Lion King 3D.

So... last night I went and saw The Lion King in 3D.

And it was glorious.

One of the neat things about watching a movie you've seen many times before in theatres is that you pick up on details that you've somehow managed to miss the umpteen times you've watched said movie in the comfort of your own home.

Most of the things I noticed were small... but I did pick up on a bit of an error in the "science" of the Lion King...

Let me set the scene.

Simba and Mufasa are surveying their kingdom, facing the rising sun from the top of Pride Rock. Everything in view that the light touches is part of their kingdom. (We know the sun is rising, because they just made a big deal of how early it is.)

Simba walks a little to the right, and notices a shadow-y area, that is not a part of their kingdom.

If you are facing into the rising sun, you are looking East. By turning to the right, Simba is looking towards the South. With me so far?

"Everything the light touches is our kingdom"
from here.

A little bit later on... Simba is talking to his uncle, Scar. In an attempt at removing Simba as heir to the throne so he can become king, Scar decides to con Simba into going to the shadow-y area, which is in fact an elephant graveyard in hyena territory.

To do so, Scar asks if Mufasa showed Simba what was "beyond the horizon on the Northern border".

Wait. What? The elephant graveyard is clearly to the South.

Maybe there was a miscommunication between the animators and the dialogue people. Maybe the lovely backdrop someone handpainted got flipped around. Maybe someone fell for the old "things happen opposite in the Southern hemisphere" deal. (The sun still rises in the East down there...)

Let me clarify that this in no way hampered my enjoyment of the movie! (Although it might have bothered the friend next to me that I mentioned it too...) I just think it's funny that the same company that produced a movie with a song that clearly states "Rising in the East" could so badly botch the cardinal directions in another.