The Lion King References in The Lion Guard

This page contains a list of all known references made to The Lion King films in The Lion Guard.

The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar

 * The beginning sunrise is almost identical to the very beginning of The Lion King.
 * Simba and Kiara observing the sunrise from the peak of Pride Rock and their discussion mirrors the scene in the first film featuring young Simba and his father, Mufasa.
 * As Bunga holds up the baobab fruit, he is standing in the exact spot where Rafiki stood when he presented Simba to the Pride Landers.
 * When Bunga is surrounded by Cheezi and Chungu, Kion tells them to pick on someone their own size, which is the same thing Simba told the original hyenas, Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed, in The Lion King.
 * The way Cheezi nods his head rapidly mirrors the way Ed the hyena nods in The Lion King.
 * The way Janja is perched on the top on the volcano with his clan is similar to the way Scar sat on the peak with his hyena army in The Lion King.
 * Mzingo circling above the gazelles under the sun references the moment in The Lion King when Simba was circled by buzzards.
 * Kion gazing into a pond during his lament is similar to when his father looked into a pond and summoned his father in The Lion King.
 * Mufasa appears to Kion when he is in doubt, just as he appears to Simba shortly before he returns to reclaim his home.
 * Kiara getting trapped in a gazelle stampede is similar to when Simba got trapped in a wildebeest stampede as a cub.
 * When Kion sees that Simba wants to talk to him he expresses the quote, "We already had that talk. Can you feel the love tonight..." is a reference to the "Can You Feel The Love Tonight?" song from the original movie.
 * The way Kion and the others were swinging their heads during the "Zuka Zama" song is a reference to Simba's and Pumbaa's head swinging during the "Hakuna Matata" song during the original movie.
 * After Rafiki informs Simba of Kion's readiness to face his destiny, he uses a quote of his from the original movie, "it is time".
 * The way Rafiki raises his staff and cheers mirrors his actions in The Lion King when Simba returns to the Pride Lands.

The Rise of Makuu

 * When Kion consults his family after Makuu challenges Pua to a Mashindano, Nala reminds her son that his father, Simba, had fought Scar in order to reclaim the throne of the Pride Lands.

Never Judge a Hyena by Its Spots

 * As Kion tries to leave the Outlands, he falls down a hill and into a thorn bush, mirroring what a young Simba did when trying to escape Banzai, Shenzi and Ed.

Bunga the Wise

 * The way Timon and Pumbaa swing from other animals is similar to the way they swung from vines during "Hakuna Matata" in The Lion King.
 * The way Rafiki meditates on a rock mirrors what he did in The Lion King.

Can't Wait to be Queen

 * The title of the episode is a reference to the song "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" from the original movie.
 * Kiara's quote, "I am the queen. And I'll do what I think is best for the Pride Lands.", is similar to when Scar says "I am the king. I can do whatever I want." in the first movie.
 * Kiara getting ambushed by Janja's Clan mirrors when Simba, Nala, and Zazu get cornered by the hyenas Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed in The Lion King.

Eye Of The Beholder

 * When Kion notices a wildebeest charging towards him, his expression is similar to the one his father made after seeing the wildebeest stampede when he was a cub.
 * When Rafiki hums while making the Lion Guard painting, his humming sounds similar to his chant: Asante sana squash banana, wewe nugu mimi hapana from The Lion King.

The Kupatana Celebration

 * The way Kion lunges onto Janja to save Dogo is similar to when Simba lunges onto Nala to protect Timon and Pumbaa in The Lion King. In addition, Janja's expression when he sees Kion jumping towards him is very similar to Nala's when she saw Simba. Also, the way they tumble down the hill and Kion ends up pinning Janja is very similar to when Nala and Simba rolled down a hill and Nala ended up pinning Simba in the end.

Fuli's New Family

 * During the buffalo stampede, the way a buffalo falls and slides toward the camera references the moment during the stampede scene in The Lion King when a wildebeest falls to the ground and slides closer to the screen. [1]
 * When Bunga feigns death and grabs a flower, he lies similar to how his uncle Timon did in The Lion King 1½. [2]

The Search for Utamu

 * Timon makes a reference to the original The Lion King film before he and Pumbaa adopted Bunga. Timon mentions that they already raised a lion, referring to how they had raised Simba.
 * When Mzingo and the vultures surround and attack Fuli while she lays tired on the ground, it mirrors the moment in The Lion King when some vultures fly around an unconscious young Simba in the desert and are about to feast on him, until Timon and Pumbaa rescue him unintentionally.

The Call of the Drongo

 * The scene where Janja, Cheezi, and Chungu watch the impalas from underneath a rock formation, as well as the scene of them overlooking the escaping impalas, is likely a reference to the original Lion King movie.
 * The way the impalas run into the gorge is almost identical to the stampede scene in The Lion King.
 * The expression on Janja's face is similar to how Simba reacted to Nala in The Lion King.

The Mbali Fields Migration

 * The way Janja, Cheezi and Chungu run down the hill after the zebras mirrors what Shenzi, Banzai and Ed did when they we're chasing young Simba.

Bunga and the King

 * The scene where Simba falls into the sinkhole is very similar to how his father plummets into the stampede in The Lion King.
 * The song "Hakuna Matata" is a throwback to the original song from The Lion King.
 * The way Simba moves his head while singing "Hakuna Matata" with Bunga mirrors the way he does it with Timon and Pumbaa.

Janja's New Crew

 * The scene where Janja, Cheezi and Chungu slide down a hill and bump one after another references when Shenzi, Banzai and Ed do this same thing when chasing young Simba, after which Banzai falls into the thorns.
 * Janja being betrayed and pushed off a ledge by his new crew bears a similarity to Mufasa was being sent off falling to his demise by Scar.
 * As the guard see Janja, Cheezi and Chungu run towards the Outlands from a cliff bears a similarity to Shenzi, Banzai and Ed looking over a cliff as they see Simba flee as a cub.

Lions of the Outlands

 * The way Zira fiddles with a jerboa as she sings Lions Over All is similar to Scar's behavior with a mouse in The Lion King.[1]
 * The way Zira watches the cockroaches crawl across the rock and then swats them off is similar to what she did to termites in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride.[2]
 * The way the Outsiders circle around Kion is similar to when they and Zira circle around Simba and Kovu in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride.
 * Zira's line to Jasiri "Now leave and do not return" when she ordered her to leave the watering hole is similiar to Scar's line to a young Simba "Run away and never return" after he blamed him for Mufasa's death and exiles him.

The Trail to Udugu

 * At the beginning of the episode, Kiara pins Kion to the ground in the same way that Nala pinned Simba to the ground when they were cubs in The Lion King.[1]
 * The end of the episode shares similarities to the ending of the Lion King 2: Simba's Pride, in which the camera zooms away from Pride Rock with four characters on the peak.[2]
 * The way Simba was hanging in the vines was the same way he was hanging in The Lion King 1½.

The Savannah Summit

 * Mbeya sitting on Zazu is similar to how Zazu is squashed by a rhinoceros at the end of the "Can't Wait to be King" sequence in The Lion King.