My Lion King Forum

It's quite well known that in "Be Prepared", specifically near the end when Scar gets his solo in front of the hyenas, the hyenas were specifically made to look like the Nazis just prior to World War Two. But I have to wonder how many of you noticed this:

At the same scene, when Scar shouts "And you'll never go hungry again!", the lighting changes, along with the pillars of light. Even more Nazi symbolism here. So I wonder how many here already knew that the pillars of light were based on real German architecture during the same build-up period?

Makes you think even more about the Nazi hyenas more than just because of how they paraded in front of Scar (Considering that such military parades are common with many nations).

Good catch, DGFone. I would have never noticed that if it weren't you, though I known that the filmmakers modeled the hyenas after the marching Nazi soldiers. And as far as I know, it was meant to be a deliberate reference of Hitler watching over his Nazi soldiers.

But, I never get why the filmmakers wanted to make a reference between Scar and the hyenas with the Nazi Party?

I knew it reffered to the nazi's. also the sound that their footsteps make sound like a marching army. the scene is actualy modeled to after footage from the movie ''triumph of the will'' which is a nazi propaganda movie

Wow I never noticed that before. Good find.

this is the scene I meant
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9Ath24sf9w

[ Darn! how do I post youtube video's here directly?]

Gosh I didn't even know that the Hyenas were based on Nazi soldiers.
Hmmmmm...It makes me think about those rumers that Walt Disney was a racist. Maybe they are true after all.

That doesn't necessarily make Walt Disney a racist. If anything, it's quite the opposite. Look how the hyenas were cheated in their relationship with Scar. They were dumb, not evil. The same concept can be applied to the Germans. Hitler was unquestionably evil, but many of his followers were not. They were just doing what they were told, for what they thought would be their benefit. Hitler lied to the Germans in the same way that Scar tricked the hyenas.

I noticed it, while many say Walt Disney was racist, the company wouldn't risk such a thing on purpose.

Wow! Good eye for this! My 7th grade year I had to study all of this and yet I never caught this! Good call

Never knew about this until now. Good find!