Why didn't Mufasa tell Simba...

[Sigurd]

One thing that confuses me about the Mufasas ghost-scene is that Mufasa could have brought up that Scar killed him. I mean , if he knew that Simba had change lifestyle,he would probably also have known Simba went though a living hell after being falsely accused of killing his father.
So why didn't he tell him? What's your theories?

[TheBlackCatCrossing]

It would have spoiled the emotional intensity had Simba found out from a spiritual apparition from his father rather than hear it from the murderer himself. From a story telling perspective, it seems like a cop out to have Simba find out that way. Now say that he DID find out. Would the emotions have been as raw when he finally returned to the Pride Lands?

[Regulus]

Would the emotions have been as raw when he finally returned to the Pride Lands?

Perhaps even more so, depending on how you look at it.

[TheLionPrince]

Mufasa didn't tell Simba that Scar killed him because he wanted his son to return to the Pride Lands with hope and love, not with bitterness and vengeance. In other words, Mufasa wanted Simba to focus on reclaiming his rightful throne, not wanting to get even with Scar. Plus, if Simba knew the truth beforehand, Scar wouldn't be able to play the guilt trip tactic, which basically ignited the raw emotions in the final battle sequence. Other possibilities would be that Mufasa wanted Simba to learn for himself or he wasn't just ready to know the truth. This is similar to Obi-Wan "lying" to Luke about his father's demise in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Sure, Obi-Wan could have told Luke the truth beforehand, but he didn't want Luke to go down the dark side by being angry and bitter about it.

[Regulus]

^ Yeah, but Mufasa not telling Simba nearly cost him his life. Not a very wise choice, in my opinion.

Honestly, though, my reasoning was that Simba never actually saw Mufasa's ghost. He was looking inside himself... like a dream, or hallucination.

[TheBlackCatCrossing]

Mufasa didn't tell Simba that Scar killed him because he wanted his son to return to the Pride Lands with hope and love, not with bitterness and vengeance. In other words, Mufasa wanted Simba to focus on reclaiming his rightful throne, not wanting to get even with Scar. Plus, if Simba knew the truth beforehand, Scar wouldn't be able to play the guilt trip tactic, which basically ignited the raw emotions in the final battle sequence. Other possibilities would be that Mufasa wanted Simba to learn for himself or he wasn't just ready to know the truth. This is similar to Obi-Wan "lying" to Luke about his father's demise in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Sure, Obi-Wan could have told Luke the truth beforehand, but he didn't want Luke to go down the dark side by being angry and bitter about it.

Great explanation, especially the part about bitterness and anger. I can see how Mufasa would withold that information. Perhaps he knew that his son was still immature and not ready for such a heavy truth. He wanted him to find out organically.

[DGFone]

Simba wouldn't be ready for the news. The purpose of Mufasa appearing in front of Simba again was for him to reteach Simba everything he forgot after he ran away. It was the emotional boost that Simba needed in his time of crisis to finally realize that he needs to step up, return to the Pride Lands, and finally take charge of his life instead of running from it.

Plus, if Mufasa were to tell Simba what really happened, it could have easily ruined the entire thing. Instead of convincing Simba to return out of his own free will, telling Simba what Scar really did could have easily caused Simba to go rather insane and charge in without thinking with the sole purpose of killing Scar rather than taking his rightful place as king. Finding out that Scar killed Mufasa was Simba's task of finding out, and not something Mufasa should have told him.

To sum it up: Mufasa's goal by showing himself was to allow Simba to "remember" not "learn".

[Tyto-Alba]

With all due respect to those who've stated their opinion on this topic, I have a completely different theory. If anybody has ever read one of Shakespear's plays, such as Romeo and Juliet, you would know that the way words are spoken is not how we speak today but in a more poetic like speak. Its called Shake-speak, because Shakespear was a famous poet and play writer who wrote in that kind of format. If you think about it, had Mufasa told Simba the truth about his uncle Scar, the final battle wouldn't have been as interesting as it was nor would it have been long and dramatic let alone tragedy vs triumph. The way I see it, Mufasa didn't tell Simba because of the way Disney wanted to play it out, with what Simba didn't know they were able to make a big and final battle as an outcome in sort of a poetic way like Shake-speak. Disney wanted the plot to unfold slowly, rather than to have it all end so soon, like in many of Shakespear's plays. Plus, if Simba had raced into the Pride Lands with his ultimate goal to kill Scar, he probably wouldn't have had a chance against him. What Scar told Simba made his stronger, which gave him the power to defeat the clever-minded old lion of relation to Mufasa. In one way or another, Disney made the battle poetic-like, long and dramatic, like Shakespear did in his time. That's my opinionated theory, call it stupid if you want but that's what I think.

[Timon the great]

Honestly, though, my reasoning was that Simba never actually saw Mufasa's ghost. He was looking inside himself... like a dream, or hallucination.

That'd have to be very true. Especially because of the quote by Rafiki, after Mufasa's ghost disappears: "What was that? The weather-- Pbbah! Very peculiar. Don't you think?".

Apparently, Mufasa's ghost was to be seen by Simba, and Simba only. Mufasa was alive again in him. Everyone else around only saw it as turbulent weather going on, like Rafiki.

And directly concerning this thread, I think the LK movies are Not uncommonly known to contain metaphors in at least some of the characters dialogue. Like Rafiki's saying to Timon of "Look beyond what you see", in TLK 3. So, the dialogue of Mufasa in the sky in TLK 1, served its purpose to Simba. Either way you look at it.

[DGFone]

^ Actually, I would think that, given Rafiki's reaction about the weather, plus his comments about change, that he knew the entire time what was going on.

Not to mention that the directors talk about this scene a lot, because it was the last one they included into the movie before actually starting the animation process. The way they talk about Mufasa coming back to life, at least they sound like Mufasa comes back for real, at least in ghost form. They never said "Simba then remembers Mufasa", but "Mufasa comes back to guide Simba in his time of need". I'm pretty sure Mufasa's ghost was meant to actually be Mufasa.