Why didn't Mufasa tell Simba?

[Ninaroja]

I haven't read the other replies, but ill just throw in my two cents:

Simba would be going back for the wrong reasons if he knew Scar killed Mufasa. If that were the case his only motivation to go back would be revenge. In this way, Simba is returning out of a sense of duty and cause it's his responsibility/the right thing to do.


That's the simplest way I can think to put it

[TheLionPrince]

[quote="Captain Cupcake"][quote="TheLionPrince"][quote="Elton John"]But I could be very wrong since that scene was apparently supposed to be a reference to moses and the burning bush.[/quote]

That is in fact true. On the supplement on the 2003 DVD release called "Story Origins", Don Hahn admits the scene was directly inspired from Hamlet when he sees his father's spirit in what follows to be Simba's "to be or not to be" moment and Moses's encounter with God through the burning bush where Moses acquires wisdom from the visitation.[/quote]

If I recall correctly, the Hamlet parallel was more of a happy accident, as the biblical and other story influences preceded the Shakespearean ones, and that it was only when they made Scar Mufasa's brother that those similarities started to take form. So what ws once just a Burning Bush parallel suddenly became something that mirrored both sources of inspiration.[/quote]

That's true too. The scene of Mufasa's ghost was in fact the last scene added to the movie.

[PrincessKiara]

I haven`t read through all the posts, but here are my thoughts.

I think Mufasa didn`t tell Simba this because he didn`t want his son to return to the Pridelands purely on a vengance quest. Plus, as I`m sure it`s already been mentioned, Simba knowing the truth of his fathers death would take away Scar revealing his "little secret" and really underwhelm the dramatic climax of the film.

[gothprincesskiara]

I like the obvious asnwer that Mufasa didnt tell Simba that scar killed him because he didnt want him to be angered with revenge, now I would like to add that, Mufasa would hope that scare would be stupid enough to tell simba himself, which worked out in a very near death scene.

[DGFone]

I always saw it as due to being the fact that Mufasa wanted Simba to rediscover that even if the world seems to be against him, he still has responsibilities he has to fulfill - "remember who you are" is exactly what Mufasa needed Simba to do.

If he mentioned that Scar was the one responsible, it is likely that Simba would not have learned the lesson. After all, Simba had to learn how to deal with life's hardships and get through them, rather that simply be told that the greatest obstacle in his life was fake. A useful lesson to learn later on, but not what Simba needed at the time.

[PridelandsPhantom]

I always saw Simba seeing Mufasa in the clouds as a sort of "spiritual vision" if you will of his awakening of the connections between his past and who he really is. If this was truly a vision he was having realizing that he is the heir to the Pridelands and seeing his father talking to him in a type of vision how would he have knowledge of Scar being the true murderer of Mufasa? The vision of Mufasa would only be based on Simba's knowledge and Simba is seeing Mufasa as he remembers him. That is, a powerful regal figure reminding him of his duties and to be responsible. Rafiki serves as a kind of guide for Simba to look into his inner self and bring out these visions of Mufasa (kind of like his conscious). A conscious cannot know what that person (or lion) doesn't know themselves.

That's my interpretation

[Timon the great]

[quote="Elton John"]Because Simba was just.... Hallucinating isn't the right word... I believe that the intent of the creators of the first film was that Simba didn't literally see Mufasas ghost but that Simba was seeing Mufasa inside of himself in a slightly more ethereal form.[/quote]
Well, hallucinating could actually be the right word in some ways here because apparently, from what's seen of Rafiki's response right after that part ("WHAT WAS THAT?! The weather. Very peculiar."), and Timon's on 1 1/2 when you see the storm clouds gathering in the background based on this same part from the first film when he tells Pumbaa: "I think this storm's coming to a head"; leads me to say that that's pretty much what it is.

What I'm saying here is from Timon and Rafiki's eyes, it's clearly evident that they merely see storm clouds, and not Mufasa appearing from them as us viewers and Simba sees from his own eyes. So this means that no other character can see Mufasa in the clouds aside from Simba himself. But that's completely understandable here in that we're shown this because it's Simba's film.

Spoiler: show

I hope you don't take this wrong way, but I personally did find it to be funny when you said that Simba was hallucinating because I had never thought of that before, and it just kinda fits the subject of this part of the film..

[SimbasMate]

I think it's because Mufasa was a dirty dirty liar.

Just kidding, that's not my answer. I actually agree with everyone who says that if Simba knew the actual truth then he would go back just to whack Scar. But he did that anyway.. so.. would it really have mattered? He found out either way.

[Squeely]

It was a good couple of years after Mufasa's death. Assuming it's actually Mufasa's spirit and not just a hallucination, not only would Mufasa want Simba to go back for the right reasons, it's probable that Mufasa had forgiven Scar and moved on at this point. Mufasa wouldn't want vengeance, and wouldn't want Simba to go forward with vengeance either. Mufasa probably hoped things could be resolved non-violently, probably hoped Scar felt guilty enough to want to atone. Especially if there is a lion hell to go along with lion heaven, perhaps Mufasa hoped to keep Scar out of hell. Of course, we know things didn't end peacefully, but still.

[PrincessKiara]

I also agree with what has already probably been said, namely that Mufasa had no desire for his death to be avanged, his only concern was for his son to go back and claim the throne that was rightfully his. In his speech to Simba, Mufasa didn`t mention Scar or his own death, he was entirely focused on how Simba had seemingly forgotten his father and where he came from. (Remember who you are).
So what Mufasa wanted was for Simba to stop hiding in the jungle eating bugs, but to go back to the Pridelands to confront his past - and also Scar. But to do this, Simba needed to be fueled by confidence and courage, not anger and thirst for revenge.