Was it a Dream?

[NaiaRulez]

I don't think it was a dream, instead, I think that Simba saw Mufasa in the sky because he believed in him, just like believing in God.
I think that this scene is based in religion, mostly because Mufasa is showing up he's like a God in the African Savannah, and he guides Simba through his life after his death, like Jesus did according the Christian Bible.

[SimbasGuard]

I believe, the scene actually happened, and Rafiki being there was likely a catalyst for the event.

[crownofsimba]

I was watching the movie with my bf recently and he said that the scene is pretty much the typical "descent into the underworld" type thing, where the hero goes to an otherworldy place to commune with the magical people / ghosts there. In some of these, like say Aeneas going to see his father Anchises, there's sometimes hints that its not as real as it seems (in the Aeneid this would be the weirdness with the two gates out of the underworld)

But other than that there isn't really any reason to think of it as a dream. Makes you wonder what the Lion afterlife is like though.

[Captain Cupcake]

[quote="TheSassyNala"]I think that this scene is based in religion, mostly because Mufasa is showing up he's like a God in the African Savannah, and he guides Simba through his life after his death, like Jesus did according the Christian Bible.[/quote]

Its influence stems from both Shakespearean and biblical sources. The Mufasa Ghost scene takes after both Hamlet's father's ghost, and God speaking through the burning bush to Moses in The Exodus.