The Lion King Page #11

BOTH:

IN SHORT OUR PAL IS DOOMED

They hug and burst into tears.

TIMON/PUMBAA

Waaaaaaa --

SEQ. 15.3 (SIMBA & NALA ARGUE)

EXT. JUNGLE WITH SIMBA AND NALA - CONTINUOUS

SIMBA:

very "up"

Isn't this a great place? Nala, you're gonna love it here.

NALA:

It is beautiful --

a beat

But I don't understand something. You've been alive all this time. Why didn't you come back to Pride Rock?

SIMBA:

very casual

Well, I just needed to get out on my own -- live my own life. And I did! And it's great!

NALA:

We've really needed you at home.

SIMBA:

No one needs me.

NALA:

Yes we do. You're the king.

SIMBA:

Nala, we've been through this. I'm not the king. Scar is.

NALA:

Simba, he let the hyenas take over "the Pride lands.

SIMBA:

genuine

What?

NALA:

I didn't know how to tell you. Everything's destroyed. There's no food, no water. Simba, if you don't do something soon, everyone will starve.

SIMBA:

I can't go back.

Simba starts to exit. Nala goes to him.

NALA:

Why?

SIMBA:

You wouldn't understand.

NALA:

What wouldn't I understand?

SIMBA:

No, no, no -- It doesn't matter. Hakuna Matata.

NALA:

What?

SIMBA:

Hakuna Matata. It's what I learned out here. Sometimes bad things happen.

NALA:

interrupting

Simba --

SIMBA:

driving on

and there's nothing you can do about it. So why worry?

Simba turns away from Nala.

NALA:

Because it's your responsibility!

a beat

Simba, doesn't the Pride mean anything to you? Doesn't your mother mean anything to you?

He turns to her:

SIMBA:

What about you? You left.

NALA:

I left to find help. And I found you! Don't you understand? You're our only hope.

SIMBA:

Sorry.

NALA:

What's happened to you? You're not the Simba I remember.

SIMBA:

You're right. I'm not. Now are you satisfied?

NALA:

No. Just disappointed.

SIMBA:

You know, you're starting to sound like my father.

NALA:

Good. At least one of us does.

SIMBA:

Listen! You think you can just show up and tell me how to live my life? You don't even know what I've been through.

Simba turns and leaves. Infuriated, Nala calls:

NALA:

Then tell me!

SEQ. 16 ("TO BE OR NOT TO BE"/REFLECTING POOL/MUFASA'S GHOST)

EXT. JUNGLE - NIGHT - A SHORT TIME LATER

Lost in thought, Simba sits on a rock and stares up at the twinkling sky.

SIMBA:

I don't care what anybody says. I won't go back. What would it prove, anyway? It won't change anything -- You can't change the past.

re stars

You told me you'd always be there for me -- but you're not. There's nothing out there. There's nothing to believe in anymore. Nothing. Nothing.

He sits quietly. He is interrupted by an odd little tune.

RAFIKI'S VOICE

singing

ASANTE SANA. SQUASH BANANA. WE WE NUGU. MI MI AРАNА.

Up in a nearby tree, he sees the silhouette of a figure - whose angles match those of the gnarled branches. Simba moves away in search of solitude.

EXT. FALLEN TRUNK - MOMENTS LATER

Simba rests on a fallen tree trunk that bridges a stream which reflects the stars and Simba's melancholy look.

SIMBA:

Sigh--

PLOP! a stone lands in the water below. Then:

RAFIKI'S VOICE

singing

ASANTE SANA. SQUASH BANANA. WE WE NUGU. MI MI АРАNА.

Simba calls up.

SIMBA:

Come on! Will ya cut it out?

Simba walks away again. Rafiki follows.

RAFIKI:

Can't cut it out. It'll grow right back!

SIMBA:

Would you stop following me?

Rafiki continues to shadow him.

SIMBA:

Who are you?

Rafiki cones right up to Simba.

RAFIKI:

The question is:
who are you?

Simba thinks a moment.

SIMBA:

a sigh, then:

I thought I knew. Now I'm not so sure.

RAFIKI:

I know who you are. Shhh -- Come here. It's a secret.

Simba leans his ear toward Rafiki.

RAFIKI:

singing

ASANTE SANA. SQUASH BANANA. WE WE NUGU. MI MI АРАNА.

While Rafiki continues singing:

SIMBA:

Enough already!

a beat

What is that supposed to mean, anyway?

RAFIKI:

It means you're a baboon, and I'm not!

laughing

Hee-hee-hee.

SIMBA:

I think you're a little confused.

Simba begins to exit. Rafiki's finger pokes Simba in the nose.

RAFIKI:

Wrong! I'm not the one who's confused. You don't even know who you are.

SIMBA:

And I suppose you know?

RAFIKI:

Sure do. You're Mufasa's boy. Bye.

Simba is in shock. Rafiki scoots away. Simba chases after him.

SIMBA:

Hey! Wait!

LONG SHOT - PLAINS

Simba's silhouetted form races up the hill.

EXT. HILL TOP - LATER

Rafiki sits calmly, guru-style on the top of a hill. Huffing and puffing, Simba finishes his climb up to Rafiki.

SIMBA:

You knew my father?

RAFIKI:

Correction. I know your father.

SIMBA:

I hate to tell you this, but my father died a long tine ago.

RAFIKI:

Nope. Wrong again.

Rafiki walks toward thick jungle underbrush, calling back to Simba,

RAFIKI:

He's alive! I'll show him to you. You follow old Rafiki. He knows the way.

Rafiki disappears through a small opening of a bower. Simba goes over and looks in. He considers a moment, then disappears inside.

INT. JUNGLE - NIGHT

Dark, dense foliage. Simba tries to keep up with agile, fast-moving Rafiki who calls back:

RAFIKI:

Hurry up! Don't dawdle! Mufasa's waiting!

Rafiki dashes through the trees, hanging branches and vines. Simba has a hard time following.

SIMBA:

Hey! Whoa! Wait! Wait a second! Would you slow down!

RAFIKI:

Come on-come on!

ASANTE SANA. SQUASH BANANA. WE WE NUGU. MI MI APANA.

SIMBA:

Wait. Will you wait? Wait a second.

Rafiki seems to be gone. Simba presses on through the thick underbrush. He looks up and sees Rafiki in a tree. Then Rafiki is gone. Baffled, Simba continues on until:

Rafiki's hand pushes up in Simba's face.

RAFIKI:

Stop!

Rafiki approaches a curtain of tall reeds. He parts them, directing Simba:

RAFIKI:

Shhhh -- Look down there.

EXT. REFLECTING POOL - NIGHT

Simba anxiously, cautiously looks in a pool of water. He sees the REFLECTION OF A LION.

SIMBA:

That's not my father. It's just my reflection.

RAFIKI:

No --

Rafiki directs Simha's line of vision.

RAFIKI:

Look harder --

ANGLE - REFLECTING POOL

The lion reflection changes to a reflection of Mufasa's image. Simba gasps.

RAFIKI:

You see -- He lives in you.

MUFASA:

Simba --

Simba looks up to see where the Voice is coning from. He knows it belongs to his dad. Something magical starts to happen: The image of Mufasa begins to build itself. At first it is frightening.

SIMBA:

Father?

MUFASA:

Simba, have you forgotten me?

SIMBA:

No! How could I?

The ghost's presence starts to become the atmosphere - big, colorful, full of magic light.

MUFASA:

You have forgotten who you are, and so, have forgotten me.

The vision becomes more warn and loving.

MUFASA:

Look inside yourself, Simba. You are sore than what you have become. You must take your place in the Circle of Life.

We are now comfortable with the image.

SIMBA:

How can I go back. I'm not who I used to be.

MUFASA:

Remember who you are -- You are my son and the one true king.

The vision starts to fade.

MUFASA:

Remember who you are --

fade --

SIMBA:

No! Please! Don't leave me!

fade --

MUFASA:

Remember --

fade --

SIMBA:

Father --

MUFASA:

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