My Lion King Forum

I'm talking about the scene where Mufasa talks to Simba, right before Rafiki whacks Simba in the head. You see, one of my friends thinks it was a dream, but I don't think so. What do you think?

It is an interesting theory. I think the movie has one thing that supports this and one thing that makes it less reliable.

What makes it feel like a dream is the fact that we have Simba staring into the water while inside this small sort of cave and then all of a sudden he's outside again without having retraced his steps. If I remember correctly Simba shouldn't have been able to look at the sky from that particular spot. Either way, right when Mufasa disappears, Simba runs forward (where the waterhole he had stared into should be) and begs him to stay. Then he's back on that hill again as if Rafiki hasn't led him anywhere to begin with.

What makes the viewer think that it wasn't a dream is the line where Rafiki approaches Simba right after his conversation with Mufasa, stating that the weather is very peculiar (seeing how Mufasa appeared through the clouds and the sky, this suggests that Rafiki had seen the whole thing, thus making it real).
Also, in TLK 1 1/2, there's this scene where Timon and Pumbaa watch Simba's arguement with Nala right before Rafiki talks to Simba, and when the two of them leave you can see Mufasa's image forming in the clouds right when they turn their backs.

So, when you think about it, the whole scene doesn't make sense.

On one hand we have proof that it wasn't a dream but on the other hand - how did Simba end up outside again?

TheWhistlerify wrote:What makes it feel like a dream is the fact that we have Simba staring into the water while inside this small sort of cave and then all of a sudden he's outside again without having retraced his steps.

But they were outside. You can see the sky reflected in the pool. Rafiki led Simba through that tangle of trees and then he came out the other side back into the open where the pool was. As far as running across the pool, it is listed as a continuity error on IMDB I think, or perhaps Simba had run around/through the pool during the time we are focused on Mufasa's image in the clouds starting to recede (when the shot cuts back to him, he is already running, so maybe this is the case.)

<_>

Derp

The theory that Mufasa's ghost was just a dream or a hallucination has become a popular interpretation over the years. However, on the audio commentary, the filmmakers refer to Rafiki as a "crazy shaman character", and shamans can summon spirits. Also, they mention the term "Mufasa's ghost" over and over and never refer it to as a dream or a hallucination. Even on the bonus features of the 2003 Platinum Edition, they state the scene was inspired by Hamlet and that it was Simba's "to be or not to be moment"; Don Hahn even compared to Mufasa's invitation to God's invitation to Moses in the Bible, and states that like Moses, Simba received wisdom from the visitation.

Not to mention, thinking it was all a make-believe dream or hallucination cheapens the father-son relationship the filmmakers tried so hard to develop. Mufasa's visitation reinforces Rafiki's words that he lives on in Simba's heart despite that he is physically dead.

TheLionPrince wrote:Not to mention, thinking it was all a make-believe dream or hallucination cheapens the father-son relationship the filmmakers tried so hard to develop. Mufasa's visitation reinforces Rafiki's words that he lives on in Simba's heart despite that he is physically dead.

I haven't thought about it like that before, but I have to agree.

My theory is that Rafiki is a drug dealer. It fits his shaman character quite well, at least in my book. I think he sprinkled psilocin dust around Simba while they were going through the cave, and that was what gave Simba his hallucination of Mufasa.

That doesn't cheapen the Simba/Mufasa relationship, as far as I'm concerned. Even if it is a hallucination (and to me it is), it still shows that Mufasa lives on. He lives on in Simba's memory.

I still can't believe I forgot that the sky's visible from by that waterhole... <_>

No it couldn't be a dream. If Rafiki did just hit him with a stick while he was sleeping his reaction would have been anything else but "Oww jeez, what was that for?", and they were talking already before that hit even happened

If it was a dream, Simba would've known Rafiki was going to do that.