Continuity mistake: When Zazu bows down at the start, Mufasa is smiling. In the next shot, he is no longer smiling, and he didn't have time to wipe the smile off his face. (00:01:45)
Deliberate mistake: When Rafiki comes to the pride rock for Simba's anointing, one minute he is walking through the assembled animals, the next he climbs onto the top of the rock from the front. Physically, even for an ape, it's impossible. It's a deliberate mistake, obviously his arrival would have been much less impressive if he had had to climb the mountain from the side in a slow but realistic way. (00:02:35)
Deliberate mistake: Rafiki is supposed to be a mandrill, but mandrills do not have tails. In the extended version DVD, there is a commentary by an animator who specifically admits that he knew that mandrills don't have tails (at least not like the length that Rafiki sports throughout the movie), but he put one on him anyway to make him more monkey-like. (00:02:40)
Continuity mistake: At the start Rafiki puts the "paint" on Simba's forehead just above his eyes. When he puts the dirt on Simba the "paint" is much higher. (00:03:20)
Revealing mistake: Rafiki puts the dirt on Simba who subsequently sneezes. When he does, the paint on his head doesn't move with his head and then appears off his head floating in mid air. (00:03:35)
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: At the beginning when Rafiki puts the paint on the picture of Simba (on the tree trunk) the paint goes on a different color than it is. The film makers admit this mistake on the commentary. (00:07:00)
Revealing mistake: In the scene where Mufasa and Simba are at the very top of Pride Rock and Mufasa is explaining the kingdom to Simba, one of the hand written sequence markers on the gel print is not removed. In the shot that zooms in on Simba just after the camera pans around them, there are two frames where the number 45 appear just to the left of Simba's tail. (00:09:15)
Other mistake: When Zazu is alarmed at the pouncing lesson, he loses a couple of feathers that simply vanish in midair. (00:10:45)
Continuity mistake: When Mufasa is saying "let an old pro show you how it's done" during the morning report, Mufasa's eyes change from yellow to white and back. (00:10:45)
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)
Factual error: When Mufasa is initially showing Simba the pridelands they are facing the rising sun - in other words east. Simba asks about "that shadowy place" which is off to the right, and is told he must never go there. When Simba is later telling Scar about seeing the whole kingdom, Scar says "He didn't tell you what's beyond that rise on the northern border." It's the same place that Mufasa was talking about, as Simba says he's not allowed to go there, but if it was to the right as they faced east it would have been the southern border of the pridelands. (00:12:40)
Continuity mistake: During the scene where little Simba and Scar are talking about how Simba is "gonna rule it all" and Scar explains about the elephant graveyard, the pads of Scar's paws change shape several times. Sometimes the pads are as they should be, other times its covered with color. (00:13:05)
Continuity mistake: After Simba first hears about the elephant graveyard, he eagerly runs over to tell Nala about it. Sarabi, resting in the shade at the bottom of the hill, spontaneously appears out of nowhere on the rock. (00:13:05)
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)
Continuity mistake: When Zazu is flying overhead leading Simba and Nala to the water hole, he swoops down and begins talking about their future as a married pair. Initially Zazu's tail is resting near the ground. But from one frame to the next, it's suddenly perched straight up in the air. (00:14:15)
Revealing mistake: One shot before Simba and Nala exchange lines on either side of Zazu during "I Just Can't Wait to Be King", Simba leaps to the opposite edge of a small pool of water. But notice how Zazu has been animated with a completely translucent reflection and, here, we can see the image of Simba right through him, which shouldn't happen. (00:15:35)
Revealing mistake: At one point during "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" when both Simba and Nala are exchanging lines on either side of Zazu, their reflections disappear from the water between shots. (00:15:40)
Revealing mistake: During "I Just Can't Wait to Be King", Zazu stands between some zebras who lift their tails high into the air. But just before the shot changes, watch as Zazu's shadow vanishes prematurely. (00:16:25)
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)
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