"She Tried to Help Him" — Cat Gets Emotional When Mufasa Dies in 'The Lion King'

Kelly Corbett - Author
By

Published Dec. 11 2023, 10:46 p.m. ET

A cat watching 'The Lion King'
Source: TikTok/@paulinasada

Does your cat watch TV? Fortunately, there are plenty of programs available for cats to view from Keeping Up With the Kattarshians (yes, a parody of Keeping Up With the Kardashians featuring cats) to anything listed on our master list of cat-themed movies and shows for National Cat Day, which is technically on Oct. 29. However, all cat owners know that every day is a day to celebrate their fabulous felines.

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Another thing cat owners surely know is that cats can be very picky and often march to the beat of their own drum. You may buy them a scratch post, but there's always a good chance they'll hate it and claw your couch to smithereens instead. Not to mention that you may think you found the perfect program to watch with your cat on TV, but they end up sleeping through the whole thing.

That said, have you ever had a time when you're watching something random, and all of a sudden your cat comes alive and seems to be watching with you? That’s what happened to one woman after pressing play on The Lion King while her cats were in the room.

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A cat sitting on the back of a couch next to a remote and a TV
Source: Getty Images

A woman's cat watches 'The Lion King' and appears to have a lot of emotions about Mufasa's death.

"My cats watching The Lion King for the first time. I did not expect this reaction (wait for it)," writes TikTok user Paulina Sada (@paulinasada) alongside a clip of the movie playing in her living room.

In the video, her two cats can be seen looking up at the TV screen, as if they were also watching the movie.

But one of Paulina's cats in particular, whose name we learn is Suki, appears to be completely enthralled by the Disney classic.

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Given that the TV is mounted to the wall, Suki hops onto the console stand beneath it to get an up-close look at the screen and a front-row seat for the film. Meanwhile, the other cat seemingly loses interest and wanders away.

Suki continues to quietly watch the movie, completely engrossed, until the scene where Mufasa tragically falls. As Mufasa nears his death, Suki begins frantically clawing the screen. When he finally falls, Suki lets out a few distressed meows in response.

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After that scene, Suki checks out and walks away from the TV, making it very clear that she is no longer interested in the movie.

Users couldn't get over how on point Suki's reactions to the film were. "YOUR BABY WANTED TO HELP MUFASA," wrote one user followed by several crying emoji faces.

"The way she turned to you upset during that scene. Poor kitty is going through her feelings," wrote another user.

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"She 100,000 percent understood everything she just watched and she tried to help him. I am in shock, what a good kitty," said a third user, adding "My cats love The Aristocats."

It seemed that most users who commented on the video were confident that Suki the cat understood the film in full.

Commenters agree that Suki was immersed in the movie
Source: tiktok
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However, cats aren't believed to be able to understand TV. "Cats are entertained by the color and movement, and although cats are very smart, they do not have the cognitive and reasoning capabilities to process images and sounds into more complicated thoughts," reads an article on the website for Hills Pet Food.

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Despite that claim, many cat owners on TikTok appear to be convinced their feline friends enjoy and understand TV. If you type "cats watching tv" into the platform, you'll find countless videos of cats watching their shows as if they were humans.

And these cats don't seem to be faking it! Some are even meowing at their owners if they aren't paying attention or getting fussy if their owners turn the TV off while they're watching.

Perhaps further research is needed to truly comprehend the complex inner workings of a cat's mind because these cats seem to be understanding our shows better than us.

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