I thought I’d make a topic about this, as it’s something that’s always bothered me about the movie, and I noticed today that it was discussed in an old thread.
[quote="ScarLoyal"]I think after all that time in the Jungle, Simba saw Timon as his 'father'.[/quote]
This just really hurts, since I REALLY love Mufasa (he’s my favorite character, right now at least…I admit I actually have a crush on him!), but I really don’t care for T&P (no offense to anyone who does, I just don’t like them…I’m really sorry). So the idea of Timon taking Mufasa’s place is just really hard on me.
[quote="TheLionPrince"]
I felt Simba called Timon "Pops" because he accepted him as his stepfather after living with him (and Pumbaa) for some years in the jungle.[/quote]
Even the idea of Simba considering Timon his stepfather is hard for me to accept, since it’s still sort of implying that Timon basically replaced Mufasa. And as I mentioned, they’re two characters who for me, just don’t compare to begin with.
While there wasn’t a lot in the original LK to suggest this was the case (which I was happy with), it gives new meaning to Mufasa’s ghost telling Simba that Simba forgot him. I know that wasn’t what he meant in the context of the original, but it’s hard not to read it that way after seeing LK 1.5 and hearing Simba considering Timon his “father”.
I want to bring up that I’m austistic, and have never dealt well with change. In fact, years ago, my parents divorced, which was hard enough on me, but later, when my mom entered a relationship with someone else, it was even harder, as it felt like she was trying to replace my dad. Thankfully, my stepfather is a wonderful person, even if he’s never taken the place of my dad.
But both my dad and my stepdad are alive, though. It would be much harder for me to accept someone becoming my stepdad if my real dad wasn’t alive. So that’s another reason why seeing Simba accepting Timon as his stepfather is hard on me, it doesn’t feel like it’s honoring Mufasa’s memory.
I know I’m probably making a bigger deal of this than I should. They’re fictional characters and I’m not related to them. But it’s just something that kind of bothers me, and I had to talk about it.