Lion King takes place in...

[DarkPaw]

Amboseli National Park! Okay, after being pleasantly surprised to find that, A) Pride Rock, a large granite structure, is theoretically possible, B) I've seen baboons mingling near lions on these granite structures on television documentaries (yeah, Rafiki's a mandrill, but close enough, huh? ), among other things, I figured out what park area (I'm convinced that Lion King took place before we hominids evolved in East Africa, or long after we all died out...probably leaning to the latter).

The film makers have confirmed for us that Kenya is the country, but because of the appearance of Mt. Kilimanjaro, for many years I thought it actually took place in Tanzania. Well, it just so happens that in Amboseli National Park, it is cliche' to see elephants grazing non-chalantly with old Mt. Kili in the background. It was kind of obvious, I guess, but I just wanted to give my little idea to people who hadn't ever thought about it/never cared, and get some feedback/conflicting views from people who had ever mused about the place where Lion King might have happened.

As for the desert and the rivers, I will continue to study up on that, but for now, Pride Rock, primates and lions, and Amboseli will quench my thirst...if only for a moment.

[Darkslash]

That's really cool; I'll have to look into it. Thanks for the insight!

[DarkPaw]

I mean, I know it's a bit of overkill to try and figure out where every little thing is, since Lion King is a piece of fiction, but I guess it's nice to just have a little idea of where things might have happened...

[HasiraKali]

Trying to figure out exactly where it is based on the different environments in the film is pretty next to impossible since most of the deserts in Africa are in the north. Unless Simba made a giant U to the jungle It is fun to think about though.

Edit: One more thing. There is a semidesert in Tanzania but the closest "jungle" is in Zaire, on the other side of the country.

[DarkPaw]

Yeah, I know, after learning something about the environements in Kenya (I'm brain dead on Tanzania...), I couldn't figure out where in the world Simba would have gone for a desert!

As for the desert, I'd just hoped that there'd be one down in Tanzania, but I doubt there's any hope in finding it, since his desert was dry, cracked earth, and then turned into a sort of arid savannah before becoming a lush, deep jungle...

Well, it's cool in that it's showing the diversity of Africa's biomes/environments.

[Nephilim]

If you can find me a place with lions, then this thread is officially over.

[Kiara Serengeti]

TLK is beautiful just for the variety of African landscapes it presents...I absolutely love the CoL scene with Mt. Kilo. TLK showcases the beauty in Africa (although some species, I've heard, including the leafcutter ants don't exist there).

[HasiraKali]

And the giant anteaters in IJCWtbK.

[imported_Rafiki]

Originally posted by HasiraKali
And the giant anteaters in IJCWtbK.

Yeah! Aren't they great? I once made a picture about this:

http://fanart.lionking.org/Artists/Magadi/Anteater.jpg

[Kalahari]

In my fanfics it takes in no spefic country but on the borderlines of South Africa, Botswanna and Zimbabwe. As for the jungle in the movie, it's a jungle that is not on any maps. I just can't see a meerkat (an animal from the southern part of Africa) being able to travel thousands of miles from the Kalahari desert to Zaire or Kenya on foot. I can't see a lion doing the same either. I know lots of people say it's Kenya. It could very well be (i'm very bad for changing locations and timelines of movies... But then in Lion King there is no pre exhisting timeline or location.)

[Shadow]

cool info....

[DarkPaw]

Originally posted by Kalahari
In my fanfics it takes in no spefic country but on the borderlines of South Africa, Botswanna and Zimbabwe. As for the jungle in the movie, it's a jungle that is not on any maps. I just can't see a meerkat (an animal from the southern part of Africa) being able to travel thousands of miles from the Kalahari desert to Zaire or Kenya on foot. I can't see a lion doing the same either. I know lots of people say it's Kenya. It could very well be (i'm very bad for changing locations and timelines of movies... But then in Lion King there is no pre exhisting timeline or location.)

Exactly what I used to wonder-but then, if it takes place is southern Africa (which I'm still convinced that it's not) what is the mountain if not Mt. Kilimanjaro?

Heh, maybe it takes place a looong time ago when there were jungles in Lionkingland.

[Koana]

Oh man... reading this makes me all giddy because in a couple weeks I'm flying to the Amboseli area in Kenya to do my biology research until May. I'll definitely have to keep my eyes open for Pride Rock, or any strange congregation of animals after the birth of a new lion cub

I dunno if I'll be able to go online while I'm there but maybe I'll start a thread with my experiences/photos... you'll just have to wait and see!

[Prince Simba]

We're all speculating upon the land now. Quite possibly, the site could be Amboseli National Park, but the fact that there are not jungles and deserts within a reasonable range presents a problem. However, this problem is resolved when we add in time. Unfortunately, humans currently occupy that area. For Simba to not have run into humans, we must not be there, which (as mentioned before) means that TLK occurs long before or after humans.

So, since this is taking place many thousands of years from now (in either direction), the climate and geography of the environment is bound to change, quite possibly giving us our jungle and desert (and Pride Rock).

Now, if somebody would like to volunteer to invent the time machine, I'll lead the expedition into the Pridelands!

[DarkPaw]

Originally posted by Koana
Oh man... reading this makes me all giddy because in a couple weeks I'm flying to the Amboseli area in Kenya to do my biology research until May. I'll definitely have to keep my eyes open for Pride Rock, or any strange congregation of animals after the birth of a new lion cub

I dunno if I'll be able to go online while I'm there but maybe I'll start a thread with my experiences/photos... you'll just have to wait and see!

I'd love to read about that! I envy your opportunity!

About the time, considering the condition our {Haha, I read this-look, it's no wonder, we call the lions 'ours' no wonder they're in trouble} lions are in, I'd say that this took place before us. At least our species-maybe there were some hairy hominids that were kinda' hangin' out up in the trees still.

I know that the jungle itself is really improbable, and after taking a gander at Timon and Pumbaa's 'humble home' it's obvious that it's not just a little oasis. I mean, maybe it's really not so big. We see two shots of the 'humble home' (come to think of it, I want to move there :P), so maybe that's it with some extra land around it and then it turns back into desert? It could be, and there's some evidence that that's the case, since there's either desert or some kind of grassland surrounding it.

Okay, my head hurts now. :eew:

Ooh, Prince Simba can I be the person who writes the log to keep track of the journey?

1.5.07: No sign of Simba, but strange stars in the shape of a bunny rabbit...*stupid laughter* See the fluffy tail111??

[Kalahari]

Originally posted by DarkPaw
Exactly what I used to wonder-but then, if it takes place is southern Africa (which I'm still convinced that it's not) what is the mountain if not Mt. Kilimanjaro?

Heh, maybe it takes place a looong time ago when there were jungles in Lionkingland.

As for Mt. Kilamanjaro. I thought animals were comming from all over Africa to see Simba's presentation.

[DarkPaw]

Ahh, I should have thought of that...but then, the makers even specify we're in Kenya, did they're research work in Kenya, etc. Besides, if Lion King took place in southern Africa, wouldn't they be seen in the Bushveldt, rather than open grassland? Down there it's all scrub mixed with grassland, not what we see...

And then, we go to what Mufasa means by 'everything the light touches'. I think he means what you can literally see from the precipice of Pride Rock, because there ARE borders ("He didn't show you what's beyond that rise on the northern border?"). Whoo, this is crazy.

Is there a reason the top right hand corner says, "Jambo Darkpaw" instead of "Sawubona, Darkpaw!"? Okay, just kidding there...