| We know some names of the pridal lions - Mufasa, Sarabi, Scar, Sarafina, Nala, and Simba. But who are the two other cubs spotted on screen? The cub in the forefront is being held by a lioness (picture right), which the viewer then assumes is Nala when they see her and Sarafina during the Bathing scene. However, there are a number of important differences. Firstly, and most distinctly, Sarafina and Nala have their paw toes coloured the same as their paws. The pictures females here have their toes a lighter shade from the rest of their body (put mouse over the image to see). |
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| The second factor is that during Scar's eulogy when the hyenas come to take over Pride Rock, no other cubs but Nala are shown. This can be explained away by them simply not being present, for one reason or another. However. During the eulogy, there are nine lionesses, excluding Nala. By the time Simba returns from exile, there are seven lionesses, including Sarabi and Nala. This means that two cubs and three lionesses disappeared between Scar's ascent to the throne and the true king's return. The most likely explanation for this is that, as in real life, when a male lion takes over another's pride, he will kill the cubs that are not his so the lionesses will come back into heat. |
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| I have researched into who these cubs may be, and I have a likely candidate for either one of them: the lioness cub Babu, from The Lion King: Six New Adventures series, book three (The Vulture Shock). Click the image to on the right to see the full picture; this one has been cropped in order to give her focus. There's not much known about Babu as she only has one line, though it seems she has a giggly sort of personality from both the picture and the text. However, the assumption that Babu is one of the mystery cubs in itself leaves a problem. The Lion King: Six New Adventures, while a nice set of books, are not considered canonical in the grand scheme of things. At the very most, they would count as sub-canon. To those not familiar with such terms, I will demonstrate the ranking order as is widely accepted below: |
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| The most we can do is make an educated guess. For mine, it is that they are the offspring of Mufasa and a Pridelander, they were born around about the same time as Simba (in a pride, when one lioness goes into heat, all capable go into heat also, meaning that the cubs would have to be born soon before/after the young prince), and that they were most likely killed after Scar took the throne. However, there is a more optimistic outlook; the cubs and their mothers could have fled after Scar's eulogy and returned after Simba became king, which explains why the grown-up cubs and adults are absent from the Battle of Pride Rock AND why, in Simba's Pride, there are more lionesses. |
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