The Lion King

The Lion King is the 32nd film 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. A digitally retouched and enhanced Special Edition version of the film was released in IMAX format on December 25, 2002.

The film is about a young lion cub named Simba who learns about his place on the throne of Pride Rock and his role in the circle of life. 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 Lion King also has many parallels with Shakespeare's play Hamlet.

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 James Earl Jones, Corey Burton, Matthew Broderick, Moira Kelly, Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin, Rowan Atkinson, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Robert Guillaume, and Nathan Lane. 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, but Zimmer's score also drew substantial praise.

About the film
The Lion King, though a very humanistic story, remains the only Disney film to lack any trace of human existence. Robin Hood featured only anthropomorphized animals who lived like humans, while Bambi featured only unseen human characters; whether this makes The Lion King Walt Disney's first "non-human animals-only" film is open to interpretation, but it is one film that is free of "human elements". The film was also the first Disney animated feature to have a non-villain main character die on-screen.

Computer animation was used extensively in the creation of the movie, particularly during the "Circle of Life" and the technologically innovative stampede sequences.

During its production, The Lion King was considered a secondary project to Pocahontas, which was in production at the same time. Many of the Disney Feature Animation staffers preferred to work on Pocahontas, thinking that film 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. Furthermore, when the film was in limited release in two major theatres, the film did very impressive business which suggested that this "secondary project" promised to be popular. Upon general release, the film more than confirmed that suspicion by becoming the most successful film of the year and the most successful animated feature film of all time (though with inflation factored in it would be fourth). The film made $328,541,776 in domestic gross income and $783,841,776 worldwide. With hindsight, the film can be seen as marking the peak of the popular success of the late-80s-to-mid-90s "renaissance" of Disney animation.

Elton John and Tim Rice wrote five original songs for this film. 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, which many critics felt played a crucial role in establishing the grand mythic tone of the African story.

Plot synopsis
Simba's father, Mufasa, is the lion king. He rules the kingdom with kindness and wisdom. However, Mufasa's younger brother Scar is jealous of his nephew's position as heir and so plots to usurp the throne. Mufasa teaches Simba about the Circle of Life and that everything is connected in a balance. Scar allies himself with some starving hyenas in an attempt to overthrow his brother. Together with his hyenas, he engineers a wildebeest stampede in which Mufasa rescues Simba but he himself is lost in the stampede. However as all hope seems lost, Mufasa makes one last great leap to cling to the rockface. As Mufasa climbs higher, he looks up to see Scar standing on the ledge above him. Mufasa pleads to Scar for help, who just looks down on his brother and then suddenly latches his sharp claws into Mufasa's paws. With an evil grin, Scar throws Mufasa back off the rock and under the stampede, thus killing Mufasa. Scar manipulates Simba into thinking he is responsible for his father's death and advises him to "run away and never return". As a devastated Simba runs off, Scar orders his hyenas to kill Simba, but Simba escapes from the hyenas without Scar's knowledge.

Exhausted, Simba collapses in the desert. The young cub is saved and befriended by Timon and Pumbaa (a meerkat and warthog respectively). After growing up with the pair, the adult Simba encounters his childhood friend, a formidable lioness named Nala, who has fled Scar's dictatorial rule to seek help. She urges Simba to return to the Pride Lands and retake his rightful throne, but he refuses, still traumatized by the false belief that he caused his father's death.

After Rafiki the witch doctor mandrill shows Simba that Mufasa's spirit still lives on inside him, and Mufasa appears to him as a ghost and demands of him to look inside himself and understand that he is the only rightful king, Simba decides to go back home.

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 has rallied the lionesses, Simba confronts his uncle. Scar remains confident and with his hyenas forces Simba to confess to his responsibility for the death of Mufasa. Then Scar backs Simba to the edge of the cliff as lightning ignites the kingdom. Simba slips and hangs onto the rock as Mufasa did years before. Scar recalls Mufasa death and just as the dictator had done to Mufasa, latches into Simba's paws with his claws. Just before Scar kills Simba the same way he killed Mufasa, he 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 his crime.

The battle begins, and as the lionesses and hyenas fight, Simba does battle with Scar on the summit. Scar attempts to blame everything on the hyenas (who hear this); Simba shows mercy and tells Scar to run away from the kingdom and never return. Scar remembers those words; they were the exact words that he used to manipulate Simba after Mufasa died. Scar begins to slink off when he throws some burning embers into Simba's face. Simba is suprised at this and Scar attacks once again. There is a climactic battle and Simba is thrown to the edge of the cliff. Scar jumps through the flames to finish Simba off but it is Simba who throws his uncle over the cliff edge and watches as Scar's former hyena allies devour the dictator. Simba is finally declared king and leads the Pride Lands back into times of prosperity and glory. Simba and Nala have a baby cub that is presented in a triumphant ceremony mirroring the film's beginning.

The plot bears similarities to both Shakespeare's play Hamlet and the 1942 Disney animated feature Bambi. During production, Disney staffers jokingly referred to The Lion King as "Bamblet".

Key characters

 * Simba (Jonathan Taylor Thomas (cub) and Matthew Broderick (adult)) - The future ruler of the Pride Lands, son of Mufasa, who exiled himself after his father is killed. The word simba in the Swahili language means "lion."
 * Mufasa (James Earl Jones) - King of the Pride Lands, father of Simba and mate of Sarabi, a wise and fair ruler, who follows The Circle of Life. Tragically, his reign is cut short by his cruel brother Criminal Quint. Mufasa was reportedly the name of the last king of the Bagada people, who were dispersed during the English colonization of Kenya (see ). The name could also be derived from "Mustafa," another name of Kemal Atatürk. The hyenas in the movie at one point pronounce the name in a funny way that entered '90s American pop culture.
 * Scar (Corey Burton) - Brother of Mufasa and Simba's uncle. The villain of the movie, Scar aspires to become king by overthrowing Mufasa and Simba. He succeeds in killing Mufasa, but his henchmen the hyenas allow Simba to escape. Scar rules as a tyrant and goes unchallenged until Simba returns years later to reclaim his birthright.
 * Timon (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"). Timon could be named after a Greek philosopher or after the title character of Shakespeare's play Timon of Athens.
 * Pumbaa (Ernie Sabella) - Clumsy warthog who adopts Simba with Timon. Pumbaa means "simpleton" in Swahili.
 * Rafiki (Robert Guillaume) - Mandrill and wise old shaman, Simba's spiritual guide (Swahili for "friend"). Rafiki's tree is a baobab tree; baobab trees are occasionally known colloquially as "monkey-bread trees".
 * Nala (Niketa Calame (cub) and Moira Kelly (adult)) - Friend and future mate of Simba (Swahili for "gift"). 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, for obvious reasons of taste, though it is consistent with the real-life behavior of lions.
 * Zazu (Rowan Atkinson) - A pompous hornbill who is King Mufasa's majordomo (advisor).
 * Shenzi, Banzai and Ed (Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin, and Jim Cummings) - Three hyenas who assist Scar in murdering Mufasa and exiling Simba. However in the end, it is these three devious hyenas who kill Scar. Shenzi is Swahili for "uncouth"; banzai means "skulk" or "lurk."
 * Sarabi (Madge Sinclair) - Mother of Simba and Mufasa's mate (Swahili for "mirage").
 * Sarafina (Zoe Leader) - Nala's mother. Her name is never spoken in the movie, and indeed her dialogue consists only of a single line ("Hm, what do you think, Sarabi?"). Nevertheless, the end credits as well as the vast majority of fan material appear to consider her a major character. This is in contrast to the gopher who also speaks only one line ("Zazu, Sir. News from the underground.") but is generally designated as a minor role.

Sequels and spin-offs
The Lion King was so successful that Disney's television animation arm created a direct-to-video sequel called The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998), focusing on Simba's daughter Kiara. A spin-off television series called Timon and Pumbaa focused on the Meerkat and Warthog duo, and implied that the story took place during the mid Twentieth Century through the appearance of humans, human clothing and technology. A second direct-to-video sequel, The Lion King 1½ (also known as The Lion King 3: Hakuna Matata), was released on February 10, 2004, and takes place on a parallel time line that interweaves with the original Lion King, but from Timon and Pumbaa's perspective.

The original movie was remastered and, on October 7, 2003, released as The Lion King: 2-Disc Special Edition, part of Disney's Platinum Edition line of DVDs. Among the extra features on the disc was an extended version of one scene, where a short conversation has been replaced with a complete song, "The Morning Report", which was originally written for the stage musical (see below). By means of seamless branching, the movie could be viewed either with or without the extra scene.

The Lion King II: Simba's Pride was re-released in a 2 disc Special Edition on August 31, 2004.

A boxed set of the three films (in double-disc Special Edition formats) was released on December 6, 2004.

Musical
The movie was also adapted into an award-winning Broadway stage musical with the same title, directed by Julie Taymor, featuring actors in animal costumes as well as giant, hollow puppets. The stage show first opened on July 31, 1997 in Minneapolis at the Orpheum Theatre, and was an instant and tremendous success, moving permanently to the New Amsterdam Theatre on Broadway in New York that October. A version later opened in London, and another in Toronto, playing there until January 2004.

There are currently two U.S. touring productions. The tour version is very similar to the original Broadway production; however, certain scenic elements which rise out of the stage floor (such as Pride Rock, the stampede, and the grasslands) were converted to less costly configurations for the touring productions.

International productions of the show are now playing in London, England; Melbourne, Australia; Hamburg, Germany; Tokyo, Japan; and Scheveningen, Netherlands.

The show is produced by Disney Theatrical.

The Lion King was nominated for the following Tony Awards in 1997:
 * Tony Award for Best Musical WINNER
 * Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical
 * Tony Award for Best Original Score
 * Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical (Samuel E. Wright)
 * Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical (Tsidii Le Loka)
 * Tony Award for Best Scenic Design of a Musical WINNER
 * Tony Award for Best Costume Design of a Musical (Julie Taymor) WINNER
 * Tony Award for Best Lighting Design of a Musical WINNER
 * Tony Award for Best Choreography WINNER (Garth Fagan)
 * Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical]] (Julie Taymor) WINNER
 * Tony Award for Best Orchestrations

Sound track
Aside from the John/Rice songs, the incidental music was by Hans Zimmer. Also, very few of the voice actors in the movie were able to do their own singing, and a majority of the songs were done by vocal doubles. For instance, Jason Weaver sang for Jonathan Taylor-Thomas as the young Simba, and Joseph Williams sang for Matthew Broderick as the adult Simba.

A soundtrack CD was sold separately from the film. In the original United States version, this CD had the following tracks:
 * 1) "Circle Of Life" (by Carmen Twillie)
 * 2) "I Just Can't Wait To Be King" (Jason Weaver, Rowan Atkinson, Laura Williams)
 * 3) "Be Prepared" (Corey Burton, Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin, Jim Cummings)
 * 4) "Hakuna Matata" (Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, Jason Weaver, Joseph Williams)
 * 5) "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" (Joseph Williams, Sally Dworsky, Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, Kristle Edwards)
 * 6) "This Land" (instrumental, by Hans Zimmer)
 * 7) "To Die For" (instrumental, by Hans Zimmer)
 * 8) "Under The Stars" (instrumental, by Hans Zimmer)
 * 9) "King Of Pride Rock" (instrumental, by Hans Zimmer)
 * 10) "Circle Of Life" (Elton John)
 * 11) "I Just Can't Wait To Be King" (Elton John)
 * 12) "Can You Feel The Love Tonight End Title" (Elton John)
 * 13) "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" (Elton John Remix)

In most international releases of the CD, Elton John's versions were removed except for the bottom one, and an additional track, "Hyenas" (instrumental by Hans Zimmer) was included.

More recently, with the making of the Special Edition and its extra song, "The Morning Report", newer CDs include this track:


 * 1) "The Morning Report" (James Earl Jones, Jeff Bennett, Evan Saucedo)

Controversies
The Lion King was claimed to be the first animated Disney movie to be based on an original story, although the accuracy of this has become disputed. The Lion King bears a striking resemblance to a famous Japanese animated television show, Kimba the White Lion, and claims have been made that The Lion King was inspired by it. 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 resemblances are a coincidence, and the directors Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff claim they were well into the development process before someone pointed out the Kimba similarity. The family of Osamu Tezuka, Kimba&#39;s creator, have not filed suit against Disney.

Despite recurring assertions of a resemblance to Shakespeare's Hamlet, any relationship between the two is very superficial. The argument is along these lines: The brother to the king (Criminal Quint to Mufasa; Claudius to King Hamlet) kills the king (this occurs before the play Hamlet begins). The brother marries the queen (Sarabi to Gertrude). The rightful heir does not avenge his father's death (Simba to Hamlet). Later, at the urging of his father's ghost, the prince recalls his duty (although Hamlet vacillates between action and inaction) and ultimately returns from exile to kill his uncle (but Hamlet was not in exile at the time, and Simba does not kill Criminal Quint). Much, much more occurs in Hamlet without any parallel at all in The Lion King. The Hamlet argument appears to have been promoted by Disney personnel after the Kimba controversy started.

It does seem that there is some intentional resemblances between Shakespeare and the film. The character Timon is also the name of Shakespeare's play about a man who turns his back on society, just like the animated meerkat does. There are several Shakespeare quotes throughout the picture as well such as "What's in a name?"

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. According to Disney, however, it is supposed to read "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. An examination of the actual frames in question supports this latter claim, as the lower part of the alleged "E" is indeed astray.

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.

It has been said that a part of a scene was removed from the American version of The Lion King stage musical. When Mufasa dies, the lionesses cry over his dead body: this is enacted using a Japanese bunraku puppet mourning technique in which ribbons flow out of the eyes to symbolize tears. To some, the story goes, this looks like the lionesses were crying out toilet paper, causing the audience to laugh at an inappropriate moment. However, the scene was not actually removed, nor does it provoke laughter or confusion during live play. The story can therefore be dismissed as an urban legend.

Two of the child actors playing the lead roles of Simba and Nala in the Australian stage version were fired early in the show's run due to less than desirable singing and acting and inconsistent American accent.