The Lion King

The Lion King
Promotional Poster for The Lion King
Directed by	Roger Allers Rob Minkoff
Written by	Irene Mecchi Jonathan Roberts Linda Woolverton
Produced by	Don Hahn
Starring	Matthew Broderick James Earl Jones Jeremy Irons Jonathan Taylor Thomas Nathan Lane Ernie Sabella Robert Guillaume Moira Kelly Rowan Atkinson Whoopi Goldberg Cheech Marin Jim Cummings
Music by	Hans Zimmer
Distributed by	Walt Disney Pictures
Release dates	June 15, 1994 (selected cities) June 24, 1994 (general) December 25, 2002 (IMAX re-release)
Running time	88 minutes
Language	English
Budget	$79,300,000 (estimated)

For the theatrical musical, see The Lion King (musical).

The Lion King is the 32nd animated feature in the Disney animated feature canon, and the highest-grossing traditionally animated feature film ever released in the United States. It was produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation, originally released to selected cities by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution on June 15, 1994, and put into general release on June 24, 1994. It made a short return to theaters starting from November 18, 1994, less than half a year after its initial release, with a 3-minute preview of Pocahontas.

The film is about a young lion cub named Simba who struggles with various obstacles in life, and finally takes his rightful place as King of the Pride Lands. To many, the film represents the peak of the late 1980s to mid-1990s "Disney Renaissance Era" in animation. This Renaissance featured a return to traditional Disney standard storytelling modes and motifs, a reliance on ever-expanding filmmaking technology, and a strong influence of musical theater. It is frequently alleged that The Lion King was based on Osamu Tezuka's 1960s animated series Kimba the White Lion, although the filmmakers deny this. The filmmakers do, however, acknowledge the prominent influences of the Shakespeare play Hamlet, the Bible stories of Joseph and Moses, and the 1942 Disney animated feature Bambi.

Unlike previous Disney animated films which featured only a select few famous voice actors alongside lesser-known performers, nearly all of the voice acting work for this film was done by well-known actors, including Matthew Broderick, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, Robert Guillaume, Moira Kelly, Rowan Atkinson, Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin and Jim Cummings. The Lion King is a musical film, with songs written by composer Elton John and lyricist Tim Rice and a film score by Hans Zimmer. Many of the John/Rice tunes became Disney standards or pop hits in their own right and Zimmer's score also drew substantial praise.

The film was re-released to giant-screen IMAX theaters on December 25, 2002, with digital enhancements made to it. However, like the IMAX release of Beauty and the Beast the year before, it did not do as well as expected, and future IMAX release plans of films like Aladdin and The Little Mermaid were cancelled.

Production

The Lion King was originally called King of the Jungle during early stages of production. Like Bambi, animators studied real-life animals for reference, and some of the filmmakers even went to Africa to observe the natural habitat that would be shown in the film. As a result, the animation in The Lion King is very realistic, from the animal characters to the various plants and landscapes.

The film's significant use of computers helped the filmmakers to present their vision in new, visually impressive ways. The most notable use of computer animation is in the famous "wildebeest stampede" sequence. Several distinct wildebeest characters were built in a 3D computer program, multiplied into the hundreds, cel shaded to look like drawn animation, and given randomized paths down a mountainside to simulate the real, unpredictable movement of a herd. Similar multiplication occurs in the "Be Prepared" musical number with identical marching hyenas. Computers also aided in the implementation of a classic Disney animation technique called "multiplaning" that was prominently featured in Bambi.

The Lion King was once considered a secondary project to Pocahontas, both of which were in production at the same time. Most of the Disney Feature Animation staff preferred to work on Pocahontas, thinking it would be the more prestigious and successful of the two. However, as the film was being marketed, the studio noticed that the released teaser, which consisted of the entire opening sequence featuring the song "Circle of Life", was getting a strongly enthusiastic reaction from audiences. The film also became increasingly popular among young children at that time.

Plot synopsis

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Rafiki holds Mufasa and Sarabi's newborn lion cub, Simba.

The story of The Lion King takes place in the Pride Lands in Africa, where a lion rules over the other animals as king. At the beginning of the film, King Mufasa and his mate, Queen Sarabi, have just given birth to their child Simba. In a large-scale ceremony, Simba is presented to the animals of the Pride Lands by Rafiki, a wise witch doctor mandrill, from atop Pride Rock, home of the royal lion pride. Later that day, Mufasa confronts his younger brother, Scar, and questions his absence from the ceremony. Although claiming he forgot, Scar is actually jealous of his new-born nephew being heir to the throne, and believes that he himself should be the rightful king.

Time passes and Simba grows into an extremely playful and active cub. One day, Scar lures him to the elephant graveyard, the forbidden land that Mufasa had warned Simba not to go to. Unable to overcome his curiosity, the young cub goes there with his best friend (and betrothed future bride), Nala. Forced to be supervised by the majordomo hornbill Zazu, the pair hatch a plan to ditch the bird, which involves a chaotic herd of animals breaking into song. Amidst the chaos, Simba and Nala sneak away and arrive at the elephant graveyard. Zazu catches up with them, but then they encounter three hyenas, Shenzi, Banzai and Ed, who try to kill them. Luckily, Mufasa comes to the rescue and scares off the hyenas.

From that point it is revealed that Scar had been plotting with the hyenas to kill Simba. After this failed attempt, however, Scar decides to get rid of both Mufasa and his son once and for all. He lures Simba into a large gorge and advises him to work on his roar in order to impress his father. Simba begins to practice as Scar leaves to get a "surprise". Together with his hyenas, he then engineers a wildebeest stampede which heads directly towards Simba. As part of his plan, Scar quickly tells Mufasa that Simba is in danger. Mufasa rescues Simba, but gets lost in the stampede himself. In the midst of the stampede, Mufasa makes one last great leap to cling to the rock face. As he climbs higher, he looks up to see Scar standing on the ledge above him and pleads to him for help. Scar gazes down on his brother and then suddenly latches his sharp claws into Mufasa's paws. He then throws Mufasa from the ledge after saying the mocking words "long live the king". Mufasa disappears in the stampede and is crushed under the hooves of the wildebeest. As Simba sobs next to his father's lifeless body, Scar comes and tricks the young cub into thinking that he was responsible for his father's death. He advises Simba to "run away and never return." As a devastated Simba runs off, Scar orders his hyena henchmen to kill him, but in the chase that follows, Simba escapes into the desert. The hyenas, fearing Scar's wrath while confident that the cub cannot survive in that wilderness, plan to lie to Scar and say they killed the young prince. Scar accepts the story, explaining to the remaining pride that the stampede took the lives of both Mufasa and Simba. He assumes the throne and becomes the new King of the Pride Lands.

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Young Simba, Pumbaa and Timon cross a log while singing "Hakuna Matata".

Exhausted, Simba collapses in the desert in a state of near death; however, the cub is saved and befriended by Timon and Pumbaa, a meerkat and warthog respectively, who teach Simba their life philosophy of "Hakuna Matata", meaning "no worries". The pair take Simba under their wing and allow him to live in the jungle with them. After some years in the jungle, the now adult Simba encounters his childhood friend, Nala, who has also reached adulthood. The pair bond as friends just as in the past, and they eventually fall in love with each other. Nala later explains that she left the Pride Lands in search for help from Scar's dictatorial rule. She urges Simba to return to the Pride Lands and take his rightful place as king, but Simba refuses, happy with his new "no worries" lifestyle -- and still traumatized by the false belief that he caused his father's death, a secret that only he and Scar know. Although the pair have fallen in love, they part: Nala angry with what she sees as Simba's irresponsibility, and Simba angry with Nala for scorning him while still in fear of revealing his true reasons.

Alone, Simba broods about his guilt-ridden loneliness that boils up into a despairing wail to the silent stars. However, help for Simba comes in the form of Rafiki, who claims that Mufasa is still alive. The shaman leads Simba to a pond that reveals that Mufasa's spirit still lives on inside Simba. At that revelation, the spirit of Mufasa appears in towering storm clouds. He demands Simba to look inside himself and understand that he is the rightful king, that "you are more than what you have become." After Mufasa departs, Rafiki advises Simba in a particularly memorable moment. Hitting the young lion on the head with his stick, the mandrill says that while the past does hurt, one can either run from it or learn from it. Inspired, Simba decides to go back home to Rafiki's triumphant delight.

When he arrives, Simba is incensed to find that his once joyful and prosperous kingdom has crumbled into a barren wasteland under Scar's rule. With the support of Nala, who rallies the lionesses, and Timon and Pumbaa, who lure some hyenas away, the young lion confronts his uncle. Scar remains confident and with his hyenas he forces Simba to admit that he was responsible for the death of Mufasa. Scar then backs a shaken Simba to the edge of the cliff as lightning strikes a dead tree and sets the Pride Lands ablaze. Simba slips and hangs onto the edge of Pride Rock, similar to Mufasa's situation before his death. Scar recalls this scene, and latches into Simba's paws with his claws. He then sadistically whispers the awful truth to Simba: that it was he, Scar, who killed Mufasa. Simba, enraged at the truth of the murder and how he was played a fool in it, leaps upon Scar and forces the tyrant to publicly confess to killing Mufasa.

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Simba and Nala with their new cub, held by Rafiki.

The battle begins, and as the lionesses (along with Timon, Pumbaa, Rafiki and Zazu) and hyenas fight, Simba chases Scar up to the summit. Panicked, Scar attempts to blame everything on the hyenas by calling them "the enemy" (however, this is overheard by Shenzi, Banzai and Ed). Simba is fed up with Scar's pathetic pleads for life, but still shows mercy and tells Scar to run away from the kingdom and never return. Scar remembers these words, as they are the exact words that he once told Simba after Mufasa died. Scar begins to slink off, only to scatter some burning embers into Simba's face, distracting him. Scar takes advantage of this and attacks Simba once again.

A climactic battle ensues and Simba is thrown to the edge of the cliff. Scar jumps through the flames in an attempt to finish Simba off, but it is Simba, displaying his calm calculating nature again, who throws his uncle over the edge of the cliff. Scar survives the fall, but encounters the hyenas, who are enraged that he called them "the enemy". They surround a pleading Scar and kill him. The hyenas are never seen later on; they either fled the Pride Lands or were engulfed by the fire.

Shortly thereafter, rain begins to fall, extinguishing the fire and cleansing the earth. In the movie's denouement, Simba ascends Pride Rock, becoming the true king, and leads the Pride Lands back into times of prosperity and glory. In the ending moments of the film, Simba and Nala's new-born cub is presented by Rafiki in a triumphant ceremony mirroring the film's beginning.

Reaction

When The Lion King was in limited release in two major theatres, the film did very impressive business which suggested that this "secondary project" to Pocahontas promised to be popular. It later became the most successful 1994 film worldwide and also the most successful animated feature film ever at the time, exceeding even the Disney Company's expectations. It was also the second top grossing film of 1994 domestically (below Forrest Gump). Critical response was extremely good; it gained a 92% rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Chicago Sun Times movie critic Roger Ebert called the film, a superbly drawn animated feature.

It went on to win two Academy Awards: Best Original Score and Best Original Song ("Can You Feel the Love Tonight"). Besides winning the same two categories in the Golden Globe Awards, it also won Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy. In the Annie Awards, it won Best Animated Film, Best Individual Achievement for Story Contribution in the Field of Animation, and Jeremy Irons also won Best Achievement for Voice Acting for voicing Scar.

Box office performance

Source	Gross (USD)	% Total	All Time Rank
Domestic	$328,541,776 ($312,855,561 initially)	41.9%	16
Foreign	$455,300,000	58.1%	N/A
Worldwide	$783,841,776	100.0%	18
Domestic Adjusted	$494,283,500	N/A	24
Domestic Opening Weekend	$40,888,194	13.1%	93

The film initially made US$312,855,561 domestically, but including its 2002 IMAX re-release the number would be $328,541,776. Worth noting that the initial gross includes the film's short return to theaters in November 1994.

It held the record of the most successful animated feature film in history until it was finally shattered by the computer animated Finding Nemo in 2003. Now it ranks third (Shrek 2 surpassed Nemo's gross in 2004) but is still the highest film using traditional animation. When adjusted for inflation, it is the fourth top grossing animated film (below Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, One Hundred and One Dalmatians and Fantasia). It also holds the top spot in highest theater average gross in history.

Characters

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Characters from the film. Clockwise from left: Ed, Scar, Shenzi, Banzai, Rafiki, Mufasa, Simba, Sarabi, Zazu, Timon, Pumbaa, Sarafina and Nala.

• Simba, voiced by Matthew Broderick as an adult and Jonathan Taylor Thomas as a cub. The future ruler of the Pride Lands and son of Mufasa. Simba is playful and naive at first, but becomes more mature as he grows up. The word simba in the Swahili language means "lion", and is the only Swahili name in the film that corresponds to the character's own species. The character of Simba and also of his father, Mufasa, were modeled after two real lions that lived in Miami Metro Zoo in Miami, Florida. Joseph Williams and Jason Weaver provided Simba's adult and cub singing voices respectively, while Evan Saucedo provided his cub singing voice in the Morning Report sequence, which was added to the film in its 2003 Platinum Edition home video re-release. Ruben A. Aquino was the supervising animator of adult Simba, while Mark Henn was that of young Simba.
• Mufasa, voiced by James Earl Jones. King of the Pride Lands, father of Simba and mate of Sarabi. A wise and fair ruler, who understands the importance of the great Circle of Life. Mufasa was reportedly the name of the last king of the Bagada people, who were dispersed during the British colonization of Kenya. Tony Fucile was Mufasa's supervising animator.
• Scar, voiced by Jeremy Irons. Mufasa's brother and Simba's uncle. The primary villain of the movie, Scar aspires to become king by overthrowing Mufasa and Simba. Extremely selfish, he doesn't care about anyone, even his faithful hyenas. Jim Cummings provided the singing voice of Scar during the final part of the song Be Prepared. Andreas Deja was Scar's supervising animator.
• Timon, voiced by Nathan Lane. Comical meerkat who is best friends with warthog Pumbaa. They adopt and raise Simba under the philosophy of "Hakuna Matata" (Swahili for "no worries"). A real meerkat at the Fellow Earthlings Wildlife Center, Inc. near Palm Springs, California was the inspiration for the movie Timon, and was his namesake. Michael Surrey was Timon's supervising animator.
• Pumbaa, voiced by Ernie Sabella. Clumsy warthog who adopts Simba with Timon. Pumbaa means "simpleton" in Swahili. Tony Bancroft was Pumbaa's supervising animator.
• Rafiki, voiced by Robert Guillaume. A wise old shaman mandrill (incorrectly referred to as a baboon in the film, although mandrills are in the baboon family) and Simba's spiritual guide, responsible for presenting every new-born prince to the animal kingdom. His name is Swahili for "friend". Rafiki's tree is a baobab tree; baobab trees are known colloquially as "monkey-bread trees". James Baxter was Rafiki's supervising animator.
• Nala, voiced by Moira Kelly as an adult and Niketa Calame as a cub. Childhood friend and future mate of Simba (Swahili for "gift"). Like Simba, she is playful when young, but grows up to be even more mature than Simba. According to co-director Rob Minkoff, speaking in 2004, the general assumption during production was that Nala was the offspring of either Scar or Mufasa. The film never specifies this, due to the incest taboo, though it is consistent with the real-life behavior of lions. Sally Dworsky and Laura Williams provided Nala's adult and cub singing voices respectively. Anthony DeRosa was the supervising animator of adult Nala, while Aaron Blaise was that of young Nala.
• Zazu, voiced by Rowan Atkinson. A pompous and loyal hornbill who is King Mufasa's majordomo (advisor). He is used in the film mainly for comic relief before Timon and Pumbaa appear. Jeff Bennett provided Zazu's singing voice in the 2003 Morning Report sequence. Ellen Woodbury was Zazu's supervising animator.
• Shenzi, Banzai and Ed, voiced by Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin and Jim Cummings respectively. A trio of hyenas who assist Scar. Shenzi is Swahili for "uncouth"; banzai means "skulk" or "lurk." David Burgess and Alex Kupershmidt were the hyena trio's supervising animators.
• Sarabi, voiced by Madge Sinclair. Simba's mother, Mufasa's mate and strong leader of the lionesses. Her name is Swahili for "mirage". Russ Edmonds was Sarabi's supervising animator.
• Sarafina, voiced by Zoe Leader. Mother of Nala. She appears very briefly in the film and only speaks one line.
• The Mole, voiced by Jim Cummings. An extremely minor character who appears early in the film. He reports to Zazu that hyenas were seen in the Pride Lands.

Music

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A shot from the musical number "I Just Can't Wait to Be King". Note the abstract African-style backgrounds.

Elton John and Tim Rice wrote five original songs for this film, and John performs "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" during the end credits. However, the major musical praise focused on Hans Zimmer's score which was supplemented with traditional African music and choir elements arranged by Lebo M. Many critics felt this played a crucial role in establishing the grand mythic tone of the African story.

The Lion King is heavily influenced by American musical theater. The film's look changes drastically from the "realistic" world of the drama to the stylized world of the musical numbers. For instance, the "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" number transitions from a background of natural savanna to abstract blue and pink African tribal patterns the instant the singing begins - but the scene transitions just as quickly back out of it when the music ends. Also, in the "Hakuna Matata" number, the characters sing in a jungle surrounding lit by spotlights that follow them from the sky.

The film went on to win Best Original Score and Best Original Song ("Can You Feel the Love Tonight") in both the Academy Awards and Golden Globe Awards. Three songs from the film were nominated simultaneously for the Best Original Song Academy Award ("Can You Feel the Love Tonight", "Circle of Life" and "Hakuna Matata"), with "Circle of Life" also being nominated simultaneously in the same category in the Golden Globe Awards.

Songs

• "Circle of Life" – sung by an offscreen Carmen Twillie, with African vocals by Lebo M and his African choir, this song is played during the opening sequence where a new-born Simba is presented to the animals of the Pride Lands. Not a single line of dialogue is uttered by the characters. The song is reprised at the end of the film, only this time it is Simba and Nala's new-born cub who is being presented.

• "Morning Report" – a song from the Broadway musical based on the film, added to the film with a whole-new animated sequence in the film's 2003 Platinum Edition home video re-release. Sung by Zazu (Jeff Bennett), Mufasa (James Earl Jones) and Young Simba (Evan Saucedo), the song is an extension of the scene in the original film where Zazu delivers a morning report to Mufasa, and later gets pounced on by Simba.

• "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" – sung by Young Simba (Jason Weaver), Young Nala (Laura Williams) and Zazu (Rowan Atkinson). Simba uses this musical number in the film to distract Zazu, while expressing his wish to be king as soon as possible.

• "Be Prepared" – sung by Scar (Jeremy Irons/Jim Cummings), Shenzi (Whoopi Goldberg), Banzai (Cheech Marin) and Ed (Jim Cummings). In this song, Scar reveals his evil plot to kill Mufasa and Simba to his loyal hyena minions. The scene where Scar sits on a cliff overlooking his hyenas marching is actually a reference to the Nazi propaganda film Triumph of the Will, with Scar taking the place of Adolf Hitler; the hyenas' march is a reminiscent of the Nazi goose-step. The voice of Scar in this song switches from Jeremy Irons to Jim Cummings from the line "You won't get a sniff without me!" This was reportedly due to Irons' vocal cords giving out.

• "Hakuna Matata" – sung by Timon (Nathan Lane), Pumbaa (Ernie Sabella) and Simba (Jason Weaver as a cub and Joseph Williams as an adult). Timon and Pumbaa use this song as a warm welcome to Simba as he arrives at their jungle home. Simba learns to eat bugs and grows up into a young adult by the end of the song. The phrase "Hakuna Matata" is grammatically incorrect in Swahili; literally translated it means "worries have I none" but Disney felt the incorrect phrase was more marketable than the correct one.

• "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" – a love song sung mainly by an offscreen Kristle Edwards, with Timon (Nathan Lane), Pumbaa (Ernie Sabella), Adult Simba (Joseph Williams) and Adult Nala (Sally Dworsky) singing a few lines. This musical sequence shows Timon and Pumbaa's frustration at Simba falling in love and the development of Simba and Nala's romantic relationship.

Soundtrack and other albums

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The 1994 original soundtrack cover of The Lion King.

The film's original motion picture soundtrack was released on July 13 1994. The songs were by singers Elton John and Tim Rice. The original score was composed and arranged by Hans Zimmer.

On 28 February 1995, Disney released an album entitled Rhythm of the Pride Lands, a "sequel" to the original soundtrack which featured songs and performances inspired by, but not featured in the film. Most of the tracks were composed by African composer Lebo M and focused primarily on the African influences of the film's original music, with most songs being sung either partially or entirely in various African languages. Several songs featured in the album would later have incarnations in other Lion King-oriented projects, such as the stage musical or the direct-to-video sequels. Rhythm of the Pride Lands was initially printed in a very limited quantity and therefore has since become a collector's item. However, it was re-released in 2003, included in some international versions of The Lion King's special edition soundtrack with an additional track.

In 2001, Disney released Festival of The Lion King, a soundtrack of the Lion King-inspired attraction of the same name at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

The official soundtrack released by Disney contained very little of Hans Zimmer's instrumental score. The tracks included were pieced together from various parts of the film and therefore not entirely representative of the scenes linked to them. Relatively recently, a bootleg CD containing all of the missing score has been released, with many of the tracks recorded at a slower rate than normal, in monaural, and/or not ordered correctly with their appearance in the film. The CD is titled The Lion King Complete Score or Lion King Expanded Score and was first mentioned on Hans-Zimmer.com. The CD itself is difficult to obtain.

Sequels and spin-offs

Sequels and spin-offs were inevitable after The Lion King's huge success. The first of these was a 70mm spin-off film called Circle of Life: An Environmental Fable, which promoted environmental friendliness and shown in the Harvest Theater in The Land Pavilion at Epcot in Walt Disney World in 1995. Also debuted in 1995 was a spin-off television series called The Lion King's Timon and Pumbaa which focused on the titular meerkat and warthog duo. The TV series implied that the story took place during the mid-20th century through the appearance of humans and technology.

Next, a direct-to-video sequel called The Lion King II: Simba's Pride was released in 1998, focusing on Simba's daughter Kiara. However, as revealed in the book set The Lion King: Six New Adventures, Simba and Nala's new-born cub at the end of the first film was a son called Kopa. This means that Simba's Pride completely disregards Kopa's existence, and replaces him with Kiara. Finally, a direct-to-video prequel/midquel, The Lion King 1½ (also known as The Lion King 3: Hakuna Matata), was released in 2004 and takes place in a parallel timeline that interweaves with the original Lion King, but from Timon and Pumbaa's perspective.

Home video

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1995 VHS cover of The Lion King.

The Lion King was first released on VHS and laserdisc in the United States on March 3, 1995, under Disney's "Masterpiece Collection" video series. The VHS tape quickly became one of the best-selling videotapes of all time: 4.5 million tapes were sold on the first day. In addition, Deluxe Editions of both formats were released. The VHS Deluxe Edition included the film, an exclusive lithograph of Rafiki and Simba (in some editions), a commemorative "Circle of Life" epigraph, six concept art lithographs, another tape with the half-hour TV show The Making of The Lion King, and a certificate of authenticity. The CAV laserdisc Deluxe Edition also contained the film, six concept art litographs and The Making of The Lion King, but included storyboards, character design artwork, concept art, rough animation, and a directors' commentary that the VHS edition didn't. These home video versions of The Lion King all went into moratorium in 1997.

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The Lion King: Platinum Edition DVD cover.

On October 7, 2003, the film was re-released on VHS and released to DVD for the first time as The Lion King: Platinum Edition, as part of Disney's Platinum Edition line of animated classic DVDs. The DVD release featured a remastered version of the film created for the 2002 IMAX release, and a second disc with bonus features. The film's soundtrack was available in its original Dolby 5.1 track or in a new Disney Enhanced Home Theater Mix. By means of seamless branching, the movie could be viewed either with or without a newly-created scene - a short conversation in the movie replaced with a complete song, "The Morning Report", which was originally written for the stage musical of the film. A Special Collector's Gift Set was also released, with the DVD set, five exclusive lithographed character portraits (new sketches created and signed by the original character animators), and an introductory book entitled The Journey in a black box. More than two million copies of the Platinum Edition DVD and VHS units were sold on the first day of release. A DVD boxed set of the three Lion King films (in two-disc Special Edition formats) was released on December 6, 2004. In January 2005, the film went back into moratorium.

However, this Platinum Edition of The Lion King was criticized by fans mainly for its false advertising – producer Don Hahn claimed that the film would be in its original 1994 theatrical version earlier, but it ended up being the "digitally enhanced" IMAX version which is slightly different than the original theatrical cut. The DVD release was criticized for its hard-to-navigate system of the bonus disc, its shallow extras and not including the Making of the Lion King show. Still, it was praised for its brilliantly restored picture and sound. The DVD was also the first to include an optional Disney Enhanced Home Theater Mix for the film's soundtrack, and received great response from consumers. Disney has since included this enhanced mix in its major DVD titles such as Aladdin, Mary Poppins, Bambi, Cinderella and Lady and the Tramp .

Musical

Main article: The Lion King (musical)

The movie was also adapted into an award-winning Broadway stage musical with the same title, directed by Julie Taymor, and featured actors in animal costumes as well as giant, hollow puppets. After the stage show first opened on July 31, 1997 in Minneapolis at the Orpheum Theatre, it was an instant and tremendous success. It moved permanently to the New Amsterdam Theater on Broadway in New York City that October. It went on to be nominated for 11 Tony Awards, winning 6 including Best Musical and Best Director. A version later opened in London and another in Toronto, playing there until January 2004. On June 13, 2006, the Broadway production moved to the Minskoff Theatre to make way for the musical version of Mary Poppins. Festival of the Lion King, an attraction in Disney's Animal Kingdom and Hong Kong Disneyland, is essentially a shortened version of the musical.

Impact on popular culture

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The Lion King/Kimba the White Lion controversy is referenced in the Simpsons episode 'Round Springfield.

Due to its popularity, The Lion King was referenced several times in different media. Most notable was the reference to it in the episode of the animated TV series The Simpsons, 'Round Springfield. Towards the end of the episode, the ghost of Mufasa appears in the clouds with Bleeding Gums Murphy, Darth Vader and James Earl Jones, saying: "You must avenge my death, Kimba... dah, I mean Simba", a sly reference to the Lion King/Kimba the White Lion controversy.

A few episodes in the first two seasons of the TV series ER also made references to The Lion King, in which some parents bring their children into the hospital and talk about their children watching The Lion King numerous times. As the first two seasons of the show were aired between 1994 to 1996, the peak of the film's popularity, this is not surprising.

Also, in the 2002 comedy Kung Pow: Enter the Fist, an entire scene references The Lion King. While the main protagonist, The Chosen One, is pondering newly received information about his enemies and deceased family, a Mufasa-look-alike called "Mu-Shu Fasa" appears in the clouds. "Mu-Shu Fasa" even calls The Chosen One "Simba" before calling him "Chosimba".

One of its Oscar-nominated songs was also referenced in an episode of the 2005-2006 series of the British sci-fi TV serial Doctor Who, The Christmas Invasion. In the episode, the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) quotes the first few lines of the song "Circle of Life" when trying to persuade the Sycorax leader to spare humanity. Julie Gardner, the executive producer of Doctor Who, mentions in the audio commentary for this episode that the "Lion King speech" is one of her favourite parts of the episode.

Even Disney has referenced The Lion King in its own films. In the Disney-released, Pixar-produced 1995 computer animated film Toy Story, the song "Hakuna Matata" can be heard playing in Andy's car during the film's climax. Also in 1995, the live-action Man of the House had a scene in which Jonathan Taylor Thomas (who was also the voice of young Simba) reads a Lion King comic book. Pumbaa made brief appearances in The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Aladdin and the King of Thieves, both released in 1996. The 1997 animated film Hercules paid homage to both The Lion King and the Nemean Lion, where Scar's skin is worn by Hercules while he is posing for a painting on a Greek vase (not by coincidence, Andreas Deja was the supervising animator of both Scar and Hercules). Another 1997 film, George of the Jungle, referenced the classic scene where Simba is presented at Pride Rock.

In other aspects, a Lion King water ride attraction was built in a theme park in the Philippines called "Star City". The park is not affiliated with Disney, however.

Controversies

Story origin

Kimba the White Lion.

The Lion King was claimed to be the first animated Disney movie to not be based on an already-existing story, although the accuracy of this has become disputed. The Lion King bears a striking resemblance to a famous Japanese anime television show, Kimba the White Lion, and claims have been made that The Lion King was inspired by it. Starting with the protagonist's name (Simba/Kimba), most characters in Kimba have an analogue in The Lion King, and various individual scenes are nearly identical in composition and camera angle. Disney's official stance is that any resemblance is coincidental, and directors Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff claimed that they were well into the development process before the Kimba similarity was identified. The family of Osamu Tezuka, Kimba's creator, has not filed suit against Disney. For further details, see Kimba The White Lion controversy.

The filmmakers, however, admitted that the story of The Lion King was inspired by the 1942 Disney animated film Bambi, Joseph the Dreamer and Exodus from the Bible, and William Shakespeare's Hamlet. In fact, Christopher Vogler, in his book The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure For Writers, described how Disney approached him with a copy of Hamlet asking how to improve the plot of The Lion King by incorporating ideas from Shakespeare. Relationship between the two plots includes: The brother to the king (Scar to Mufasa; Claudius to King Hamlet) kills the king (this occurs before the play Hamlet begins). The rightful heir (Simba/Hamlet) does not avenge his father's death at first. Later, at the urging of his father's ghost, the prince recalls his duty (although Hamlet vacillates between action and inaction unlike Simba) and ultimately returns from exile to kill his uncle (although Hamlet was not in exile at the time, and Simba does not personally kill Scar). Other than those key plot points, however, much of Hamlet's plot has no parallel in The Lion King. The Hamlet argument appears to have been promoted by Disney personnel after the Kimba controversy started.

The contribution of Vogler itself raised controversy. At the time of the film's release, studios were clamoring to utilize Vogler's theories on applying mythic structure to screenplays to streamline story development. There was backlash by critics who felt that Vogler's treatises on story structure - which actually only codified basic mythic structure - was an industry-wide attempt at making all films formulaic. The Lion King, in particular, because of Vogler's involvement and its near-perfect adherence to mythic structure, was cited as a major culprit of the trend.

The 1988 Universal Pictures/Amblin Entertainment animated film The Land Before Time also has a few concepts that were apparently borrowed for use in The Lion King. When Littlefoot is crying over his mother, an old reptile gives him advice, mentioning "The Great Circle of Life". In the last part of the movie, Littlefoot's mother's ghost appears to him in cloud form and speaks to him; similar to how Mufasa speaks to Simba.

Subliminal message

The alleged "SEX" frame.

In one scene of the movie it appears as if animators had embedded the word "sex" into several frames of animation, which conservative activist Donald Wildmon asserted was a subliminal message intended to promote sexual promiscuity. However, several of the movie's animators claim that the letters spell "SFX" (a common abbreviation of "special effects"), and was a sort of innocent "signature" signed by the effects animation team to the work they did.

"The Lion Sleeps Tonight"

The use of the song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" has led to disputes between Disney and the family of South African Solomon Linda, who composed the song (originally titled "Mbube") in 1939. In July 2004, the family filed suit, seeking $1.6 million in royalties from Disney. In February 2006, Linda's heirs reached a legal settlement with Abilene Music, who held the worldwide rights and had licensed the song to Disney for an undisclosed amount of money.

Video games

Two video games based on the film have been released. The first, simply called The Lion King, was published in 1994 by Virgin and was released on NES, SNES, Game Boy, Sega Master System, Sega Genesis, Game Gear, PC and Amiga. The second, entitled The Lion King: Simba's Mighty Adventure, was published in 2000 by Activision and was released on PlayStation and Game Boy Color.

A third game was published in 2004 simply called "The Lion King" for Game Boy Advance in Europe and Asia, but was in fact a game based on the direct-to-video prequel/midquel The Lion King 1½ with Timon and Pumbaa as the playable characters. Unlike its counterparts, the U.S. version clearly shows the title The Lion King 1½ on the box.

Simba makes an appearance in the PlayStation 2 game Kingdom Hearts as well as Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories as a summon - a character which can be summoned by the player during battle. Simba is a summon in this game because he refused to die after his world was consumed by the Heartless. In the sequel Kingdom Hearts II, many characters from the film appear in the game, and the entire world of The Lion King is explorable. At certain points, Simba temporarily joins the protagonists' party.

See also

• The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, a direct-to-video sequel released on October 27, 1998.
• The Lion King 1½ (known as The Lion King 3: Hakuna Matata in some countries), a direct-to-video prequel/midquel released on February 10, 2004.
• The Lion King (musical), a Broadway musical based on the film.
• The Lion King's Timon and Pumbaa, an animated TV series focusing on the film's meerkat-warthog duo.
• Festival of the Lion King, an attraction in Disney's Animal Kingdom and Hong Kong Disneyland based on the film, and essentially a shortened version of the Broadway musical.
• Circle of Life: An Environmental Fable, a short movie opened on January 21, 1995 at Epcot featuring Simba, Timon and Pumbaa.
• The Lion King: Six New Adventures, a boxed set of books released after the film's success. The books provide some backstory for the film (such as how Scar received his scar) and also chronicle events that take place between the film and Simba's Pride.
• The Lion King: The Brightest Star, a book and cassette tape set telling the story of Simba's great-grandfather Mohatu.
• The Lion King (video game), a video game based on the film.
• Kingdom Hearts II, a video game that features The Lion King as one of its worlds.

References

External links

• The Lion King at IMDb
• Template:Bcdb
• The Lion King WWW Archive, probably the largest and most active fan site.
• The Lion King script
• The Lion King song lyrics
• UltimateDisney.com's The Lion King DVD Review with pictures
• UltimateDisney.com's guide to the Lion King DVD
• A YouTube video comparing the voice work of Jeremy Irons, Matthew Broderick and Moira Kelly in The Lion King with that of James Horan, Cam Clarke and Vannesa Marshall in Kingdom Hearts II.