Simba's Heroic Leap

[SnowyCheetah]

I'm sure most of us remember this scene, in which Simba is facing a death nearly identical to his father's...

...and as soon as Scar reveals his "little secret" about having actually been responsible (dare I say it, Scar's biggest mistake ever), Simba makes a heroic leap from his precarious position...

...and ultimately defeats Scar. There's only one thing that puzzles me. Take a look at these two screenshots from when Simba was hanging from the edge of Priderock...

^Simba's feet don't look like they've got a very opportunity for traction...

^I doubt he pulled himself up with his front paws, judging by the way he's struggling just to keep from falling in the following screenshot...

So, how on earth did he make that heroic leap with seemingly no way to do it, and with pretty much no change from a few seconds before when he'd been struggling just to keep from falling? My only theory is that it's just another classic Disney rescue, in which the "how" is simply not considered important. I thought maybe he pulled himself up since Scar was holding him, but considering the weight and strength difference, I think that would have just pulled Scar off the edge along with Simba, lol. What are your thoughts?

[Simbaholikov]

It does indeed seem to be another Disney rescue ^^
I just watched the scene again, and Simba even seems to 'fly' up from his precarious position, which is quite ridiculous.. As if he just leaped up from solid ground
I guess this is just a 'I'm angry, so I can can do anything.' moment

[Pixie]

Maybe super-adrenalin?
Or maybe he found an awesome foothold at the last second. I always thought that.

[PrincessKiara]

[quote="Simbaholic"]I guess this is just a 'I'm angry, so I can can do anything.' moment [/quote]

^ This.

For Simba to be able to jump up like that, with no foothold.. it’s just impossible. We see him dangling over the edge, having a very hard time holding on, only being able to use his front legs to support his entire body weight.

To me, this is a classic Disney rescue. Simba realizes the truth, and gets filled with anger and adrenaline which gives him superpowers for a split second.. He’s suddenly able to lunge himself over the edge and attack Scar. With Scar already digging his claws into Simba’s paws, it would have been especially difficult, not to mention the fact that he would have to pull himself up only by the strength of his forelegs..

[AustralianChaos]

Yeah, it's just another one of Disney's inconsistancies.

What makes it even more unrealistic is that at the time Scar whispers in his ear, Simba's hind legs are actually dangling freely, and Scar's grip is pretty much the only thing holding him up.

I mean, I can understand his anger giving him an adrenaline surge to propel himself up, but without anything for his hind legs to grip, there's no way for him to use the adrenaline rush realistically.

But then why am I complaining? The alternative is for Simba to fall to his death...

[KiarasMate]

I think the fact that Scar was actually digging his claws into Simba, thus holding him up, would aid in Simba's efforts to lunge as he did. He wouldn't have had to put as much effort into supporting his upper half, like he was before Scar dug his claws in. As for how he got a foot hold, I suppose we just have to use our imaginations on that one, seeing as we didn't get a clear view of his lower half during the upwards lunge. It's not unfathomable, just seems very unlikely. Still, given that fight or flight reaction, any creature can do unheard of things when pushed to their limits. Running off of pure adrenaline and hatred, like others stated, seems logical enough of an answer to explain this feat to me.

[SilverSimba01]

I never quite put a very attention to this part of the movie, for me it just it seen that is one of those "unexplained moments" where the good guy...well in this case lion, do this move, an it seen that has no explanation, but well, is just what I think

[Panda-chan]

Sounds like a classic Disney rescue scene to me lol. Here, I screencapped it a split second between Simba's angry roar and his tackling Scar:

Somehow this makes it look even more impossible. o.0 I mean, how is Simba leaping from that angle? Can he fly, or is there ground beneath him? I like to think the Great Kings gave him the strength to jump, regardless of how impossible the feat is.

[SilverSimba01]

wow, well, by just looking that image, it really seen impossible to make that kind of move, considering that you are just holding on the edge of a cliff, the only explination that I could make is that in some how Simba manage to impulse himself by using his arms, but obviouslly, it seen impssible to go that far.

[rich198]

its a impossibel feat but hey disney made it possible and for me its a great part of the film so no complaints from me