Why BE PREPARED Is Deeper Than You Think
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- Опубліковано 18 лют 2022
- Once again we're delving into another Disney villain song! This time we're taking a look at "Be Prepared", Scar's villain song from The Lion King. In this analysis/review, we'll dissect the themes of this song and explore just how it ties the entire film together.
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I think Scar told him not to go to the graveyard, using reverse psychology to entice Simba into going into a "cool" dangerous place.
It's honestly shocking to me that multiple (presumably adult) commenters and the video creator are apparently missing this.
No shit Sherlock
Love it when UA-cam commentaries criticize shit but then miss SUPER OBVIOUS THINGS like that.
@@mia-mf5xt the creator did clearly miss it
@@Rodanguirus I literally saw that when I was watching it as a child. I’m pretty sure the majority of people saw it as children.
You have to consider that Scar immediately put the blame on Simba for Mufasa’s death when he asked him “What have you done?”, plus Simba was too torn up about the death of his father to question why Scar was blaming him.
Simba had plenty of time to think about it later. But Simba, he dumb.
@@DavidJoh I mean he was under severe trauma over his father's death, had been convinced that it was all his fault, and felt he could never return home over what happened. Then broke down into a life of hedonism in exile, so getting into details of what happened probably seemed pointless until Nala showed up and reminded him of who he was.
@@ProfNekko Right. Plus the very first thing he was told by the immediate next people he meets was "put the past behind you." He was a traumatized child who was encouraged to never think about the terrible thing that happened. They gave him an out for dealing with his trauma, and of course he took it. He was a kid who thought he was responsible for his own father's death. Given the option, why WOULDN'T he take the opportunity to never bring it up or think about it?
The thing is, he knows why he's being blamed. He thinks when he roared, he caused the stampede and the only reason his dad died was for trying to save him from his own mistake. Again. Just like in the graveyard and the reason Scar taunts him with "daddy isn't here to save you and now everyone knows why" after the "reveal" in front of the lionesses. Simba genuinely thought it was an accident but it doesn't change it's his fault his dad died until Scar told him his secret. And even then, he CLEARLY remembers the image of his dad falling and it's only when Scar says it he realizes his dad didn't fall, he was thrown.
@@DavidJoh the thing is, when you're convinced you're to blame, you pretty much never want to think about it again, hurts too much to face that. And on top of that, it's his father's death, and he witnessed it first hand. That's something you don't replay over and over.
I love this verse:
Meticulous planning (we'll have food)
Tenacity spanning (lots of food)
Decades of denial (we repeat)
Is simply why I'll (endless meat)
It perfectly showcases how Scar and the Hyenas have totally different motivations and work on different levels. His lines have twice as many syllables than theirs. 6 to 3 while sounding luxuriously Shakespearean meanwhile they talk like cavemen, not even rhyming in the second line. The fact that they sing this while he's talking shows they're not even listening to him, and clearly don't care about his entitlements. It sort of foreshadows that their alliance is doomed.
Thanks for pointing this out! I never noticed how much that foreshadowed. It also shows how limited the hyena's respect of Scar really is since they aren't even listening to him... And yet Scar goes on, thinking they are listening, too prideful to see how tenuous his control over them is. All the foreshadowing, really.
I love that part ❤️
Heard this song dozens of times and never noticed the hyena lines, thanks for pointing this out I love the song even more now
That's also my favorite part of the song!
Very similar to how low-tier Communists will believe they're marching toward unprecedented levels of liberty and justice. While the higher echelons are actively discussing heavy-handed centralized authority and punishing non-believers.
A few critiques here: Simba starts rather selfish, naïve, gullible and incompetent, yes. You know why? Because *he's a child*. All children come to the world as selfish, naïve, gullible, incompetent larvae who's parents job is to help them become better. Saying that he would've grown up to be a bad leader is ridiculous; if Scar hadn't had Mufasa killed, there's a whole lifetime of experience and parental input he could've had. Also, Scar didn't "send" him to the elephant graveyard. He told him never to go there, and pretended to "let slip" that it was an elephant graveyard, knowing that Simba would decide to go there... Because he's a curious, naïve and adventurous child. Yes, we, the audience, know that he's evil, but there isn't a single scene where Scar reveals his nature to his nephew until the final confrontation. Also, remember that he spent the whole time between inciting incident and climax explicitly avoiding thinking about what happened or taking responsibility (the point of Hakuna Matata, which you showed you understood). Now, I agree that in all those years, maybe he could have figured out that there was no "surprise" from Scar... Except it makes perfect sense for a detail like that to be buried by the immense trauma of nearly dying and seeing his father killed trying to save him.
Yeah, pretty much this.
As much as there's some parallels between the the two songs it's very explicitly not the same intent. Simba's song is more a case of be careful what you wish for and not a fully realized desire as evidenced by his next conversation with Mufasa where he asks 'And we'll always be together, right? ' . Explicitly in the text this is a child ( and probably one of the youngest Disney protagonists out there ) that doesn't quite understand death yet, never mind that death would be the necessary precursor to his becoming king.
This difference lies at the core of what separates Scar and Simba as characters because the rest of the movie demonstrates quite clearly that Scar won't let any obstacle between himself and power stand Simba lets any dream of power he might have had go because he can't handle or face his guilt which is super-clearly not a problem for Scar. Likewise I don't think Simba's particularly lazy, his moments of not doing a thing he probably should do all point towards other roadblocks, either obvious depression when he first meets Timone & Pumba, not wanting to face his guilt as he basically buries the person he once was to better fit in with his new surroundings and also feeling unworthy of the role he was born to.
A good representation of just how un-examined Simba's own past is while he's with Timone & and Pumba can be found in the discussion on the stars. This should be a relatively safe bit of his past life to bring up, just different understandings of the unknown and to say the least it doesn't go well. Simba tried, however feebly, to bridge his past and present lives and it blew up in his face, little surprise that other far more painful memories remained unexamined. I view Simba's failing here as more lacking the confidence to examine his past without validation from others which wraps back around to how some traumatic events have crushed his self-confidence.
I agree. Simba is in my opinion the most realistic child personality I've ever seen in a movie. And a lot of movies, tend to fail at that, especially if they're live action. And although he may be selfish (mostly the ignorant kind of selfish), he was never downright malicious and willing to harm others to get what he want, unlike Scar. Simba has genuine depth of caring for others when it really matters. They do have a little similarity, but I far from feel they are "the same person"
@@zakosist I appreciate the defence of Simba in this thread.
Additionally, there is a scene in the Broadway musical adaptation where Simba accidentally almost kills Timon by trying to get him to leap over a rushing river. Simba sees Timon dangling above the waterfall (where some crocodiles are hanging out below) and is reminded immediately of seeing his father dangling above the stampede of wildebeest. This is followed by the stargazing scene from the movie.
After all this, Simba sings a song called “Endless Night”, where he basically expresses how much he misses his father and longs to be comforted by Mufasa’s presence. He is sad, but hopeful.
The scene goes to show Simba has not dealt with the trauma of his childhood in a healthy way. Suppressing it all under the Hakuna Matata attitude, he becomes a thrill-seeker, not caring for his own safety. When he sees Timon hanging above the waterfall, he freezes and relives the experience of seeing his father die before his eyes. He could have easily leapt into the water and tried to rescue Timon, but for some reason, he cannot.
“I want mommy I want milk I want to be held I want to be comforted. And if you don’t do all of these things immediately, I will ruin your life. That’s not goodness, that’s narcissism.
@@yoshiking6027 Thats not narcissism that's a four year old acting like a four year old hell any kid up to the age of 12 act like that
I'd describe Simba's "dumbness" as trauma and selective memory because of said trauma.
Hellfire still best villain song tho. :>
I figured lol. I mainly added that section of the video for a bit of humor
I agree but I think Hellfire is for a more mature audience and it's more serious. Be Prepared is more fun to watch and listen to
@@sibusisombatha1846 There's actually a deleted scene from The Lion King thats basically Scar's Hellfire.
ua-cam.com/video/zl8gDjaHWWA/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/1kGEz1zDGgY/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/wqUbkD-uAp8/v-deo.html
I'd argue that either "Poor Unfortunate Souls" or "World's Greatest Criminal Mind" are better as one has the villain explicitly point out to the protagonist what they're getting from the deal while the other showcases the depths of depravity the villain possesses while essentially and officially introducing them to the audience.
@@sibusisombatha1846 exactly
If Simba truly didn't care about his father's death, then why was there an entire scene where he is emotionally distraught and visually crying over the death of his father?
True, but ghost Mufasa did accuse Simba of forgetting him, meaning that he'd forgotten what his father stood for, and the responsibility he inherited.
But he still cared about how his father's death affected him, especially after the scene with Timon and Pumbaa scoffed at Simba's ideas of how the great kings of the past are watching over him.
@@Regfife He hadn't forgotten, really. He just supressed it, due to trauma. Mufasa's ghost wasn't literal, it was Simba hearing what he needed to hear - from the Lion he needed to hear it from the most. The ghost didn't tell Simba anything he didn't already know deep down. Simba running through the brambles to catch up to Rafiki, was him breaking through the barriers and mess of his subconscious mind to reach the 'pool of knowledge' so to speak.
Simba obviously cared about his father, he became a completely different person about he thought he killed him. That trauma couldn't have changed him so much if he didn't care as much as he did.
“Simba and Scar are eerily similar.”
Geez, it’s almost like they are family
11:45 Uh Dude, Did you forget that line Mufasa said earlier in the movie? When Simba asked him that "will they always be together?" and Mufasa talks about the stars and the night sky that all the dead kings of the past will always be there to guide him whenever Simba feels lost and alone. Then finishing off his sentence with, "And So Will I" So Mufasa didn't "Undermined" what he said.
He also forgot that Scar didn't tell Simba to go to the Elephant Graveyard, he specifically said NOT to as reverse psychology. He also had the idea that the 'surprise' Scar promised, was going to be from him. "Did Simba expect Scar to come back with a birthday cake or something?" When actually Scar said that MUFASA had a surprise for him and was leaving him alone to go fetch Mufasa for said surprise.
@@PeninsulaPaintings Exactly, he missed all the nuanced details. And plus there's a reason as to why Scar said "Oh, and Just Between Us. You Might Want to Work on That Little Roar of Yours. Hmm?" As a kid, I didn't get why Scar told Simba to practice on his roar. But now I do, it to set up Simba to make it look like he caused the stampede. You know, when Simba made a more powerful roar to scare that Chameleon lizard his roar echoed throughout the gorge? Simba thought it was his practice roar that spooked The herd of Wilderbeasts.
@@doomarang3208 That actually wasn't part of Scar's plan, it was just a lucky coincidence for Scar. The plan was to kill Simba in the stampede, Scar improvised framing Simba for Mufasa's death when he found Simba survived the ordeal when he wasn't supposed to. Scar told Simba to work on his roar to shame him for the incident the other day, so that his guilt would keep him in place; because Simba was about to follow Scar out of the gorge "I'll go with you!" Scar told him to stay on that rock. So when Simba roared at the Chameleon, it was Simba (again) doing something other than what he was told to do. He thought it then caused the stampede, making it easier for him to think it was his fault because he didn't just stay on the rock.
Which makes it easy to see how he became such a passive and inactive character as an adult, everytime he made his own decisions as a kid; it lead to disaster that nearly and actually (so he thought) got his loved ones killed - first Nala, then Mufasa. Something this video creator didn't understand either. Trauma changes people. Simba was far from lazy as a kid, quite the opposite.
First of all, Simba is just a kid, taken into account how he behaves I'd say he'd be about 10-12 if he were a human child. How in the world can anyone blame a 12 year old for being like he was?! Part of what I loved so much about Simba as a kid was how relatable he was, he seemed like someone I'd want to hang out with. His father did a great job raising him and his child tendencies are perfectly acceptable and normal.
Secondly, Scar specifically told him NOT to go to the elephant graveyard, basically using reverse psychology in the event Simba brings up the fact that he visited Scar right before he and Nala went there. No reason for Simba to suspect anything especially being a child.
Finally what kid in Simba's place would think Scar killed Mufasa? When Scar shows up the first thing he says is "What have you done?" immediately blaming Simba for the death which Simba was already doing anyway. And he wouldn't question why Scar led him out there because Scar told him that Mufasa had a surprise for him. Keep in mind this is right after the elephant graveyard and Be Prepared scenes so Simba would just be glad that his father was going to do something for him. Honestly this probably adds to the tragedy for him, he'd feel guilty about his father wanting to surprise him with something but instead he got killed.
All of these things combined would likely be too much for an adult to handle let alone a child, so I don't think it's fair to put that on Simba and say "Well you should have figured it out!".
And wow man you seem to have an INCREDIBLY cynical mindset, Mufasa never said that he wouldn't be there for Simba.....no seriously go back and check, he never says this, in fact he says the opposite. Simba asks if they'll always be together and Mufasa doesn't immediately answer, instead he tells Simba about the great kings of the past and how, should Simba ever feel alone, those kings will always be there to guide him, and so will he. He literally tells Simba that he will always be there to guide him and so when Simba needs his wisdom the most he gives it to him. I know I'm going on about this but that comment really hurt because Mufasa appearing before Simba is one of my favorite scenes in all of cinema and is just so damn beautiful it always makes me tear up.
No you’re right, I thought that the whole “simba’s not a good person” was a bit harsh too…..like, he’s a child, of course he’s gonna be a bit selfish.
What’s funny is that this point is disproven very early on-when Nala’s in danger, what does Simba do? He runs into danger to protect her, proving that even as a child he’s willing to protect those he cares about. His desire for the throne isn’t a malicious one, but rather a desire for the freedoms he thinks kings have, which simply don’t exist, but he doesn’t know that because he’s literally a naive child. Like, what else can you expect from him, ya know?
I think the mirroring between these two characters is being taken a bit far, honestly. Simba and Scar aren’t that similar, when you get down to it: Scar cuts and runs when things get tough, Simba stays and fights when his friends are in danger. Scar eschews responsibility because he simply doesn’t care to rule properly, Simba runs from responsibility because of his terror at facing his sins which aren’t even his own (and even then, he overcomes that fear when he recognizes that he’s needed.) They have surface similarities, sure, but the reasons why they have these traits are so completely different. At their core, they are two different characters-Simba is selfless, Scar is selfish.
(I’ll also add that while their characterizations aren’t mirrors I think, they have similar emotional beats in the first and second acts. When Scar is ambitious, so is Simba; when Scar rejects responsibility, so does Simba. But as I said earlier, their motives are entirely different and how they go about it is entirely different. These are not mirrors. Not at all.)
Nailed it, apparently *4shame* doesn't get how kids work, and doesn't get how more complicated parental advice and reassurance work either. That part of take got me to remove my like, because I really hate when people get that harsh with such faulty reasoning. It's obvious to _us_ in the audience, because we actually saw what happened, Simba did not, just to add another issue with his thinking on Simba.
Nah, I think he was perfectly well selfish even as a child. Children can be better than Simba was
@@Scriblyn ………..when does he act selfishly? When he wants to have agency and make his own choices about where he goes and who he goes with? When he wanted the throne that his own father was prepping him to rule? When, like a child, went somewhere he wasn’t supposed to because he didn’t understand the reality of danger? AND was basically led there by someone he trusted? How is he “selfish even for a child”? He simply isn’t selfish; the things he wants are perfectly normal for a child in his situation to want. Why do y’all want him to be a spoiled brat I stg
@@Scriblyn Children can be good, or bad, but the difference that's important is that children don't have the _development_ mentally to understand when they are doing wrong or acting badly the same way adults do. That's the difference, children start off with a handicap, adults do not.
The point isn't that kids can't be good, actually, some recent studies say kids do have inclinations towards altruistic behavior even at early ages, and Simba, as pointed out by some in these comments, showed heroism himself, but that kids don't have the experience or comprehension that adults do, and that includes what they do, wrong or right. To a child, feeling guilty or compassionate does happen, but it isn't as ingrained as an adult, so we see it differently.
Kids don't think the same way adults do, so we need to cut them some slack on making mistakes, and assuming they should be judged the same way as an adult is outdated and faulty thinking.
Scar didn't send Simba to go into the Elephant Graveyard, Scar (seemingly) told him specifically NOT to. Simba went - yes because he was manipulated - but completely on his own accord. Scar also didn't seem to put him in front of a stampede. Scar left Simba alone in the gorge to 'go fetch Mufasa' because he said: "Your FATHER has a marvelous surprise for you." I'm sorry dude, but weren't you listening? Simba roared loudly which he believed spooked the wildebeests into stampeding - making it seem like it was his own fault. Scar was a very calculated and manipulative character, who is also Simba's own beloved uncle. Simba was a naive child who was specifically TOLD that he was responsible for Mufasa's death. Do the math. I'm sorry but you lost me there for expecting Simba to see signs that (from his perspective, not ours) weren't there at all.
Scar is a terrifying character because of this, when it's family especially; manipulation is harder to recognise. How else do you think child sexual abuse victims (for example) feel as if it was their own fault for so long (sometimes forever), made even worse if the perpetrator was a family member.
Scar fooled everyone around him, not just Simba. Give the kid a break for not figuring it out.
I do think Scar was a good representation of a manipulator.
Never noticed the similarities between the 2 songs. So cool to learn about. I am however still thinking that alot of Simba's motivation to running away is that he thinks he triggered the events that killed his father, BUT it is a super cool new perspective which I honestly never considered. Great video. Looking forward to the next one. Appreciate your hard work :D
I think Simba felt his "banishment" from the Pride Lands was his punishment and atonement for playing a role in his father's death. And since no one ever showed up from his Pride to get him, he assumes they are satisfied with his punishment and no longer care for him.
yeah plus the he meets Nala after his banishment makes him realize that scar had tricked him into killing his father.
I found that similarity very shockingly interesting.
One reason why I love the song is because it's full of super effective stealth puns and double meanings. For example, "my words are a matter of pride" could be Scar singing about his wounded ego, or he could mean that he's talking about the Pride, i. e. the lion way of saying "I'm going to talk politics now". This may be cheating a little bit, but another great example for this is from the German dub (which I grew up with), where e. g. the line "the lights are not all on upstairs" was translated to "die obren Etagen sind leer" - "the upper levels are empty", which can be him saying that the hyenas have no brains, but also that they lack leadership. If this song was a real political speech, it would probably be considered a masterful example of propaganda and demagogy. Disney really did a great job with portraying the kind of villain Scar is supposed to be.
Another lesson you could take is that Simba's attitude as a child is what you'd expect a young prince to have in an absolute monarchy, but with the guiding hand of a good father and taking discipline to heart he might grow up to become like Mufasa. A son who disregards his father's discipline and clings to the childish attitude towards ruling winds up like Scar.
5:13, actually I am. Simba says in Can’t Wait to be King that he wishes he were king so that he could do whatever he wants and Scar after becoming king brags that since he’s king he can do whatever he wants. Since even though Simba says it Scar is the one who actually can’t wait to be King and this makes him a foil for Simba
It is interesting the parallels of both Simba and Scar being arrogant and “lusting” for power without knowing the responsibility it took. But I think the thing you are missing is the guilt and shame aspect. Simba was still looking at his fathers death from kids eyes. Scar was an elder and an uncle he trusted, an authority figure, and he was made to believe that he did something. He ran away from his troubles and hid basically. There are a lot of lessons in this movie. Rafiki tells him you can’t hide from your past even if it hurts.
I agree. Simba might sing about wanting to be king as a fantasy, without understanding the responsibilities of the role. But then he's telling his father how they'll always be pals together and that matters more to him.
I believe Simba's "laziness" to teturn to the pride is simply that he doesn't know what's going on there he's too far away, likely due to the guilt he believes they are living all good and well under Scar or someone else, someone that shouldn't be him because he killed his own dad, why would he be any good for the pride? No everyone is far better off without him in the picture.
Calling that selfish feels wrong to me.
That's why Nala showing up is important. She pretty blatantly spells it out "Hey, things suck back home while you've been living cushy, I'm giving you the option to come back with me and try to help fix it?" Then when he turns her down, that's him being lazy/selfish/irresponsible etc. Yes his motivation for doing so is the guilt that he still feels, but the 'responsible' thing he has to do is face his guilt head-on for the greater good
That is the point made on the video. The "he didn't know" CAN be translated to "HE DIDN'T CARE" because on all those years with the duo, he didn't seem to think once on the family he left behind. Specially his mother without not only her husband but now ALSO her ONLY SON!!
@@ianesgrecia8568 That is stupid. He thought his mother was better off not having him because HE BLAMED HIMSELF FOR MUFASA DYING
I agree. To me it seemed much more when I watched the movie: like fear of confronting his past, and guilt for killing his father in his mind, than straight up laziness. They are not the same
@@ianesgrecia8568 Him "not caring" is actually a symptom of being traumatized and too scared to confront his past. Its not genuinely not caring. He still had responsibility to go back eventually. But it was never just that he was either just lazy or indifferent, its something much deeper
It's important to remember the detail that Simba ran away from his past for a long time. He was so traumatized by his father's death that he preferred to forget it ever happened, forget about his responsibilities and his old life. Simba never got to suspect Scar, precisely because he decided to not think about what happened anymore. At least that's my interpretation.
I loved how you showed in the video how similar Simba and Scar are! I never thought about it!
I agree about Simba and Scar similarities, I 100% disagree about Simba being petty and lazy. Arrogant sure but none of the others. In many scenes of the film he acts on his own to achive his goals (like go to the elephant graveyard) and does shows concern for friends like Nala, even trying to defend her from the Hyenas, showing he is not entirely blind to his mistakes and doesn't want other to pay the price for them. That's why the death of Mufasar is so traumatizing for him, with Simba feeling that his father died because he once again he came to rescue him from a problem he put himself in.
Also, I understand Simba not suspecting Scar being resposible for his father death since that would be a terrible thing for kid to think about, the idea that not only he lost his father but the responsible is his uncle, another member of his family and one he is very close.
Simba was just sad that's right! He just wasn't sure until he'd learn about Hakuna Matata. But then, later on, Rafiki gave him a 'bump' of knowledge 😉to get him back on track in The Circle Of Life
In Simba’s defense is was youthful naïve and unaware the weight that will one day be place on his shoulders and the process for a prince to a king does take years worth’s of training, discipline and patience. And which are things Timon and pumba didn’t give simba any of.
9:52, technically Scar explicitly told him not to go to the Elephant Graveyard specifically because Scar knew Simba well enough to know that telling him not to go there would get him to do exactly that.
11:47, my impression was that Mufassa was Simba’s inner voice taking the form of his father rather than a literal ghost and that was the reason for the “remember who you are” and the “He lives in you”.
8:51, to be fair his personality as an adult comes from having seen his father brutally killed and having spent most of his life in self-imposed exile.
Its a mix of trauma and guilt. He realizes that he needs to fight when he forced to face that trauma
@@wrenholder8436 Exactly
I’d say the biggest thing I disagree with is Simba wanting his father to die (although, I could be wrong). When he found out that he was gonna be king one day, I believe he thought that it was gonna be like how a new president enters office; the former one doesn’t die, they just step down. My reasoning behind that is when Mufasa actually *did* die, he didn’t get excited about it, and say “Alright. It’s my turn now.” . As I said, I could be wrong, and I can use that same instance. If he knew that his father had to die before he could take over, and he couldn’t wait for it, the stampede could’ve been an example of “Be careful what you wish for.”
No, you're right. Mufasa never specified that he needed to die first in order for Simba to be King. Mufasa was very wishy-washy around that detail, even when talking about the Great Kings and whether he and Simba will always be together. He likely wanting to wait until Simba was older to hit him with the harder facts of life, but didn't live long enough for that to happen - forcing Simba to learn it the hard way.
He probably didn't even consider the death of Mufasa, or maybe how he would step down at all, when he looked forward to being a king. Children often dont see the full consequences, details and how things hang together. I doubt children wanting to be pirates have a realistic impression of what that is for example. Adults may not always do either, but they are generally better at it than children.
It could also be that for the similarities between Can't Wait to be King and Be Prepared the video makes, the key difference is right there in the title. Simba is excited and can't wait to get the power and freedom being King would entail, but he's still dreaming about *when* he'll be King. He's impatient with all the eagerness of a child before their birthday but he still doesn't expect it to come until he's older. Maybe a few years, maybe a decade but he's dreaming about it. Be Prepared on the other hand is telling everyone it's coming NOW. Scar is through with waiting since the birth of Simba put him further from the throne. He's ready to take it. They do have similar beats as to both of Simba's and Scar's motivation, but one is a fantasy, the other is a threat.
I also always thought that he was too young to understand that his dad would have to die first. He was too innocent and excited for there to be any other explanation, IMO.
Yeah, you're right, Simba never knew that his father had to die to become king, he was just hoping any day that he would be king and then do whatever he wants to! It's just like saying that when you are little and say that once you grow up you will ban homework or something else like that, but you don't realize how important it is until you've grown. (I'm not a nerd)
Scar didn't send him to the elephant graveyard and explicitly told him not to go there. Simba is also a child who is supposed to be like 8-12 years old and while standing directly next to his father's corpse his uncle, that no one has ever told him to not trust, is telling him he is responsible and acting horrified by what has happened. Children that age will hide a lot of things or even run away if they think they will be in trouble with their parents, and Scar uses that to manipulate this kid that just watched his beloved father die, his still warm body is barely a foot away, and then he runs until he passes out. When he wakes up two people tell him they understand pain but that pushing down these bad feelings is the best way to handle it. Simba was literally told to repress his thoughts about it by his new caretakers and so he never examined what happened. He probably doesn't even remember the conversation he had with Scar. I lost my father young, I was 11, I remember only that I was told he was gone. I don't remember who else was at the house, I don't remember what we ate that day or any other conversations. I only remember "I'm sorry, honey, he is gone" and it is very likely that Simba will only remember "What have you done?" "If it weren't for you he'd still be alive." "What will your mother think?" and "Run. Run away and never return." and not even recall Scar making a joke about his little roar, even though he echoed it himself because of how badly it hurt his pride at the time. But Simba didn't have access to therapy or media to relate to or anything else. He just had two dudes being all "bro don't think about it" the whole time. But I really love the comparison of the two songs, and pointing out how Simba could have turned out that way, really gave me a fresh angle to watch this movie with.
Hakuna Matata and Let It Go are both catchy songs where the main character living by their principles caused disaster.
The later is just a tiny bit more visually impressive lol.
And overplayed
Wasn't Hakuna Matata also overplayed?
I think Hakuna Matata did Simba a service for a while. It meant he could let go of his sadness and trauma and he could understand that he can't change things like his father falling off a cliff. It's when he then takes that philosophy and applies it to responsibility that it's a problem.
9:28, because up until that point Scar hadn’t actually shown his evil to Simba at all.
Didn't Mufasa say "So whenever you feel alone, just remember. Those kings will always be there to guide you. And so will I"? To me, that's the setup for the Mufasa ghost scene later on. I actually don't recall Mufasa ever telling Simba that he'd someday no longer be able to give him advice. All he said was that one day, he'd cease to be king.
Other than that little nitpick, though, great vid! I gotta admit I had never noticed how much the ending shots of Be Prepared & IJCWTBK visually rhyme with each other!
I think Mufasa's ghost giving Simba advice is more of a metaphor of him remembering his father and what he taught more than an actual ghost/spirit apearing
I find it interesting how Simba acts like this in the first film then in the sequel it feels like he realized this with how much he emphasized to Kiara how important her future responsibilities will be as if he wants to prevent her from going a similar route he did.
Gotta say, that comparison of Scar and Simba's songs blew my mind, especially those ending shots! I must've seen TLK a million times and never noticed the parallels before.
While I do at least partly agree with you that Simba running away was due to his laziness and lack of responsibility, I don't think it's fair to say that the guilt he feels for supposedly causing his father's death doesn't play an equal role in his motivation. I know it seems like Simba comes off as kind of dumb, not once seeming to question Scar's involvement in the events before and after the stampede, but the reason he never questions Scar when Scar blames him for Mufasa's death is a simple one... Simba's a kid, and Scar is his uncle; he's an older authority figure in Simba's life, one he trusts, one he even seems to have a somewhat playful relationship with. It's obvious that Simba can be quite naïve and has no idea that this trusted adult figure in his life has any ulterior motives, so when Mufasa is killed and Scar tells Simba that it's his fault, what is this poor, traumatized kid supposed to think? Unfortunately adult authority figures taking advantage of a child's trust and naiveté in order to manipulate or abuse them happens far too often, and Simba is just another example of this. Simba never saw Scar throw his father off the cliff, after all, plus he mistakenly believes that his "roar" is what caused the stampede in the first place (tho to be fair I missed this detail for years till it was pointed out to me), so this made it easy for Scar to gaslight him.
So why doesn't Simba question it when he gets older? Well, just because he grows older doesn't mean he's grown any wiser, and with Timon and Pumbaa constantly telling him to forget his past, Simba probably doesn't ruminate on the odd circumstances surrounding his father's death too often, nor does he have anyone to reassure him that what happened wasn't his fault. The trauma and overwhelming guilt and shame from back then are all still swimming around inside his head, haunting him. The reason he doesn't attempt to go back and attempt to set things right sooner is because he's terrified of how the other lions, especially his mother, will look at him, knowing what he did. The completion of his arc doesn't *just* come when he decides to return, but rather it's when he's finally able to confront his guilt and admit to everyone that he was responsible for Mufasa's death... and then Scar guilts him anyway and then confesses, effectively letting Simba off the hook which kind of muddies the message, but the point is Simba *does* eventually confront his fear.
Anyway, looking forward to more videos, my dude :)
Right on!
Same
As far as the ghost thing, the older I got the more I feel like Mufasa isn't literally there. Rafiki knew Mufasa's voice was still a part of Simba, but messing around with his friends had taught him to ignore it. Rafiki forced Simba to confront the fact that his father's voice was still there inside him, and knew he would feel ashamed from what he would say.
Or possibly Rafiki slipped him drugs. Also a possibility.
I don't know if it's fair to hold not figuring out Scar's scheme against Simba, as far as he knew Scar didn't send him and Nala to the elephant graveyard on purpose, Simba just believes he accidentally let it slip because Scar acted like he accidentally let it slip, and he has no reason to question if his uncle really didn't want him to know about the graveyard as his true nature is really only nade obvious to the audience.
Same for the death of Mufasa, the stampede was synchronized with his roaring, and the guilt he already felt after the graveyard accident only helped reinforcing the idea that he fucked up again, and Scar's manipulation works because his blaming of Simba for the death of his brother is a completely justified reaction, and he sees his banishment as a merciful punishment by a still benevolent if heart broken family member, as far as Simba is concerned he is guilty, add to that the fact he went on to live with Timon and Pumba, who explicitly taught him to live in the now and forget the past it's not hard to see why Simba isn't that retrospective, even after getting the courage to come back he doesn't do so to get revenge, his only conflict with Scar is what Nala told him about Scar's poor reigning as king, and he's willing to come clean about causing the accident that killed his father, Scar being bad at governing isn't necessarily decisive proof he orchestrated Mufasa's death.
You are right about how Simba was immature even as an adult trying to escape his past and responsibilities, but he's not an incompetent idiot because he didn't unmask Scar's deception before it was revealed to him, it's called deception for a reason, and yeah you can argue that it wasn't really subtle, but it's a movie made to be fairly easy to follow for children, and we get to know the real villain unlike the characters in the film.
As a kid I was beaten until I cried every time I went to school only to go to what the US would call high school where I was bullied for being different every single day.
To cut a long story short even after becoming an adult and fighting of certain self terminating urges during my teen years I always saw myself as the bad guy. Even when teachers gave me bruises or threw me into showers and pipes I never saw them as in the wrong until earlier this year (I’m in my early 20s now).
TLDR: Yes. Simba would absolutely think he killed his father and that Scar was completely innocent. He was a kid and kids believe adults even when the adults are evil.
This has nothing to do with the movie or this video, but good for you for realizing. That's something to be proud of.
I think something that was undermined both in this video and the remake is that Scar is extremely charismatic and manipulative. Children aren’t the best judges of character even as they grow and become adults which would be why Simba trusts his uncle so blindly. No child would be quick to believe that someone they genuinely look up to, and believe cares and loves them would actually want to hurt them. When Simba and Scar interact earlier in the movie you can see that Simba absolutely adores his uncle and Scar feeds that adoration and trust with the way he talks to Simba. Carefully planting seeds for ideas like going to the elephant graveyard so that Simba believes he came up with those ideas himself. Sorry, The Lion King is a huge special interest of mine and I get really excited to talk about it 👀
10:01, after witnessing his father’s brutal death he had bigger fish to fry then wondering what the surprise was
Simba thought he caused the stampede, therefore feeling responsible for his father dying trying to save him again. He had no idea the hyenas caused the stampede and that Scar pushed Mufasa off the cliff. Then Scar shows up and affirm his guilt by placing the blame on him and telling him to run away because everyone will hate Simba for killing the beloved Mufasa. So that sets up Simba to run away from his problems which hauna Matta reaffirms but shift his mood from being depressed(by keep thinking about it) to being able to move on( by not thinking about it)
Here's one thing that sets Scar apart from a lot of villains...His plan works, and he succeeded in taking the throne. Simba was a cub when he ran away, it takes nearly 4 years for cubs to mature, and 3 to 4 years is a long time for a lion, which means Scar was ruling the pride lands for a long time.
Thanos and Killmonger’s plans worked too.
yeah most Disney villains go for the kill at the end of the movie. By then it's too late for them to succeed. Scar goes for it at the end of the first act
Most of what you said I agree with and noticed when watching the movie myself, however I do not agree with the last point about Mufasa.
Mufasa said that he would always be there to guide him, however in the end it is Simba who must decide to take responsibility. Mufasa's ghost appearing doesn't contradict anything as it is meant to be symbolic of the fact that Mufasa lives on within Simba as long as Simba remembers who he is.
Incoming, unsolicited essay, but first and foremost, I'm so happy for the trivia and for your making this! It got me to flex my brain, and I look forward to rooting through more of your channel!
Definitely agreed on Scar and Simba being very similar, but I think that's less because Simba's thoroughly petty and lazy and more that Scar is, despite all his elevated vocabulary and charisma, EXTREMELY childish.
Simba definitely had moments of being a little butt, but he still turned around to save Nala and went back to try and help Zazu in the Elephant Graveyard chase. And even despite being trapped and obviously about to be chomped, right up at the end he still got in front of his friend and did what little he could to be a protector.
With Mufasa's guidance, I don't think he would have grown up like Scar at all--the film makes the point that Scar even as a grown lion with years (so to speak) of being a ruler is STILL stuck in "I'm king, I can do whatever I want" mode and is stunted in his maturity. Meanwhile Simba was immature because he was a kid.
Simba told by a loved and trusted adult that he NEEDED to leave, even if he were able to stop and think for a moment, he was also being chased with murderous intent. Between "If it wasn't for you he'd still be alive" and "If you ever come back, we'll kill ya", turning back to face his imagined responsibility wasn't an option when he was small, and then when he grew up it was under the watch of creatures with no sense of duty. You retain more of the lessons you get from say 8-20 than you would 0-8, but Simba still figures it out in the end.
And then even if Simba did run around the hyenas and did come back, Scar still would have assumed the throne because Simba's a kid, and would have undoubtedly kept trying to murder him OR all the lionesses see Scar was lying about Simba's death and either leave or try to fight Scar and the hyenas.
I think Hakuna Matata gets a bit of an unfair wrap because even though it IS explicitly about saying eff it to responsibility, it's also sung in the context of two dudes who were outcasts intent on not living to the standards of people who didn't want them around (TLK 1 1/2 is context we don't get yet, so I'm bypassing it) who both thought they were dealing with a little kid going through the same. If Simba ever told them the whole story, I wonder what would have happened but as is they saw an 8....maybe 12 year old equivalent get kicked out of their home--anyone who just shoves off a kid that young DOES actually suck, so with that mindset raising him as they came to live makes sense, and it makes sense that Simba wouldn't question it or think about going back at all. . And even then, once they know their friend has a problem, they show up to help as best they can. Their lackadaisical ways are conditional, while Scar's are a deep, unyielding flaw.
This got long and weird, but I'm glad for the brain exercise! ^w^
I will disagree. Mufasa is a large part of the reason for Scar's actions because Mufasa is extremely prideful. We don't know how he would have grown up under Mufasa if Scar hadn't taken the actions he did, but he would have likely belittled others for little reason as his Father did.
It's ok, it's not long or weird, I'd too have something so long to say jaja: let's see Simba and Scar were similar but with Mufasa's guidance and lessons maybe he could have been better, as a child he even had positive traits and the potential to think about others, even if sometimes he is a little spoiled, and it's true we retain lessons better when we get older. But I also appreciate that Timon, Pumba and Simba are still friends even if Simba no longer lives in the Hakuna Matata way, and even Timon and Pumbaa went to help him fight for his kingdom; besides, when they found him, they were learning more about duty, if we also saw TLK 1 1/2, right?: They took him in because they knew what it felt like to be an outcast by others, and it is really terrible that a small child have go through this and be thrown out of the house helpless, this was what they thought and also because they knew that feeling, they wanted to help him
Technically mufasa never said that he wouldn’t always help simba, he said the opposite. Mufasa himself told simba that the great kings of the past (who are all dead) would be there to guide simba, and so would mufasa himself. So mufasa appearing before simba as a ghost is him keeping his promise.
In Simba's defense, Scar told him "not" to go to the elephant graveyard. In his mind Scar was a cool edgy uncle looking out for him
Then with the stampede I always felt Simba got the impression that the echo of his roar caused the wild beast to run. And Mufasa just happened to be there because he was coming with a surprise. Then the angle from which Simba stood probably didn't let him see Scar throw Mufasa down, he just saw his dad fall.
Putting in more points in this song being the best villain song ever.
Thank you for the in depth look at this song and the side by side analysis of 'Just Can't Wait To Be King. I'm a major fan of Scar and was once reading an article that referred to Scar and Simba as two characters who were "parallel yet opposite." You seem to have well encapsulated this idea with your take; pointing out their many parallels and how they could have easily had similar fates. It was only through the on set of multiple out-side encounters that Simba was able to reach an opposite outcome. You highlight the nuance of the story in a refreshingly tangible way and your insights are much appreciated :)
Thank you very much! I'm glad you liked the video!
what i like about the scene is how the sin envy is represented through green (the lighting of the setting, the steam and even his eye color since his motive is envy), then as soon as scar becomes angry later throughout the song, everything becomes red, representing wrath (red being the color stereotypically associated with wrath, just like how envy is supposed to be green)
I've always thought that if Mufasa hadn't died Simba would've grown up to be like early movie Kuzco. But I've never really noticed how similar he was to Scar
I absolutely love this video, it was fascinating, I’ve never thought about the movie like this. And while I agree with most of your points, there’s only a few issues.
For one thing, Mufasa never told Simba that he wouldn’t be around to give him advice. It was the opposite, and I’m only pointing this out because you’re missing a key point of the movie if that’s how you’re remembering it. He quite literally says, “The stars will always be there to guide you when you feel alone, and so will I.” And a huge part of Rafiki’s message was “He lives in you.”
Also, Scar didn’t “send” Simba to the elephant graveyard. He tricked and goaded him into going by essentially telling him that only the bravest lions have gone there, knowing that Simba would have wanted to prove himself. Simba really had no reason to believe that it was a set up or that Scar was manipulating him. And I mean, you can’t really fault him for not suspecting anything about Scar because that’s his uncle. No one thinks that their family would harm them, have malicious intentions towards them, or wouldn’t have their best interest at heart. Even real world adults struggle with that concept (and clearly, Mufasa did too, if he never really thought of this outcome as a possibility), let alone children.
HECK YES, one of my favorite songs being dissected by one of my favorite content creators. I have to admit that my level of nostalgia for this movie was such that I didn’t sit down to analyze these parallels, but now it’s clear how the best villains are the one’s that most resemble the protagonist to a personal, moral level.
To me, the most impactful villains are those who assimilate real life human flaws, Scar manages just that, and it being a direct protagonist is a chilling realization. Not even protagonists in Disney movies are far from becoming villains themselves, not unlike us humans actually, but that’s a whole other can of worms.
Loved the video, thanks man
Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed it! I always thought it was odd that the themes in “Be Prepared” didn’t get much attention
This is why Ed is the best character. He hits the high notes
What I like about this song: It’s a syncopated heroic hexameter.
He believes he is the hero of his story, but he is actually crazy.
I always viewed mufasa appearing in the clouds as Simba's guilt manifesting. After all it seems rather convenient that only after years of neglecting his duties on a very specific instance of mufasa being brought up that he appears. I suppose there's also that bit with the crazy baboon but we got to work in the side character somewhere I guess.
Another thing I noticed is that when the Hakuna Matata song is ending, notice how the scene infront of the characters, particularly near Simba is getting greener, and in the same Scar's song has it's entire theme revolving around the colour green, and one thing to know about Disney is that they seemingly marketed green as being an evil colour, with an example being Maleficent and how green practically follows her wherever she goes, same with Scar and now that Simba has been enveloped in an atmosphere of green, that could also tie in with his increasing selfishness.
I dont think he was selfish until Nala asked him to come back, told him how bad it was and he refused. Until then he thought everyone was better off without him
8:02, I knew that Scar and Simba were foils for one another though I never noticed these specific details before
Scar smoking sounds so on brand
I kinda knew Jeremy Irons was smoking two packs a day at the time. The hacking and coughing like crazy is all real and totally organic. I bet he stunk up the booth with the smell of cigarettes.
I love this song so much that I’ve literally had the lyrics memorized since I was 4
Part of the reason why this is the best villain song IMO that wasn’t touched upon is the fact I find this comparable to real world events, and I don’t just mean the not so subtle one in the film itself. I don’t want to give examples on risk of getting into trouble, but I can think of similar plots that fit this song to a near T.
The cigarette lore makes perfect sense. Like you can so imagine Scar smoking through the whole movie.
"One day Mufasa wouldn't be around to give him advice, and Simba has to take care of himself" versus what was said in the movie "Look at the stars, the great kings of the past look down at us from those stars...so, whenever you feel alone, just remember that those kings will always be there to guide you, and so will I." Also Simba wasn't stupid, he was an impressionable kid, scar is evil and saw opportunities to manipulate him. He always pretended to be nice to Simba so Simba wouldn't get suspicious of him. He didn't actually understand that scar lied to him until scar reveals that he was the one who killed Mufasa. Simba thinks his roaring caused the stampede, scar explicitly told him that "if it weren't for you, he'd still be alive". Scar used reverse psychology to get Simba to the elephant graveyard, and Scar manipulates Simba into thinking that he is responsible for his father's death. I also don't even think Hakuna-Matata is strictly a bad message, Simba couldn't have immediately returned to pride rock, he was traumatised and devastated by what happened, Timon and Puumba decided to be his friends, and they showed him a place where he can feel safe. This isn't like the 2019 version where Timon and Puumba are nihilists who justify crappy behaviour because nothing matters, in the original they just want to feel well. "No worries" is only part of the message, even the wise Rafiki tells Simba that this doesn't matter, because it is in the past: "but the past still can hurt, but the way I see it you can either run from it, or learn from it", this is when Simba faces his responsibilities. Simba has healed, he is no longer selfish and now he is ready to step in his fathers footsteps, because he continues Mufasa's legacy through himself. I do agree with the reading of the musical numbers, however you have not criticised the lion king fairly in this video.
I actually heard a ways back that, Simba isn't really talking to Mufasa, but rather his own conscience in that scene, and that really, Nala's return caused his doubts and suspicious that he buried years ago to come back to the surface.
A super interesting take, love this analysis honestly have never thought deeply about the Lion King. Its amazing visually, but I guess i forget the composition when it comes to it as art
This was amazing analysis and wow your channel is blowing up! Last time I watched a video of yours you had 5,000 subscribers and the first time I watched a video of yours you had 4,000 subscribers and now you're at 17,000 that's pretty amazing
Found this channel today and it’s great,
Really entertaining and makes me want to make character stills and just make videos talking about something I’m passionate I’m about
...I was not expecting this deep a psych dive into this song and film from a random algorithm suggestion. Great job!
This video is brilliant. I never noticed over half of the points you made here before, and am amazed now that they're pointed out.
Uhh holy shit. This is one of the best video essays I've ever watched. Lion King is one of my all time favorite movies and you brought up points I never even thought of.
A rare recommendations win.
11:40 Wellllllll...Yes and NO! See Simba DID see Mufasa's Ghost, but he ALSO saw what has also been debated as his recognizing how he MUST be a different person when Dashiki tells him "He lives within you". Simba separating himself, who he had come to know to be incompetent, from his father was in fact his acknowledging he was wrong to leave the pridelands even WITH Scar still in power. Also Mufasa said the great kings of the past would always look out for Simba "...And so will I", which he DID in this scene! Simba see's his father because he now "feels the weight of the crown" and is still willing to fight for Pride Rock. "This is MY Kingdom. If I don't fight for it, Who will?"
ah yes my favorite charter in the lion king...DASHIKI
I agree with this analysis but I want to add that when he is comparing kid simba to scar is stupid. First of all Simba is basically the equivalent of an eighth year old so he is going to be selfish because he lacks emotional maturity. Second of course simba sees his uncle as good when he was kid because scar is manipulative. Their song are similar but the main difference is simbas song is based of this childish look on life while scar's song is purely out of malice and evil
I've literally never noticed these two songs having such a parallel, it's insane how much there is to this.
This was a great video, I never saw this connection made before, very unique!
Scar is such a good villain because he's, put simply, is what Simba would be like if he never matured.
Your rhyming character note is analogous to the Foil trope. We stan narrative devices in this family
Honestly Dr. Facilier is probably the last traditional Disney villain and his musical number was a banger🔥
Mother Gothal wasn't bad but she didn't have that extra oomf
Hans though, he was the death of classic villains because his actions make zero sense.😂
I mentioned this to myself, but the key aspect of this film is the contrast between two respective successors to the throne who both thought they knew better and became consumed by their divided ideologies to think about the greater outcomes of the overall situation. Mufasa and the lionesses represent the counterbuffer on one hand, that of responsibility, and the hyenas represent the other, of self-survival, with Rafiki and Zazu bridging the dividing lines for sake of the Kingdom, and Timon and Pumbaa bridging lines just to stay alive.
Simba half-consciously allowed the impact of his father to consume his mind, and needed support to defend what he refused to accept as less even when Scar pulled it out of the rug on him, hence why he refused to confront Scar and take Nala's lack of care very seriously. On the other hand Scar had a sense of who he was but to him it was one divided by a 100, where he thought animals who only lived to eat (hyenas) and abide restrictive orders (lions) was a woeful existence, hence he did not take the hyenas and lionesses seriously when they raised their concerns, expecting them to get the hint even though he only caused divided views to tense up further.
Regards, Samuel Farris.
I always thought Simba wasn’t a good person, and that his “I want” song was kinda terrible for his kingdom, but I didn’t think about how similar he is to Scar. I applaud you, sir.
11:40 Actually Mufasa did say that he would be there to give him advice.
Quote- "The great kings of the past look down on us from those stars. So whenever you feel alone, just remember that those kings will always be there to guide you, and so will I."
Love this analysis! It's almost on par with your Hellfire analysis, but it's hard to beat that. Anyway, great stuff! I love that you point out how the hero and villain have the same flaws, but the hero grows past them.
Out of all the disney villain songs and non-disney villain songs......as well as all the songs in LK, "Be Prepared" was and still is the ONLY villain song I still know in full, by heart.
The fact it was hastily rushed into the realism CG remake really tells ya all you need to know about how they saw the original film.
I will point out the fact that it wasn't because he felt responsible for his father's death. It was that he got blamed for his father's death and, the superior in his eyes, exiled him to never return. In his eyes "Uncle Scar" was a family member who wouldn't betray him. It's much less "leaving and abandoning" and more "exiled prince".
Not vouching that he is a good character before return to monkey, but I feel you're underplaying the impact of scar telling him he killed his father and should be exiled for it.
At 9:23 when you complain Simba never figured these things out, I have to say, that the assumptions we make as little kids are so deeply imbedded, we will never question them unless an outside influence brings them to our attention. For example, my mother used to sing a song to me every morning as far back as I had memory. It so perfectly encapsulated how much she loved me, I always "knew" she had written that song just for me. As a teenager, she put on a record, and there was Petula Clark singing "My Love". You could have knocked me over with a feather. I never realized it was a real song, lol.
Someone else I knew never questioned what their mother said, that they stopped buying laundry dryer sheets because they cause cancer. Years later, she's shopping with her boyfriend and he throws a box of dryer sheets into the cart. She says no, they cause cancer, and her boyfriend pointed out how silly that was. Then, once she questioned her assumption, she realized her mother was simply too embarrassed to admit the family was short on money so she was cost-cutting by not getting dryer sheets. But she never would have realized if someone hadn't actively made her question her assumptions.
Also, the land fell apart when Scar was king because there is a mystical connection between the King and the land, and the land knew he wasn't the rightful king so it mirrored that by having a famine.
I'm so glad someone finally pointed this out! At least, I finally seen someone who has xD I've been foaming at the mouth over their similarities for years!
Also! The songs are pretty similar in beat too! The first few beats of each song have the same rhythm of thumping to it! It's a little hard to describe with words alone since I'm not very music savvy haha But that's what finally clued me in that Scar was a mirror to Simba and your points only hammered it home!
Though this was barely about the song itself, it's an interesting take on the characters and themes of the movie
God I stumbled across your channel today and I already love it!!
I really love the Lion King! But your reasons as to how similar Simba and Scar are really true. Makes me rethink what the movie actually is. Great job!
That is a beautiful comparison you have made of the songs.
3:27 needed a "remember this, it'll come up in 2019."
I've never thought about this movie this way but I think it really makes sense to me now
Damn bro u gave me a whole new perspective on my favorite movie it makes it even better for me
After the cigarette trivia, I can't get the image of Scar with a cigarette out of my head.
11:41 This scene is not ruining the narration.
First, Mufasa's ghost symbolizes the main theme of The Lion King; The Circle of Life; birth, death and rebirth. (It also does some good worldbuilding I think.)
Second, this scene is better to be interpreted that way: the ghost is actually Simba realising that Mufasa never really left him and that his father lives on through him, by keeping memory of him and his wisdom alive in his heart.
Third, more from the technical point of view, the directors themselves said in the Making of The Lion King that the story was missing something significant, some strong reason why Simba would make his way home. (Plus, they said they really liked how the character of Mufasa came out.)And, since one of the inspirations for the movie was the biblical story of Moses, they decided to have 'their own burning bush scene' and that's how the famous Mufasa's Ghost Scene was born. (Fun fact: it was the last scene that was created for the movie, some pencil tests of it can be found on YT.) So, yeah, technicaly, it is a plot device after all but I think it can be forgiven, since it was supposed to be an animated movie mainly for families with their kids so some things needed to be simplified I guess. I myself love this scene so much, it's just so epic and heartwarming at the same time, with Hanz Zimmer music in the background, one of my favourite scenes.
By the way, great analyzis, I really enjoy it. (I thought I knew everything about this movie so the cigarettes fact really did suprised me :D).
I love that you touched on the fact that Be Prepared was inspired by the real world, but there was some controversy in Germany and South Korea. To be able to release Lion King in Germany, Disney had to list the first footage released to the outside world from inside North Korea as a source of inspiration, which makes sense. To be able to release Lion King in South Korea, Disney had to list the 1934 Berlin rally in Germany as a source of inspiration. The first footage released to the outside world from inside North Korea and the 1934 Berlin rally in Germany was kind of a perfect combination because the sets of footage are eerily similar because one looks like what would have happened if the other regime survived.
Be prepared always give me the good chills, my favourite villain song by far
Huh, I never thought of it like that before. That's quite insightful.
This was FASCINATING
Omg thank you! Glad someone is finally saying Simba was just as bad & arrogant. The whole point/core of the film. Growth. Circle of life.
I love when movies reference history.
I never thought about the songs being juxtaposed…great video!
Only pushback on Mufasa: he did tell Simba that the Great Kings of the Past would be there to guide him…and he did.
The comparison of the two songs is quite the awesome catch! Really impressed with your powers of observation and how you presented the evidence. It's funny how you mention Scars environment which shouldn't be interesting and yet turns out to be a masterpiece of design and cinema. With more recent movies like Tangled, it really bothered me how they just borrowed from live stage plays to do the musical parts. ITS AN ANIMATION! YOU CAN DO ANYTHING IN ANIMATION AND YOU SHOULD. Anyway, I loved Tangled, but I really wish they did a lot more with the musical parts. Also if Disney treated the Lion King like they did Star Wars, they definitely would make Simba the bad guy for the next movie as a failed king and he'd have to be replaced with a much stronger lioness.
9:48 Scar never sent Simba to the elephant graveyard. He pretended to accidentally inform Simba what was in the lands beyond the Pridelands and then made him promise he wouldn't go there, because Scar was playing it up to the hilt pretending to be concerned for Simba knowing full well that Simba was going to go there anyway.
11:41 Mufasa never told him he wouldn't be around one day to give him advice. He actually tells him the exact opposite. He tells him that should he ever feel alone, he should look to the stars, as they are the great kings of the past, and that they will always be there to guide him, as will he. Mufasa appearing in the clouds is actually him fulfilling a promise he made to his son when Simba is at his darkest moment.
Other than that, great analysis. I never connected the two endings to their songs mirroring each other even though I picked up that the songs themselves are mirroring each other. It's little details like that that puts Lion King on such a high pedestal for brilliance in animation.
Now I'll forever be picturing Scar holding a cigarette in one of those long holders like Cruella DeVille used.
Hi, this was a good video. I have a lot to say about it, and most of it's going to be critical, but be assured: I really do think this was a good video.
Firstly, I agree that there are interesting visual and metaphorical parallels between "I Just Can't Wait To Be King" and "Be Prepared," and I hadn't really noticed them until you pointed them out. The fact that both songs are about the main singer looking starry-eyed at the throne brings to light the fact that both Simba and Scar are arrogant and mistaken about the wider array of responsibilities required for running a kingdom. And the similarities really illustrate just how childish Scar comes off when he acts like he's the greatest lion in the world.
But I think you get a fuller picture when you also analyze the way in which these songs contrast with one another. The entire point of "I Just Can't Wait To Be King" is to illustrate Simba's naivety and immaturity. The ballad is meant to be entirely ironic in nature, because the apparent meaning of "I want to be king" for Simba is completely different from the intended meaning. The intended meaning is outlined in the song: "I want to be respected, and to be able to do whatever I want and get my way all the time." The apparent meaning (which, as you point out, Simba doesn't fully grasp) is "I want my dad to die so that I can take on all the responsibilities of running a kingdom." On the other hand, there's no irony in "Be Prepared." Scar is completely aware that becoming king will require killing Mufasa and Simba. He doesn't care. He's ruthless and cold-blooded, and Simba is just ignorant of what his wish actually means.
Secondly, and this may come off as a nitpick, but I think it bears mentioning: Zazu is not an underling to Simba in "I Just Can't Wait To Be King." It's the other way around: Simba is subordinate to Zazu. Zazu is the adult. He's the one looking after Simba and Nala. He's the one who's meant to keep an eye on them and tell them where they can and can't go. That's why Simba and Nala conspired to get rid of him before the song, and that's why Mufasa was upset with him after he had to save the two cubs from the hyenas. Perhaps you mean to say that Zazu is smaller and weaker than Simba, and Simba pushes him around because he can. Which is fair, and you have a good point when you compare the way in which both Simba and Scar mistreat the animals smaller than them. It shows that Simba is kind of a jerk. But the fact that Zazu is the one in charge really makes the dynamics at play different. By pushing Zazu around, Simba is doing two things: firstly, he's wearing Zazu out so that he can run away from him later. And secondly, he's posturing. He's saying, "You can't tell me what to do." This is subtly different from Scar's mistreatment of the hyenas, which is Scar's way of saying, "You're going to do what I say." Simba wants to be king because he doesn't want people bossing him around. Scar wants to be king because he wants to be the boss.
Thirdly, you have to treat young Simba and old Simba as different characters. His experience at the stampede caused him to undergo massive transformations in his personality, as did the years he spent with Timon and Pumbaa. When Nala found him again, he didn't resemble the Simba that Nala had known in the slightest. So it's not really appropriate to treat these characters as one in the same when comparing them to Scar. Is Scar arrogant, petty, and lazy? Yes, absolutely, all three. Is young Simba arrogant, petty, and lazy? Arrogant, yes. Petty, sure. Lazy, absolutely not. He only became lazy after growing up with Timon and Pumbaa. Before that, he would run around, play, explore, hunt, bug his dad early in the morning, and fight back when he needed to. It's old Simba that's lazy. But is old Simba arrogant? Hell no! All of his arrogance was stripped away from him the moment he saw his father die. His arrogance was replaced with self-loathing, and his pettiness was replaced with grief. Scar is all of Simba's worst characteristics from before and after his transformation, but at no point are he and Simba alike in all three of these ways.
Fourthly, I really don't know what you mean when you talk about Simba being aloof and callous towards his position. He was the exact opposite of aloof and callous when he was a child. He only became aloof and callous when he decided to run away from his past. If you mean to say that he was aloof and callous during the scene where he met Timon and Pumbaa for the first time, I think he didn't even put two and two together at that point. And if he did, he certainly reasoned that nobody would WANT him to be king, given that he believes he was responsible for Mufasa's death. Scar told him to run away and never return, and Simba decided that maybe for once, he should actually do what the grown-ups tell him.
Fifthly, where in the movie did Scar give Simba any reason to believe that he killed Mufasa? Those subtle hints he gave are only not-so-subtle when you already know what's going on. But Simba had no idea. Scar never told Simba that he wanted to be king. He was never neglectful or mean to Simba. In fact, he was downright cordial most of the time, pretending to care for Simba's wellbeing and acting all friendly and cool. Simba didn't have the luxury of hearing Scar sing "Be Prepared" before the plan was hatched. As far as Simba was aware, Scar was a competent, responsible adult who had no ill intentions and was always looking out for him. He'd never experienced betrayal before in his life, so why would he sniff it out with Scar? In Simba's mind, there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for what happened: he roared, caused the stampede, and got his father killed. There's no mystery that needs solving, no unanswered questions that need resolution, and no reason to think twice about his idea of how things happened.
Sixthly, I think you really badly misunderstood something during the first half of the movie, because nowhere in the movie did Mufasa say that one day, he wouldn't be around anymore. He said the EXACT opposite: "Let me tell you something my father told me. Look at the stars. The great kings of the past look down on us from those stars. So whenever you feel alone, just remember that those kings will always be there to guide you. *And so will I.*" And if you forgot that line during the first half of the movie, then Simba repeated it in the second half: "You said you would always be there! But you're not. And it's because of me." The narrative structure of Simba has less to do with learning how to do things on his own without his father's guidance, and more to do with accepting his place in the circle of life.
I've actually thought the same thing about Scar and Simba being similar, at least kid Simba. KId Simba "I'm future king, you have to do what I tell you."
Scar: "I am the king. I can do whatever I want."
That's where I saw the similarities. I had never considered the song, which is still stronger evidence.
Neither see the job as having responsibility.
Loved this video for putting it out there.
Simba's personality is similar to Scar without the over pronounced narcissism. I agree he wouldn't be a good leader though I doubt he'd be murderous. Disagree though that Mufasa said he wouldn't be able to give him advice. You could argue, liberally interpreting his lesson about the great kings of the past looking down on him as what Mufasa was doing.
dude ive BEEN saying thisssss like its my favourite song in disney history gives me goosebumps