My Lion King Forum

...when they were fighting each other when Simba was saving Pumbaa and Timon from Nala, why didn't they suffer any cuts or scratches? They were fighting with their claws out!

And also, I should mention---when Mufasa pinned the hyenas, one---either Banzai or Shenzi---bit him in the back. Yet he seemed uninjured. What's with that?

This is probably because Disney didn't want to put any gore or anything in TLK. Movie logic.

Disney has a history of removing blood if they can get away with it. Remember the scene right after Mufasa p0wns the hyenas, and Banzai ccomplains about not being able to sit for a week? His back is scratched up and all red. Cut to Scar making his arrival heard, and the next time we see Banzai again (not a few seconds after), he looks perfectly good again!

Conclusion: DISNEY FORESAW THE ADOPTION OF REGENERATIVE HEALTH SYSTEM, DEM CoD N00BS!!!111!!1!!1!

Not sure if some kind of obsessively protective parents would like their little kids to see a movie with animals bleeding all around with their huge wounds dripping and all XD

It's kinda funny because they do (especially in SP) talk about the blood and bleeding a lot. But after all I think it could have raised its age limit

By this logic Mufasa wouldn't have looked nearly so clean lying at the bottom of the gorge...

But, yes, as the others said it was to keep a G/U rating.

Consider the climatic fight scene between Scar and Simba. The background was red not only because of fire but also to cleverly disguise any blood that such a fight would have (or at least, I think so)

There is an actual cut on Shenzi when Simba scratches her face. So I don't really know. Suppose it's just the same reason lions talk in the movie, it's a family movie. In reality they would like tear each other apart, but... I mean the thing with gore is sometimes it is better to not be there at all. This is one of those times.

The scene in Pirates of the Caribbean 2 where Will is given lashes by his own father, is a good example of where visual wounds work well and actually add to the scene. But then in TLK when Simba leaves a visual cut on the hyena, I thought she would have like some kind of personal vendetta against him after that cut but it just didn't happen so it was a bit random to zoom in on it like they did.
And in TLK 2 when Kovu is hit by Zira, another example of where violence adds a bit of emotion to a scene and is a core part of it, other than that if you can get away with not having violence and gore on screen, which obviously Disney can, then it's better to not be there IMO.

In the original production of Bambi, there was supposed to be a scene where Bambi comes back for his mother after her death (just like Simba did for Mufasa) but showing her in blood. They took that out because it was going to be too gory for children to see, which I understand. Disney is supposed to appeal to every demographic, but has to make sure that their movies are appropriate for kids without graphic gore and other elements that make an adult film. I know Frollo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a twisted character and HoND is one of Disney's most darkest films, but they still made it to the point that kids can see it even though they might not understand the complex themes that are dealt within the movie. You know what I mean.

I know seeing characters with cuts isn't nearly as gory as seeing someone dead on the ground in a pool of blood, but I can see why they probably didn't receive violent cuts after fighting. Besides, their fight wasn't for too long either and didn't go near their faces a lot.

This is just my hypothesis, but I suspect that the appearance of blood could possibly be mitigated by the presence of fur. If it's just a bunch of superficial cuts and scratches, you're not going to see anything unless there's a large amount of blood that seeps into the fur and starts to stain it. Fur also has the effect of providing a little bit of protection from scratches in the first place. That's actually why male lions have manes in the first place, if I remember correctly.

So were Simba and Nala injured in their fight?