Why did Muffy wait so long?

[Czarine]

Okay, here's my interpretation: Mufasa lives on in Simba. Not quite literally, as he's dead, but he lives in his memories.

"You have forgotten who you are, and so have forgotten me..." it's a sudden burst of realization made possible by Rafiki knocking some sense into him (eventually quite literally). If it weren't for Rafiki, he wouldn't have had that vision anyway. Mufasa living on is probably meant metaphorical.

And why did it come so late? Rafiki didn't even know Simba was alive until he was an adult!


^This is how I thought about it, but I changed my mind after seeing the second movie. In that movie, Rafiki actually communicates with the spirit of Mufasa, so that would invalidate my whole theory of Mufasa living on being a metaphor... That is, unless they changed the story for the Lion King II a bit. It's not the first time Disney would do such a plot twist for a sequel.

[SilverSimba01]

[quote="Czarine"]Okay, here's my interpretation: Mufasa lives on in Simba. Not quite literally, as he's dead, but he lives in his memories.

"You have forgotten who you are, and so have forgotten me..." it's a sudden burst of realization made possible by Rafiki knocking some sense into him (eventually quite literally). If it weren't for Rafiki, he wouldn't have had that vision anyway. Mufasa living on is probably meant metaphorical.[/quote]
it kind have sense for me,

[SuperBabySimba]

Mufasa didn't appear earlier because:
As has been said, Simba was too young at any earlier point. A cub could not have done anything about anything anyway and the teen Simba still would not have been able to challenge Scar, as lions are capanle of that at the age of 4 to 5, at the earliest. Which is how old I believe Simba was, when Mufasa's spirit appeared. And of course Simba needed time to cope with the traumas before another emotionally strong event would happen.

Mufasa's spirit was real and not in Simba's mind, because:
Mufasa's spirit appears in the sky in the beginning of TLK2 and in the end of that one, he speaks to Simba. So why wouldn't he appear to Simba in TLK, when he needs him the most. It was really Mufasa's spirit, which Rafiki had summoned. You know Rafiki was able to do weird stuff, such as seeing that Simba is alive, by doing something to the dust in the wind that had been sent out by Simba. And I think Rafiki's line about the weather, right after Mufasa's spirit was gone, implies that Rafiki saw him too - and so it indeed was not in Simba's head, but summoned by Rafiki.

Mufasa didn't tell about Scar killing him, because:
Because Mufasa was a wise father. The truth would've filled Simba with hatred and rage and that would be blinding and not much strength-giving. As in, a wise father does not prepare his son to a great battle, by filling his heart with hatered but fills him with hope and courage, and with faith in himself and in his place in the world. That's what Mufasa did and that's why he didn't tell the truth. Simba needed to make the choice out of love - not out of hate.

Mufasa didn't even tell him it wasn't his fault, because:
The truth didn't matter, not in the big picture. As for Simba personally, he already knew it was an accident and it would've been fairly easy for his mother and Nala and the rest of the pride to convince him as an adult he now was, that thus it was not his fault - when the time for that was right.

All they needed was for Simba to let go of his pain enough, which he was able to do by knowing his father still believed in him and still loved him, no matter what - even if he'd died because of him. So, that was probably much more strength-giving than if he'd been told at that point that it wasn't his fault. Muffy wanted to give his boy all the strength he possible could, to go back to save those still alive of his loved ones, by claiming back what is rightfully his.

[Cantwait2bequeen]

Well, I have to say something about the Mufasa returning to Simba- Rafiki had to bring him to Mufasa.

Rafiki had something to do with that apparition and spirit/ ghost...considering he brought Simba to that location and such

Rafiki didn't know Simba was alive, so I guess he couldn't tell him sooner.

I think this all points to the monkey uncle

if you see my point O_O

[rich198]

also simba would not have had the sheer strength or size to challenge his uncle untill he was an adult and so telling him anything befor then would have been pointless or may have pushed simba into challeging scar before he was ready

[iluvnala]

Because in the time Simba was with Timon & Pumbaa, he was slowly forgetting Mufasa, he was using Hakuna Matata too much and thats not what he was taught. So at the time Simba needed Mufasa the most he got him.

[SummerSnowLeopard]

Mufasa probably waited until Simba was an adult. Simba couldn't take Scar as a cub or teen

[StarlightLioness]

The real reason? Dramatic build up in the script.

However, you also have to realize that if Simba had returned to the Pridelands as a cub, he would have been killed. Mufasa NEEDED to wait until his son was old enough and strong enough to overpower Scar. Mufasa knew that it would come to a fight; Scar was never going to just step down. Simba needed to be physcially strong enough to fight Scar and have a good chance of surviving and winning.

I also thought that Mufasa's return was a one-shot kind of thing. He gets only one chance to speak with his son from beyond the grave like that (we know Mufasa says "Well done my son. We are one" at the end of SP, but there is no evidence that Simba actually heard him or if it was only for the viewer's benefit.). So why waste it coming to Simba as a cub the day after the stampede and saying "Hey guess what! Your uncle murdered me! It wasn't you!"?? Again, he couldn't expect Simba to return home and survive at that point.

Also, by waiting until Nala found Simba and she began applying pressure to Simba to return, Mufasa had a natural reinforcement of his own words. Sure, I think Simba would have returned even without Nala and JUST Mufasa's appearance in the clouds. BUT, the double whammy of Mufasa's ghost and the budding love between him and Nala kind of clinched the deal.

[PrincessKiara]

[quote="QueenSummer"]Mufasa probably waited until Simba was an adult. Simba couldn't take Scar as a cub or teen [/quote]

Exactly. Mufasa had to wait until Simba actually had a good chance of beating Scar in a fight.

[Tyrant]

I think it was because of Simba's mental and physical state at that time. I mean, he was just a cub, and he also believed that he was responsible for the death of the King and his father. It also would've been really weird if Mufasa's spirit suddenly appeared when Simba was a teen. He would've spent the day with Timon and Pumbaa doing something senseless and carefree, and then suddenly, his father's spirit appears and tells him to save the Pridelands, despite the fact that Simba was already living a very good life without stress and without having to worry about being King. It just would've been awkward...

But here, in the movie, Mufasa appeared after Simba and Nala had an argument, and after Simba really fully confirmed that he wanted nothing else to do with the Pridelands. This was a good time for Mufasa to appear. There was also the fact that Simba wouldn't have met his dad without Rafiki, and as far as I know, Rafiki thought Simba was dead at first, so maybe that was why Mufasa didn't appear sooner too? o-o

There are many theories out there >.>