# Lion King's **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [February 9, 2001, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lion-kings/53820 "2001-02-09T18:12:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![squid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@squid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squid)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2001, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lion-kings/53820/1 "2001-02-09T18:12:41Z")
You commented that when Simba watches his father die that is is hard to make out the supposed “sex” being spelled out in the clouds. No wonder you could not see it…you looked at the wrong scene. The scene is just over half way through the movie. It is in the evening and Simba is at the edge of a canyon overhang and he “plops” himself down on the ground causing dirt/dust to raise above him. As it begins to fade out you can clearly see the word “sex” form and then vanish. [Snopes.com](http://Snopes.com) has an entire section on this and other hidden messages found in Disney films. The squid man. ---
**Author:** ![JimOfAllTrades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@JimOfAllTrades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimOfAllTrades)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2001, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lion-kings/53820/2 "2001-02-10T02:02:05Z")
> [@](#): > > As it begins to fade out you can clearly see the word “sex” form and then vanish. [Snopes.com](http://Snopes.com) has an entire section on this and other hidden messages found in Disney films. I don’t know about “clearly”. If you actually read the snopes entry on this, they have this item marked as a “maybe”. For most people, it’s a long way from “clearly”. To quote the Mikkelsons from this page: [http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/lionking.htm](http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/lionking.htm) > [@](#): > > Whether the image of the word “SEX” was deliberately planted in this scene or is merely a product of the power of suggestion is unknown. The letters seem readily apparent to those who know what they’re supposed to be looking for, but persons unfamiliar with the rumor rarely make them out even after being told to look for a word in the still-frame images. **The generally accepted explanation is that the letters were slipped in by a special effects group (to form the abbreviation “S-F-X”).** (Emphasis mine) So to many (including me) the dust cloud doesn’t clearly spell “sex” at all. It may spell SFX, but even that isn’t a certainty. Ugly ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2001, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lion-kings/53820/3 "2001-02-10T02:08:52Z")
Please note that the moderator of this forum has asked posters to include a link to the article which they are discussing. The article being discussed is [Do Disney movies contain subliminal erotica? (12-Jul-2000)](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mdisneyperv.html) For your reading pleasure, I will also provide a link to this somewhat relevant Straight Dope column: [Did Disney’s _The Lion King_ rip off an old Japanese TV series? (24-Dec-1999)](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/991224.html) ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2001, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lion-kings/53820/4 "2001-02-10T19:10:35Z")
One vote here for the cloud spelling “SFX”. But hey, human nature being what it is, I also firmly believe the animators put it in there on purpose, just to jerk Uncle Walt’s chain posthumously. Serve 'im right–he killed Bambi’s mother… 😃