simba's boasting only to get sandwiched between the flanks of a giraffe & a zebra, and finally at the end of the song when he winds up squashed under the rump of another rhino.
• By the Hair: During Simba and Nala's fight in the jungle, Nala claws at Simba's mane, managing to briefly pull it over his eyes.

C

• Cain and Abel: Scar is envious of his brother Mufasa, so much so that he plans to murder him and usurp the throne.
• Carnivore Confusion:
  • Solved by having Simba eating bugs, a Truth in Television since real lions are happy to eat them if necessary. Averted when Nala stalks and nearly kills Pumbaa, but then backs off when she has her reunion with Simba. With no recourse at all, the movie "solves" these troubling issues by Lampshading and then ignoring them, despite Timon and Pumbaa end up in the middle of starving lionesses eventually.
    Timon: Whoa, whoa! Time out! Let me get this straight. You [Simba] know her [Nala]. She knows you. But she wants to eat him [Pumbaa]. And... everybody's okay with this? DID I MISS SOMETHING?!
  • When Simba asks Mufasa about this near the beginning of the film, he justifies them eating herbivores with it being the part of the Circle of Life.
    Mufasa: When we die, our bodies become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass. And so we are all connected in the great Circle of Life.
• Casting Gag:
  • James Earl Jones and Madge Sinclair played an African king and queen in Coming to America as well. Jones voicing the father of the protagonist also brings to mind his most famous role.
  • Zazu is a royal advisor played by Rowan Atkinson. This was apparently because Tim Rice is a fan of Blackadder.
  • The singing voice for Adult Simba is Joseph Williams, better known as one of the (and still current) lead singers of the band Toto, whose Signature Song is...wait for it..."Africa". Even better, a number of lyrics from the song are rather startlingly relevant to the plot of the film/Simba's emotional arc: "I stopped an old man along the way/Hoping to find some long forgotten words or ancient melodies/He turned to me as if to say, 'Hurry boy, it's waiting there for you'"; "I know that I must do what's right/As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti/I seek to cure what's deep inside, frightened of this thing that I've become."
  • In the Latin American Spanish dub, this is not the first time the late Carlos Petrel, as Scar, had voiced an evil feline before. Likewise, the also late Carlos Magaña, who voiced Mufasa, played another lion lord, through an anthropomorphic one, Thun, in the dub of Flash Gordon (1979).
• Cats Hate Water: During "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" Simba playfully grabs Nala and pulls her into the oasis they were drinking from. Nala immediately rises up, surprised and gasping for air, and quickly gets out, dripping wet and with a shocked look. Downplayed as Simba is just fine in the water, and Nala smirks at him in amusement before pushing him back in.
• Caught in the Bad Part of Town: When Mufasa shows Simba the Pride Lands, he informs Simba that the Elephant Graveyard is beyond their borders and they must never go there. Scar coaxes Simba to go there by telling him only the bravest lions are allowed to go there, and Simba tricks Zazu into bringing him and Nala there by telling him they're going to the water hole. When Simba, Nala, and Zazu reach the Elephant Graveyard, they get chased by the hungry hyenas, until Mufasa arrives and saves them.
• Cel Shading: The wildebeest from the stampede sequence are CGI, but cel-shaded to look like traditional animation. Some other objects are done with CGI cel-shading such as the top of Pride Rock during the "Everything the light touches" scene.
• Cheated Angle: Pride Rock is always seen from the left to which the front is faced on the inside, except for three shots at the very beginning and five at the climax of the film.
• Cheaters Never Prosper: Downplayed. After Simba loses to Nala and is pinned by her, he immediately tries to get back at her by pouncing on her while she's distracted. This backfires by accidentally sending them both tumbling down a hill and Nala still ends up pinning him when they reach the bottom.
• Chekhov's Skill:
  • Nala's trick flip that she uses every time she pins Simba becomes plot-relevant twice. With the second time she does it being in response to Simba attempting to sneak attack her from behind.
    • He also recognizes her years later thanks to this trick.
    • He finally learns it just in time to use it on his arch-nemesis Scar. No points for guessing what direction Scar was attempting to attack from.
  • Timon and Pumbaa use the same moves they used to chase off the vultures to fight the hyenas during the final battle.
• Chew-Out Fake-Out: Subverted. Mufasa really does read Simba the riot act for sneaking to the Elephant Graveyard against his orders, and endangering Nala. When Simba confesses he was trying to be like his dad, Mufasa softens his tone and gives him a lesson that "being brave doesn't mean seeking trouble" and that even kings like him get scared. This leads to them playfully tussling, with Mufasa assuming Simba has learned not to go to the shadow lands again.
• Childhood Friend Romance: Simba and Nala.
• Childish Villain, Mature Hero: At the beginning of the film, Simba as a cub thinks that being king means being able to do whatever he wants. His father Mufasa explains to him that being king isn't just about getting your way all the time, a lesson Simba takes to heart as an adult. Scar, by contrast, wanted to be king purely for the power and privileges and when criticized by Sarabi outright states, "I'm the king, I can do what I want", demonstrating that, for all of his boasts that he is "ten times the king Mufasa was," he is little more than an entitled child in a grown lion's body.
• Circling Monologue: Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed circle the cubs and Zazu in the elephant graveyard, and Scar circles Simba while blaming him for Mufasa's death.
• Circling Vultures: Vultures swoop down on an exhausted Simba, but are dispersed by Timon and Pumbaa "bowling for buzzards".
• Cliff Stack: When the three hyenas tumble down a slope while chasing young Simba, Ed who's coming down last pushes Banzai in a large thorn bush.
• Comically Missing the Point:
  • When Timon comments that Simba looks blue — i.e., depressed — Pumbaa replies that he's more brownish-gold.
  • Timon and Pumbaa's worry-free lifestyle is based on the motto "Hakuna Matata." They may have missed the fine print that said the phrase only tells you not to worry in a given situation- you still need to face your problems.
  • During "Be Prepared", Scar says the hyenas need to be prepared for the death of the king (Mufasa). The hyenas ask if he's sick, then Scar says that they'll kill him and Simba. The hyenas then think that this means that there will be no king (until Scar reminds them that he'll be the king).
• Coming of Age Story: The story follows Simba throughout his childhood and adulthood as he learns who he is and what he is meant to do. It is not until adulthood when he realizes that he must confront his past instead of running from it.
• Company Cross References:
  • After taking over Pride Rock, Scar reduces Zazu to an imprisoned jester and forces the poor bird to sing for him. One of the songs Zazu chooses is "It's A Small World After All", from the Disneyland ride "It's a Small World".
    Scar: No! No. Anything but That!.
  • The climactic Thunderous Confrontation between Simba and Scar includes a bolt of lightning striking a tree and starting a brush fire, very much like the climactic fight with Shere Khan in The Jungle Book (1967).
  • During the song "Be Prepared", two hyenas wave skeletons of creatures, creating shadow images of them "dancing" that imitate the dancing skeletons from "Night on Bald Mountain", right down to the curving, "noodly" movements.
• The Compliance Game: A villainous example. Scar draws his nephew Simba into a gorge (an otherwise uninteresting place) under the excuse his father will bring him a surprise to "die for", when he actually wants to have him trampled by thousands of wildebeests grazing nearby. Just before leaving Simba alone to call his dad, he advices his nephew to practice his roar before he comes back. This is actually an excuse to keep Simba occupied while he gives the hyenas the signal to drive the wildebeest heard down into the gorge. It also has the unintended effect (still, Scar easily exploits it in two different situations) of leading Simba to the conclusion his roar caused both the stampede and his father's death (the herd rushes down the forge a few seconds after Simba's roar echoes in the canyon).
• Continuity Snarl: Primarily from the obscure book series The Six New Adventures Of The Lion King, which came out after the first movie, but before Simba's Pride. The series added the character of Simba and Nala's son, a cub named Kopa, some other cub characters to Mufasa's original pride, the story of how Scar got his scar, as well as named Mufasa's parents and grandfather, and Scar before he got his scar. Since Kopa has since been Retconed into Kiara in Simba's Pride, the extent to which Six New Adventures is considered canon is hotly debated amongst some fans, and has resulted in much speculation and headcanon. Also, the animated series gave a different (and fairly moving) version of Timon and Pumbaa meeting than 1½.
• Convection, Schmonvection: The "Be Prepared" sequence seems to have happened in a lava hotspot.
• Convenient Cranny: As a cub Simba runs from the pride lands, hyenas on his tail, he squeezes through a tiny passageway. One of the hyenas swipes its claws where he vanished just moments before.
• Corrective Lecture: After rescuing Simba and Nala from the hyena pack in the elephant graveyard, Mufasa orders Zazu to take Nala home while he gives Simba a serious lecture about his reckless disobedience nearly getting the two lion cubs killed, and how he has to be more responsible if he expects to become king one day.
• Correlation/Causation Gag: Simba roars, trying to scare off the hyenas attacking him and Nala, but as a small cub he can only manage a small growl-ish thing. The hyenas taunt him about it, goading him to try again, but this time Mufasa roars at the exact same time Simba does.
• The Coup: Mufasa is killed by Scar so he can become king. Simba eventually launches a counter-coup to regain his throne.
• Cradle of Loneliness: Simba briefly makes Mufasa's body cradle him just after Mufasa's death.
• Crapsack World: Under Scar's reign of Pride Rock, the kingdom becomes a barren wasteland because of his ineffectual rule. Due to this, he is widely hated by all of the animals, including his hyena mooks. The only reason why he's holding onto his power is because he petulantly whines about how "[he's] the king [who] can do whatever [he wants]" like a Spoiled Brat when others compare his rule against Mufasa's, refuses to acknowledge the damage his sloppy reign has caused due to his bloated ego, and explodes in anger whenever Mufasa's name is brought up. As if that wasn't enough, Pride Rock does erupt in flames. It's only after Scar is killed by his hyena minions and Simba takes his rightful place as king of Pride Rock that the kingdom transforms back into the Ghibli Hills savanna it was once under Mufasa.
• Cruel and Unusual Death:
  • Mufasa, when he is flung off the gorge cliff and plummets to the ground far below. It is unclear whether the fall killed him or – if initially surviving with major injuries – he was still (semi-)conscious when he is crushed repeatedly by the wildebeest stampede.
  • Scar, although justice is served, it can still be seen as rather "cruel" when he is mauled by his former hyena stooges and concurrently burned to death.
• Crush Parade: Mufasa saves Simba from this, but gets knocked away. Simba looks on at the stampede in horror, but then Mufasa emerges and climbs up the cliff to meet Scar, who throws him off and sends him falling back down to it.
• Cub Cues Protective Parent: Played with. The birdy boiler sends Zazu flying far enough to summon Mufasa on his own, and Simba's roar (?) helps Mufasa to zero in on his and Nala's location.
• The Cuckoolander Was Right: During the fight between Simba and Nala, Timon screams at Simba to "Go for the jugular!" The primary way lions kill their prey is by biting the throat of the animal, cutting off blood to the brain and air to the lungs.
• Cue the Shooting Star: Various shooting stars fly by in the night sky as Simba makes the fateful decision to return to the Pride Lands and face his uncle Scar.
• Cue the Sun: The film's opening shot shows a sunrise on the day the film's hero, Simba, is presented to the kingdom.
• Curb-Stomp Battle:
  • Nala easily flips and pins Simba twice as cubs, both of which he started. Especially clear the second time where he is upset that she beat him so easily and tackles her while she's distracted, but when they roll down a hill all she does is laugh while he's panicking and still pins him no problem. Subverted later when they fight evenly as adults.
  • Rafiki versus the hyenas is over in seconds. He effortless knocks four of them out while rescuing Simba.
• Curb Stomp Cushion: Though Simba still ultimately loses his fight against Nala as adults, against the same move she used to beat him twice as cubs, he manages to put up a much better fight than he did the first two times, including getting her to briefly panic when he first arrives and managing to briefly hold her down at the start of the fight.
• Curse Cut Short: "Why do I always have to save your- AAAHHHH!"

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