The Lion King

Continuity mistake: In the recent DVD release of the film that includes the new animated segment "The Morning Report", Simba is not drawn with whiskers. His nose also changes colour from the previous shot where he is walking and talking with Mufasa.

Continuity mistake: When the three hyenas are chasing little Simba, Banzai, (a hyena) flies into a thorn patch. When he comes out, he is covered in thorns. Then he walks over to the edge with Shenzi, and all of the thorns are gone (the ones he didn't pull out). (00:40:20)

Continuity mistake: When Scar pushes Shenzi and Banzai into the geysers, they go flying across the cave. But when Scar is tiptoeing up the ridge, Shenzi is right next to him. The when all 3 are in the bone pile, she's there as well (with the long skull in the middle).

Piemanmoo

Continuity mistake: Towards the end of "I Just Can't Wait to Be King," eleven giraffes stand in a circular formation to launch Simba and Nala high into the air. But on their way back down in the next frame, an overhead view reveals ten giraffes instead. (00:17:00)

ryguy_1983

Continuity mistake: After cracking a joke about the food chain, Timon bursts into laughter and starts poking Simba with his elbow. Timon goes missing for the length of one shot but soon reappears in place, where he cuts his laughter short. (00:42:55)

ryguy_1983

Continuity mistake: During the opening sequence, a group of elephants are marching towards the camera, along with a flock of blue birds. Once all of the birds have run offscreen, another suddenly runs out from behind the lead elephant's foot, even though we saw that there was no bird there a few seconds before.

Continuity mistake: When Simba is running from the trio of hyenas that Scar sent out to kill him, he's forced to stop in his tracks at the foot of a steep cliff. Down at the bottom are thorn patches, and the sun casts a shadow on their right sides. Obviously this implies that it's setting on the left hand side of the cliff - and it's visible on that horizon moments later as he tumbles down the face. Once Simba clears the bushes and heads off into exile, Banzai shouts "If you ever come back, we'll kill you!" At this point notice how Simba is chasing the sunset, but now it's in an entirely different location - opposite the cliff face. (00:38:50)

ryguy_1983

Continuity mistake: When Timon starts singing "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?", he and Pumbaa are watching Simba and Nala retreat from behind a moss covered log. But from one shot to the next, Pumbaa switches positions to the log's opposite side. (00:57:55)

ryguy_1983

Video

Continuity mistake: This is hard to see, but look at the whiskers on all the lions, the number of them changes about (I'm not exaggerating) 100 times, especially little Simba.

Continuity mistake: When Mufasa is showing Simba how to pounce, Zazu is facing backwards when Simba pounces on him, but when Simba has Zazu pinned to the ground, his paws are on Zazu's front. Simba would hardly have released Zazu to let him turn round. In the recent release of an Extended-Version DVD, Zazu sings a song called "Morning Report" which was written for the stage show and added to the extended version DVD. Zazu's change in position comes from the material that was cut. Still a mistake, but there's the explanation. (00:11:05)

rabid anarchist

Continuity mistake: When Simba is lying on a rock awaiting Scar's surprise at the base of the gorge, he tries to intimidate a nearby chameleon with his (weak) roar. The shot changes and Simba finally scares it away, but notice how the rock has disappeared. Now all we can see is a blurry background of the gorge's edge. (00:32:10)

ryguy_1983

The Lion King mistake picture

Continuity mistake: Before Simba and Nala tumble downhill into the elephant graveyard, Simba pounces on Nala but ends up getting pinned to the ground. At first she has her paws on his chest, but when the shot changes she holds him down by the upper arms instead. (00:17:50)

ryguy_1983

Continuity mistake: When the three hyenas are chasing Simba and Nala in the elephant graveyard, one of them is standing on top of a bone, then next second the bone is gone.

Continuity mistake: When Mufasa confronts Scar after the ceremony, Scar walks away and Mufasa follows. Zazu has disappeared from his hiding spot behind Mufasa's leg and reappears later. (00:06:20)

Continuity mistake: As Zazu is coasting above Simba and Nala on their way to the water hole, Zazu's head immediately changes direction between cuts. At first he's turned left, then down towards the cubs below him. (00:14:00)

ryguy_1983

The Lion King mistake picture

Continuity mistake: Timon faces different directions on top of Pumbaa's snout after being asked about keeping Simba. At first he looks at Simba over Pumbaa's snout, but all of a sudden he's turned around and looking right into Pumbaa's eyes between shots. (00:42:00)

ryguy_1983

The Lion King mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Simba creeps up to the water's edge expecting to see Mufasa, a ledge's reflection on his right side disappears between shots, only to get replaced by tall grass. (01:05:45)

ryguy_1983

Continuity mistake: At one point during "Hakuna Matata" Timon raises Pumbaa high into the air with a vine. As Simba watches from below, the sun casts a long shadow behind him. In the following shot, however, a shadow appears beneath him - as if the sun were located directly above. (00:45:30)

ryguy_1983

The Lion King mistake picture

Continuity mistake: After reuniting with Simba, one of Nala's paws changes its place on the ground between shots. When Simba denies being the king, he begins to walk off screen to the left. Here, Nala stands several feet away from Timon. But by the next shot one of her paws is suddenly inches behind Timon instead. (00:56:40)

ryguy_1983

Continuity mistake: The whites of Simba's eyes change frequently through the movie, from yellow to white. They're yellow up until the scene where Pumbaa, Timon, and Simba are stargazing; after that they change back and forth frequently. During the Mufasa-in-the-sky scene, when Simba asks, "How can I go back? I'm not who I used to be," they change from yellow to white and back within three frames.

More mistakes in The Lion King

Timon: What do you want me to do, dress in drag and do the hula?

More quotes from The Lion King

Trivia: In Swahili, 'Simba' means lion, 'Rafiki' means friend, and 'Shenzi' means uncivilized. There are many Swahili references throughout the film, and we can assume it takes place in Tanzania or Kenya, since Mt. Kilimanjaro is shown in several scenes.

More trivia for The Lion King

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.

More questions & answers from The Lion King

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