How long was Simba in his self-exile?

[TheLionPrince]

[quote="pounce"]Can't the two years that the directors said be included as part of the long "growing up" log sequence. 4½ years later seems way too long. This should fit the right in the middle of 2-3 years it takes for a lion to fully mature into an adult (2 years and 6 months - according the fact of eating animals from Simba stated above). If the directors were going to add "Kenya: 2 Years Later" then they'd expect people to think that that's how long Simba was in his self exile. Directors wouldn't want people to do math calculations during the film. Also, the directors said that the reason why they took it out was because it was "a little retro", thus the fact should be creditable.[/quote]

Maybe pounce, maybe. Remember I heard that the directors say they want to placed the "Kenya, 2 years later" at the end of the "Hakuna Matata" sequence. Also, a 4½ year self-exile would seem legitimate (though too long even for my own estimates on Simba's exile), as Simba would be 5 yrs. old at the end of the movie. In real-life, lions challenge other male lions to become the alpha lion at around 4 to 5 years of age.

[pounce]

[quote]I heard that the directors say they want to placed the "Kenya, 2 years later"[/quote]
It's in the commentary on the DVD. Well at least on the Platinum Edition.

[quote]In real-life, lions challenge other male lions to become the alpha lion at around 4 to 5 years of age.[/quote]
In real life a lion doesn't get faced by his dead father from the sky telling him to take charge of a pride. ;P

What I'm trying to say is that although it could have very well been a 4½ year self-exile, I really believe that it was 2 years. I have always thought that Simba was a very young adult. (Plus, in Kingdom Hearts II, his lack of experience and maturity made it hard for him to command the pride. <-- though it was just a game.)

[SimbasGuard]

Yes if Simba was 5 when he returned to The Pride Lands, he would have been nearly full grown. Not the young adult he was.

[TheLionPrince]

[quote="pounce"][quote]I heard that the directors say they want to placed the "Kenya, 2 years later"[/quote]
It's in the commentary on the DVD. Well at least on the Platinum Edition.[/quote]

Yes, I know it's heard on the audio commentary. I just haven't heard the audio commentary for myself; it just read about that "Kenya, 2 years later" on another LK forum. Therefore, that's how I have knowledge about it.

[quote="pounce"][quote]In real-life, lions challenge other male lions to become the alpha lion at around 4 to 5 years of age.[/quote]
In real life a lion doesn't get faced by his dead father from the sky telling him to take charge of a pride. ;P.
What I'm trying to say is that although it could have very well been a 4½ year self-exile, I really believe that it was 2 years. I have always thought that Simba was a very young adult. (Plus, in Kingdom Hearts II, his lack of experience and maturity made it hard for him to command the pride. <-- though it was just a game.)[/quote]

Well, I guess that can't happen in real life. But, I only include real lion facts because we can't say lions and lionesses can live for 50 years. I just feel the need to include real-lion facts and the filmmakers's words to estimately guess how long is the Lion King timeline. Also, concerning the plausible 4½ year self-exile, it's an educated guess, and if I had been touting it around as if it is an official fact, then, I'm sorry because it's not. Really, I think Simba's exile is at least 3½ years so he would be 4 years towards the end becuase I too consider Simba not being fully grown when he becomes king.

[quote="SimbasGuard"]Yes if Simba was 5 when he returned to The Pride Lands, he would have been nearly full grown. Not the young adult he was.[/quote]

My original theory before I changed it to accomodate the filmmaker's words was that Simba's exile was 3.5 years, therefore he would be 4 years old towards the end of the original film. But, Simba seems pretty full grown at the beginning of The Lion King II even he feels like a young adult at the end of the original Lion King film, even though it's the same presentation with some differences.

[SimbasGuard]

[quote="TheLionPrince"]he would be 4 years old towards the end of the original film. But, Simba seems pretty full grown at the beginning of The Lion King II even he feels like a young adult at the end of the original Lion King film, even though it's the same presentation with some differences.[/quote]

Good point, the changes between Lion King and Lion King 2 do make it hard to determine an actual age for Simba.

[SweetNala]

I always thought he was about 4 or 5