The Lion King is one of Disney’s most beloved films of all time and it’s one of my personal
favourites.
The Lion King was released in 1994 and now the live action movie is out in theatres for
all of us to relive our childhood.
Go watch it, you will not be disappointed.
But even though, this classic movie is a blockbuster hit and fan favourite, it also has a lot of
dark, depressing and scary theories that will most likely make you see the Lion King in
a whole new way.
How’s it going YouTube?
I’m your host Landon Do Not Singh, except I think I might sing in this video...I won’t
tell you what number I sing at so I guess you’ll have to stick around for the whole
video to find out.
So with that said, let’s travel over to the Pride Lands and explore the top 10 scary
Lion King theories.
Kicking things off in at number 10, The Lion King takes places in a Plant of the Apes type
of world.
Yep, that’s right, the Lion King might be taking place in a world where animals are
dominant and humans are no longer in control.
Think about it.
We never see the talking animals interacting with humans and not all of the animals have
the ability to talk.
So we could say that some of these animals gained the ability to speak English because
they might have been given some serum or drug that increases their intelligence, just like
the Apes.
So as a result, the animals of Pride Rock have a lot of knowledge about human culture
and things that have happened in the past.
So where are the apes?
Well we don’t really see any apes in the movie because their natural habitat is typically
the rainforest and lions are usually found in the grasslands or open woods.
So they just haven’t crossed paths yet.
Mufasa was actually the real villain and this scary thought brings us to number 9.
No!
This theory can’t be true.
My inner nine year old self refuses to believe that Mufasa was the villain.
But for the sake of this video, I will dive deeper into this theory.
The circle of life is actually just a clever way to get all of the other animals okay with
being massacred and eaten.
Basically, the circle of life is a nice way of telling the lower class animals that they
have a purpose and they are serving the greater good.
Jeez, that’s pretty bleak.
So basically, Mufasa was clever enough to have the animals volunteer as tribute to feed
the pride.
Mufasa also built a kingdom that was clearly segregated and let’s not forget that Mufasa
condemned his brother, is starving the hyenas and has a really bad temper.
Scar and Mufasa might not be brothers and this theory takes us to number 8.
Wait what?
The whole premise of the Lion King is that an
evil lion killed his royal brother so that he could gain control of the Pride Lands.
But according to the film’s director and producer, Scar and Mufasa aren’t even related.
Yeah so apparently, Scar and Mufasa don’t have the same parents and the writers wanted
the Lion King to be similar to how they would act in the world.
Basically, when the dominant lion becomes old, another alpha lion will come over and
kill the head of the pride.
This causes the female lions to go into heat so that they can reproduce.
Then the new younger lions will kill the king and then the strongest will kill all the babies.
Whoa, now that’s a pretty morbid circle of life.
Simba was the one who actually caused the drought and this takes us to number 7.
It seems like when Scar took over as King for the Pride Lands, it became barren and
a massive drought hit them pretty hard.
But did we ever stop to think that maybe Simba was the one who caused the drought and not
scar?
We are so quick to blame the villain but what if he is innocent for once?
Reddit user Spixdon came up with a pretty interesting theory.
He seems to think that now that the rain follows the rightful king.
So basically that means that Simba would be responsible for the rain that happens in the
Pride Lands.
But once Simba ran away, he took the rain with him.
That’s why we see him in a lush rainforest living with Timon and Pumba.
And just when Simba returns to Pride Rock to dethrone his uncle, he is followed by a
thunderstorm.
And actually the only reason why Simba was able to defeat Scar was because the drought
weakened Scar.
This makes sense because there is no way that a lion who only eats bugs would have enough
strength to defeat another lion.
Number 6, Zazu is a traitor.
How could the royal advisor to Mufasa be a traitor!
This can’t be true!
But for arguments sake, let’s review the facts.
Early on in the movie, Zazu establishes that if Simba became the king of Pride Rock, he
would basically quit.
In Simba’s song “I just can’t wait to be king” Zazu says “If this is where the
monarchy is headed, count me out!
Out of service, out of Africa, I wouldn’t hang about!”
Wow Zazu, way to betray Mufasa and leave during a time where you are most needed.
And then there are some fans who believe that Zazu and Scar are communication a lot offscreen.
For example, when Simba and Nala go into the creepy elephant graveyard, Zazu comes to find
them.
Scar was the only other one who knew where they would be.
Oh and let’s not forget that the hyenas never ate Zazu despite having so many opportunities.
You would think that a starving, hyena wouldn’t think twice about eating Zazu if they had
a chance.
I think Scar gave Zazu immunity in exchange for his insider information about the Pride
Lands.
Oh and after Scar took over as king, no one knew that he killed Mufasa.
I guess Zazu kept that huge, life-altering secret to himself because he was working with
Scar.
Number 5, the elephant graveyard.
Apparently, the elephant graveyard is the site of a massive grave and I have no idea
why Simba and Nala would ever want to go to this place.
It doesn’t sound cool or fun, so what’s the deal?
According to this theory, elephants were the only animal in the Pride Lands that tried
to resist being forced to follow orders from the lions.
The elephants wanted to have an equal democracy but the lions wanted to be the dominant species.
So one day, the pride of lions ambushed the elephants and brutally murdered them.
They had to secretly ambush them because they knew that the elephants had the strength to
defeat the lions if they felt threatened.
This is why the younger cubs aren’t allowed to go the elephant graveyard.
The older lions wanted to keep their genocide a secret.
Timon is a cult leader and this scary theory brings us to number 4.
Before you come at me, I’m not comparing Timon to Manson or anything but he does have
some cult leader qualities.
I’m not an expert on how cults work, but basically they all have a similar pattern
of targeting vulnerable people and introducing them to a “ideal philosophy.”
So yes, I’m referring to Hakuna Matata.
When Timon and Pumba first meet Simba, Pumba was pretty scared that Simba would eat him
because he's a lion.
But then Timon points out that Simba will grow up to be a fierce lion who would be on
their side, so they should use him to their advantage.
He also realized that Simba is in an extremely vulnerable state and he would be easy to manipulate.
It can also be argued that Timon recruited Pumba into his cult because he also had a
rough upbringing and didn’t have anyone else to turn to.
So do you guys agree with me now?
Timon is a cult leader who recruits large animals and targets them when they are young
and impressionable and turns them into his protection.
Be Prepared is based off of a Nazi Rally and this theory marches into number 3.
I hate to break it to you, but apparently the musical number with Scar and his hyena’s
are mirrored to look like a Nazi march.
When they sing the song “Be prepared” we see the Hyena’s marching in a very orderly
and precise pattern.
It was later revealed that this scene was taken from the movie “Triumph of the Will”
which is a Nazi propaganda film that tried to manipulate people into joining the Nazis.
What the heck Disney?
Who came up with this crazy idea of introducing Nazi symobolism into a childrens movie?
If you think about it, Disney is pretty savage.
First they kill Mufasa right in front of Simba, animals are dying of starvation and then now
they want us to watch Nazi hyenas at a rally?
Isn’t Scar evil enough?
Disney, we need to draw the line somewhere...but keep making movies, just don’t be so savage.
Alright next up in at Number 2, Nala never loved Simba, she just wanted protection.
I guess this is the lion form of gold digging.
When Nala and Simba were younger, they were obviously best friends but they never saw
themselves getting romantically involved.
When Zazu told them that they were going to get married, this was their reaction.
Yeah, that doesn’t look too promising to me.
Fast forward to when Nala ran into Simba when they were older.
Its rumored that Nala was banned from the Pride Lands because Scar was tired of being
rejected.
So when she saw Simba in the rain forest, she thought that her only chance at going
back to the Pride Lands would be to team up with Simba, the rightful king.
So essentially, Nala isn’t even attracted to Simba.
Actually, she kind of hates him for leaving the pride and thinks that he is a coward.
But she would rather be Queen of the Pride Lands than be banished in the rainforest eating
bugs for the rest of her life.
And now topping our list off in at number 1, Simba actually had a pretty messed up life
full of murder and incest.
Ok, I’m familiar with the murder part, but what’s this theory talking about?
Where is the incest?
Brace yourselves because I’m about to shatter your childhood dreams.
Simba and Nala could actually be related.
During the whole movie, Mufasa and Scar seem to be the only male lions in the Pride.
So that means that there are only two male lions that are capable of mating with the
lioness.
Do you see where I’m going with this?
Nala and Simba could either be cousins or half-siblings.
I’ll let you decide which one is worse.
(SING) Can you feel the INCEST tonight, the peace the evening brings…..ok ok ok I’ll
stop.
I know at the beginning of the video I told you I would be singing but now I bet you all
just want me to stop.
Well there you guys have it….