Owner Shows Dog 'The Lion King', Her Reaction to Tragic Scene Breaks Hearts
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
A dog who couldn't take her eyes off a devastating movie scene in a Disney classic has broken her owner's heart, and gained a large viewership on social media at the same time.
Aisha, 32 and from the United Kingdom, is the proud owner of long-haired Rottweiler Roxy, who has become somewhat of a social media star in recent days owing to her reaction to The Lion King.
"She's always shown curiosity to the [television], when there are bright colours and quick movements, and listens for sounds," Aisha, who only shared her first name, told Newsweek.
"Cartoons like The Lion King have a lot of colours which she picked up straight away, and the movement and the music just all got her attention," she added.
Aishah recorded her dog, Roxy, being glued to a sad scene in The Lion King.
Aishah recorded her dog, Roxy, being glued to a sad scene in The Lion King.
TikTok @Aiishahn
But while the 1994 Disney movie quickly got Roxy's attention, it was how she responded to the famously devastating scene with Mufasa's death that led her to go viral.
In a video posted to Aishah's TikTok account @aiishahn on April 24, with over 550,000 views, Roxy lies on the couch with her eyes glued to the TV, as Simba the lion cub can be heard telling his father to wake up.
Roxy doesn't take her eyes from the screen, and when Aishah turns the camera to show what's happening in the movie, Roxy can be heard making a noise somewhere between a growl and a whine.
She then goes back to staring silently at the screen, only taking her eyes off it when she lays her head on her paws as though sad, as Aishah assures her: "It's okay."
Aishah wrote on the video: "That one and only time I let my dog watch The Lion King. Now tell me animals don't understand or have feelings," and she added in the caption: "Never letting my dog watch The Lion King again."
Roxy's reaction melted heats on TikTok, with one person writing: "This movie is every species' first heartbreak," and another advising: "Don't let him watch Marley and Me. I never recovered from that."
The Rottweiler growled and laid her head on her paws as the devastating scene played out.
The Rottweiler growled and laid her head on her paws as the devastating scene played out.
TikTok @Aiishahn
"The bigger dogs are the biggest babies ever," another said, while another insisted dogs "have and understand emotions even from a young age."
Shedding light on canines' TV habits, website PetMD said: "It is hard to know what dogs are "thinking" when they watch TV, and some seem to take it much more seriously than others. That being said, it does appear that dogs recognize other animals on TV, will respond to the barking of dogs, and readily distinguish photos of dogs from cartoon dogs."
And while dogs don't comprehend TV the same way as humans, they can see the images, and their different color perception means shows with blues, greens and yellows will be particularly interesting to them, according to PetMD. Aishah told Newsweek Roxy also loves watching kids' cartoon Bluey, which has many of these colors.
Dogs do appear to recognize other animals on TV—and in Roxy's case, watching TV squirrels is one of her favorite pastimes.
Aishah told Newsweek her dog "loves watching long clips of actual squirrels on YouTube when put on the TV."
She "won't take her eyes off it, she likes to chase them—but obviously never gets to them quick enough."
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
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