The Lion King

Continuity mistake: During the stampede in the gorge, when Simba jumps up on the dead branch, he leaves very distinct claw scratches. Then in the following scenes they're gone, although other marks and details on the branch remain. (00:34:10)

Continuity mistake: In the scene where Simba tries convincing Scar that Mufasa's death was an accident, Simba stands an inch or two apart from Mufasa's left paw. Once the angle changes, Scar reaches out to comfort Simba, but now Simba is positioned closer to Mufasa's face instead. (00:37:55)

ryguy_1983

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 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)

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

Continuity mistake: When Timon rides Pumbaa through the vultures that are crowding around Simba, they run right over where Simba should be, but he's not there. 2 seconds later, after all the vultures are gone, Simba is back. (00:42:05)

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 Pumbaa's flashback scene in "Hakuna Matata" he pauses at the waterhole's shoreline for a drink. At first he's standing on dry ground, but then all of a sudden his front paws are submerged in water one shot later. (00:45:00)

ryguy_1983

Continuity mistake: During Pumbaa's flashback scene in "Hakuna Matata" where he joins several other animals by the waterhole for a drink, an elephant with notches on its right ear gets a whiff of him and dashes away. But just before the elephant runs off screen its ear suddenly has no notches, but smooth edges instead. (00:45:05)

ryguy_1983

Continuity mistake: During "Hakuna Matata," Timon hoists Pumbaa high into the air from a vine. The excess length of vine gathers up on the ground at Timon's side - only to vanish just two shots later at the point where Simba sings his piece. (00:45:25)

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

Continuity mistake: When walking through the jungle to find some grub with Simba and Timon during "Hakuna Matata", Pumbaa belches and says "I'm starved." But between shots, he disappears from Simba's left side. (00:46:00)

ryguy_1983

Continuity mistake: In one shot during "Hakuna Matata" Timon bites through half of a red and black bug, calling it piquant and pleasantly crunchy. He holds the other half in his left hand, and at first one of its hind legs is noticeably intact. But this hind leg suddenly vanishes as Timon is enjoying the flavor (it doesn't visibly fall off for instance - it simply disappears into thin air). (00:46:30)

ryguy_1983

Continuity mistake: When Timon collects a leaf full of insects and grub for Simba to enjoy, the leaf casts no shadow on the ground initially. However from the next angle it does. (00:46:45)

ryguy_1983

Continuity mistake: Right after Simba grows into an adult during "Hakuna Matata", Timon walks onto Pumbaa's head and stands directly above his eyes. But once everybody starts singing together in the following shot, Timon has changed position and is now standing behind Pumbaa's black mane instead. (00:47:20)

ryguy_1983

Continuity mistake: In the scene where Pumbaa gets jammed beneath a large tree root while trying to avoid being eaten by Nala, Timon runs over and tries to dislodge him from behind. Before Simba appears out of nowhere to pounce on Nala, notice how there's a large weed growing near the root on Pumbaa's left side. But just several shots later when Timon starts cheering Simba on, the weed vanishes. (00:54:25)

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: 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

Continuity mistake: As Simba walks along a fallen tree by the waterfalls, Nala pleads with him to overthrow Scar and take his place as the rightful king of Pride Rock. But notice how his posture changes dramatically between shots. Right before Simba snaps back at Nala, his head is hung low enough to the ground so that his entire backbone is visible, but then it's suddenly lifted to an alert position in the following shot. (01:01:35)

ryguy_1983

Continuity mistake: As Rafiki leads Simba through the bushes to show that Mufasa is still alive, he sticks out his left hand and brings Simba to a halt. When the shots change, Rafiki can be seen holding his thumb in very different positions. (01:05:15)

ryguy_1983

The Lion King mistake picture Video

Deliberate mistake: At the elephant graveyard, little Simba claws Shenzi in the face. When Mufasa saves Simba from the hyenas, the cuts are gone, a few seconds later. [This was done intentionally, I'm sure, for two reasons. The first being, Disney doesn't let fresh scars linger on the screen too long. Secondly, during that same scene when Mufasa rescues Simba & Nala, he claws Banzai in the rear. To stress the point later in the movie, that severe scar is shown too, but only briefly, it too disappears because of reason 1. Still a "mistake", but there's why.] (00:21:50)

More mistakes in The Lion King

Pumbaa: Hey, Timon, ever wonder what those sparkly dots are up there?
Timon: Pumbaa, I don't wonder; I know.
Pumbaa: Oh. What are they?
Timon: They're fireflies. Fireflies that, uh... Got stuck up on that big bluish-black thing.
Pumbaa: Oh, gee. I always thought they were balls of gas burning billions of miles away.
Timon: Pumbaa, with you, everything's gas.

More quotes from The Lion King
More trivia for The Lion King

Question: Two part question. 1)Is Hakuna Matata a real phrase from another language, or is it one of Timon's and Pumba's originals? 2)Pumba says at one point of the movie, "They call me Mr. Pig!" Is this a reference to anything?

Answer: (1) It's a real phrase from the Swahili language and, as stated in the film, translates roughly to "no worries" (literally "there are no worries"). (2) The line is a reference to Sidney Poitier's detective character Virgil Tibbs from In The Heat Of The Night and his famous reply of "They call me Mister Tibbs" when asked what they call him back home. The film's sequel, focusing on Poitier's character, actually used the line as the title.

Tailkinker

More questions & answers from The Lion King

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