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| Stampede (event) | |||
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| Event Information | |||
| Location | |||
| Participants |
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| Outcome |
• Mufasa is killed | ||
| Appearances |
• The Lion King | ||
| “ | Simba: Hey, Uncle Scar, will I like the surprise? Scar: Simba, it's to die for. |
” |
The stampede was the veiled assassination of Mufasa, the king of Pride Rock, by Scar and Shenzi's clan.
Information
Scar's plot
| “ | ” |
After Shenzi and her clan failed to kill Simba when he wandered into the Elephant Graveyard, Scar hatched a new plan to kill both Simba and his father, Mufasa. Scar took Simba to the gorge under the claim that Mufasa had a surprise for him. He left Simba alone despite the cub's protestations. Above the gorge, a large herd of wildebeests grazed, with Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed watching from afar. Just then, Scar emerged on a promontory overhead, signaling for the hyenas to instigate a stampede.[1]
Stampede
| “ | ” |
Simba practiced his roar in the gorge, after which the ground began to tremble, and wildebeests flooded into the gorge. Simba fled, but when the herd overtook him, he climbed a tree for refuge. Meanwhile, Scar informed Mufasa and Zazu that Simba was trapped in the stampede. The three hastened to the gorge, and Mufasa jumped into the stampede. Zazu resolved to fetch the pride for help, but Scar knocked him unconscious before he could leave.
Scar prepares to heave Mufasa to his death.
Suddenly, Simba's tree broke, causing Simba to be flung into the air, but Mufasa caught him in his jaws and bore him to safety. Before Mufasa could escape the stampede himself, the wildebeests knocked him back into the fray. Eventually, Mufasa jumped free and began to climb up the side of the gorge, out of sight of Simba, who left his position to meet his father at the top.
Unseen by Simba, from his precarious position, Mufasa pled for help from Scar, who was standing on a ledge above him. Instead of helping him, Scar dug his claws into Mufasa's paws and threw him to his death. Simba caught sight of his father falling and screamed in horror.[1]
Simultaneously, elsewhere in the gorge, Timon and Pumbaa were searching for their dream home. Upon seeing the oncoming stampede, they fled, eventually escaping into a nearby river.[2]
Aftermath
| “ | Simba: There were wildebeests, and he tried to save me. It was an accident! I didn't mean for it to happen! Scar: Of course, of course you didn't. No one...ever means for these things to happen... But the king is dead. And if it weren't for you, he'd still be alive. |
” |
Scar manipulates Simba into fleeing the Pride Lands.
After the stampede passed, Simba searched for Mufasa. He found his father's body at the bottom of the gorge and attempted to revive him. When Mufasa did not rise, Simba screamed for help before curling up beneath one of his father's paws. Just then, Scar appeared and accused Simba of being responsible for the death of Mufasa. He then manipulated Simba into thinking that the pride would blame him for Mufasa's death, which prompted Simba to flee the gorge. Scar then ordered the hyenas to kill Simba.
The hyenas chased Simba to a thorn thicket, where Banzai got injured, bringing the pursuit to a halt. Shenzi refused to brave the thorns, deciding to tell Scar that Simba was dead, as they expected him to perish in the desert. This allowed Simba to escape the Pride Lands.[1]
Simba's nightmare
| “ | ” |
After reluctantly admitting Kovu, Scar's chosen heir, into the pride, Simba had a nightmare about the stampede. In the nightmare, Mufasa clung to the side of the gorge, begging Simba for help. Though Simba attempted to save his father, he was held back by Scar. Losing his grip, Mufasa fell into the stampede below. Simba turned on Scar, who morphed into a cackling Kovu and heaved Simba into the stampede after Mufasa.[3]
Appearances
Behind the scenes
General
- In The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, the stampede is shown running in the wrong direction.[4]
In development
- During early production of The Lion King, Mufasa was going to save Simba from a flood instead of a stampede.[5]
- In another version, Scar lured Nala's young brother Mheetu into the stampede in an attempt to lure an adolescent Simba to his doom. Simba would've managed to rescue the cub, but nearly die in the process, resulting in Mufasa saving both of them, only to meet his downfall at the claws of Scar.[5]
- In an early script, Scar pretended to wait for Mufasa with Simba, then departed under the pretense that he was going to search for Mufasa.[6]
- Originally, Scar did not show Simba any sympathy after the stampede. Instead, he chased him out of the Pride Lands himself.[7]
Media
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Revealed in Disney's The Lion King (1994). Written by Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, and Linda Woolverton, and directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff. Distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc.
- ↑ Revealed in Disney's The Lion King 1½ (2004). Written by Tom Rogers, and directed by Bradley Raymond. Distributed by Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc.
- ↑ Revealed in Disney's The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998). Written by Flip Kobler and Cindy Marcus, and directed by Rob LaDuca and Darrell Rooney. Distributed by Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc.
- ↑ Revealed in Disney's The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998). Written by Flip Kobler and Cindy Marcus, and directed by Rob LaDuca and Darrell Rooney. Distributed by Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1
- ↑
- ↑
| The History of the Pride Lands |
| Preceded by | Reign of | Followed by |
| Simba's presentation | Mufasa | Scar's coronation |
| For more information about the history of the Pride Lands, click here. |
