Fan finds twisted 'Lion King' easter egg that's been under our noses for decades

If you're like any good '90s kid, then you've probably watched The Lion King about a zillion times. You knew all of the songs and most of the dialogue by heart. Maybe you even performed Timon and Pumba's diversion dance ad naueseam to the chagrin of your family who gently reminded you each Christmas that it stopped being cute years ago and maybe you should finally get a job.

So you're 100% sure you know everything there is to know about The Lion King, including the movie's alternate ending where Scar actually "defeats" Simba, and, mad with power, cackles maniacally atop Pride Rock as the flames circle around his body, ultimately consuming him and he dies in a fit of madness.

Pretty dark for a kids' Disney flick, right? I mean, it's not like they would intentionally include something so brutal in the film, right? That's why that ending ultimately went to the cutting room floor.

Well, an eagle-eyed Lion King fan noticed something that was included in the movie that may be way harsher than that original, terrifying ending, and it has to do with Mufasa's body.

The thing is, this entire theory is based on scientific fact. After Mufasa falls to his death at the traitorous paws of his evil brother, Scar, and Simba's scared into exiling himself out of the kingdom, Scar's left as the ultimate ruler of the lions.

Here's a question most of us didn't ask while watching the movie: what happened to Mufasa's body?

It's not like Lions bury their dead, is it? And if you know anything about Lion King's inception, Disney did a lot of research behind the social behaviors of these giant cats.

Naturally one would assume that an animal would eat the lion after his death, picking his bones clean. Well, those hyenas who hate him would probably tear him to shreds and eat him, right?

There's a bit of a problem with that theory, however: hyenas don't eat lions. And it's not like lions have any predators that feast on their remains. In fact, after all of his research, he discovered in fact that the only animals who eat lions after they die are...well...other lions.

OK, so I know what you're thinking: "Yeah, but the starved hyenas at the end of the movie ultimately kill Scar and eat him because they're driven to hunger. And Scar promises them that they'll never go hungry again, so we know that famine was a big concern for the hyenas, right?"

Well, we could assume that the wild dogs ate Mufasa's dead body, however, there's this scene in Scar's gave where he's gloatingly playing with a skull.

Now I know all of the lit majors are going to chime in and say, well it's a reference to Yorick in Hamlet, the Shakespeare play that Lion King was based heavily off of. Firstly, Hamlet (Simba) should be the one playing with the skull if that's the case, and it also doesn't explain why Scar is so happily playing with said skull.

And if you look at a Lion's skull in real life, you'll notice that the one Scar's playing with is indeed...a...lion's skull.

So now do you understand why everyone hates Scar extra in the film? Not only are they mourning the death of their beloved leader, but they probably just witnessed his dead body being consumed by his brother.

While all of the lions probably had iffy feelings about Scar to begin with, this just sealed the deal for him that they were in for a rough period of rule under this awful new lion king. Oh, and the army of Hyenas didn't help either.

Twitter was understandably shook by this revelation, even if some people had questions about the possibility of Mufasa being eaten by Scar. But the fact remains: there's a lot of real-life evidence combined with specific scene references to conclude it's very possibly Mufasa was eaten by the brother who survived him.

Editor's Note: The article was originally published in January 2020.