Context

This line was spoken by Simba (voiced by Jonathan Taylor Thomas) in The Lion King, directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff (1994).

Even though he's just a little guy, Simba thinks he's the biggest cat on the block, er, savanna, because he's going to be the king of the Pridelands one day. Except he can't even pin his buddy Nala when they play wrestle.

But he utters this line at a crowning moment of overconfidence as he strides into the Elephant Graveyard, which is pretty creepy for a kids' movie, and gives a cute little laugh to the bones lying around. And then he's back to his timid, little self as Scar's hench-hyenas cackle back. So much for living on the wild side.

Where you've heard it

You've heard this when someone is about to do something downright insane, like cliff dive, touch a giant spider, or do the bread challenge. Most of the time, they'll chicken out, but the really crazy ones will do the extreme for no reason at all.

Additional Notable References:

• The dorky, yet quick witted, Xander Harris from the cult teen show Buffy the Vampire Slayer also laughs in the face of danger. But then he "hides until he goes away," kinda like young Simba.
• Breaking Bad's villain protagonist Walter White doesn't just laugh in the face of danger; he is the danger.

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

The pretentiousness of this quote depends on if you can back up your words and actually laugh at dangerous things. Are you Simba or Walter White?