It’s Film
Strip Friday!
The Lion
King
Release
Date June 15th, 1994
SYNOPSIS:
Frisky,
adventurous lion cub Simba "Just Can't Wait to Be King." Neither,
unfortunately, can his treacherous uncle, Scar. When Scar's schemes leave Simba
fatherless and alone in the desert, Simba is made to believe that he is
responsible for the death of his father, Mufasa. Carefree warthog Pumbaa and
meerkat Timon teach the forlorn cub their "Hakuna Matata" philosophy
- no worries! Simba will need more than hakuna matata to rejoin the pride,
confront Scar, and take his rightful place in the circle of life.
FUN
FACTS:
The Lion King
The Lion King is a 1994 American animated musical-adventure film produced by Walt Disney
Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the 32nd feature
in the Walt Disney Animated Classic series. The story takes place in a kingdom
of anthropomorphic lions in Africa, and was influenced by the Bible tales of Joseph
and Moses, and the William Shakespeare play Hamlet. The film was produced
during a period known as the Disney Renaissance. The Lion King was
directed by Roger Allers and Rob Mindoff, produced by Don Hahn, and has a
screenplay credited to Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts and Linda Woolverton. The
voice cast includes Matthew Broderick, Jeremy Irons, James Earl Jones, Jonathan
Taylor Thomas, Moira Kelly, Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, Towan Atkinson, Robert
Guillaume, Madge Sinclair, Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin and Jim Cummings. It
tells the story of Simba, a young lion who is to take his father Mufasa's place
as king. However, after Simba's uncle Scar kills Mufasa, he must stop his uncle
from conquering the Pride Lands and avenge his father.
Development of The
Lion King began in 1988 during a meeting between Jeffery Katzenberg, Roy E.
Disney and Peter Schneider while promoting Oliver in Europe. Thomas Disch wrote
a film treatment, and Woolverton developed the first scripts while George
Scibner was signed on as director, being later joined by Allers. Production
began in 1991, with most of the animators inexperienced or interested in
animals as most of the Disney team wanted to work on Pocahontas instead. Sometime
after the staff traveled to Hell’s Gate National Park to research on the film's
setting and animals, Scribner left production disagreeing with the decision to
turn the film into a musical, and was replaced by Minkoff. When Hahn joined the
project, he was dissatisfied with the script and the story was promptly
rewritten. Nearly 20 minutes of animation sequences took place at Disney-MGM
Studios in Florida. Computer animation was also used in several scenes, most
notably in the wildebeest stampede scene.
The Lion King was released on June 15, 1994 to a positive reaction from critics, who
praised the film for its music and story. With over earnings of over $951
million worldwide as of 2011, the film is the highest-grossing hand-drawn film
in history, the highest-grossing 2D animated film in the United States, and the
15th-highest-grossing feature film. The Lion King garnered
two Academy Awards for its achievement in music and the Golden Globe Award for Best
Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. Its songs were written by composer Elton
John and lyricist Tim Rice, with an original score by Hans Zimmer.
A Broadway
adaptation of the film opened in 1997, and won six Tony Awards, including Best
Musical. Disney followed the film with two direct-to-video productions, the
sequel The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride (1998) and the prequel/parallel The Lion
King 1 ½ (2004).
Plot
In the Pride Lands
of Africa, a lion rules over the other animals as king. As king Mufasa shows
the lands to his son Simba, he tells him that Simba cannot go to a shadowy
place beyond the borders. Later that day, Simba's envious uncle Scar tells him
that the shadowy place is in fact an elephant graveyard. Simba's curiosity is
piqued, and he convinces his best friend Nala, a female lion cub, to come with
him. At the graveyard, the cubs are attacked by three spotted hyenas, Shenzi,
Banzai and Ed, before Mufasa rescues them. The hyenas are in fact friends of
Scar, who then plots with them to take over the Pride Lands.
On Scar's orders,
the hyenas stampede a large pack of wildebeest into a gorge where Simba is.
Mufasa rescues Simba, but as Mufasa attempts to flee by climbing the gorge's
walls, Scar throws his brother back into the stampede, killing him. After Simba
finds Mufasa's body in the gorge, Scar tricks him into thinking that Mufasa's
death is his fault, and afterwards advises him to run away and to never come
back. As Simba leaves, Scar orders the hyenas to go after Simba, but the cub is
able to escape. Scar then announces to the pride that both Mufasa and Simba
were killed and steps forward as the new king.
Simba, now far
from home, collapses in the desert from exhaustion, but is found by Timon and
Pumbaa, a meerkat and a warthog who nurse him back to health. Timon and Pumba
then take Simba in, and the lion grows on a carefree life under the motto
"hukuna matata". Years later, Simba rescues Timon and Pumbaa from a
hungry lioness, who turns out to be Nala. The two reconcile and begin falling
in love. Nala tries to get Simba to come back home by saying that because of
Scar allowing the hyenas to live in the Pride Lands, it has become a wasteland
with not enough food and water. Still feeling guilt over his father's death,
Simba refuses to return and storms off.
Wise mandrill Rafiki
tracks Simba down, telling that Mufasa is still "alive" and then
takes Simba to a pond and tells him to look into the water. Seeing only his
reflection at first, Simba looks harder and sees an image of Mufasa. Rafiki
says that Mufasa lives within him as a large storm cloud appears overhead and a
specter of Mufasa speaks out to Simba, saying that he has forgotten who he is
and that he must take his rightful place as the true king of Pride Rock. Simba
then realizes that he can no longer run from his past and goes back home. Nala,
Timon and Pumbaa follow him, and agree to help him fight.
At the Pride
Lands, Simba confronts Scar on Pride Rock. Scar backs Simba up to the end of
Pride Rock to the point where Simba slips over the edge, dangling by his paws.
Scar taunts him and then whispers that he killed Mufasa. The enraged Simba
leaps back up and pins Scar, forcing his uncle to reveal the truth to the other
lions. A fight ensues between the hyenas and lionesses while Simba chases and
confronts Scar alone at the top of Pride Rock. Scar begs Simba for mercy,
saying he is family and accusing the hyenas of planning everything. Simba says
he does not believe Scar anymore, but spares his life and tells him to run away
and never return. Scar meekly walks past him, but afterwards attacks his
nephew. After a fierce battle, Simba triumphs and throws Scar off of Pride
Rock. Scar survives the fall, but is attacked and killed by the hyenas, who
overheard his attempt to betray them.
With Scar and the
hyenas gone, Simba descends from the top of Pride Rock where he is acknowledged
by the pride as the rain falls again. Sometime later, Pride Rock is restored to
its former glory and Simba looks down happily at his kingdom with Nala, Timon,
and Pumbaa by his side; Rafiki presents Simba and Nala's newborn cub to the
inhabitants of the Pride Lands and the circle of life continues.
Voice cast
·
Matthew
Brodrick as Simba - Mufasa and Sarabi's son, Scar's
nephew, Nala's husband and the current King of the Pride Lands. Joseph Williams
provides Simba's singing voice. Jonathan Taylor Thomas plays the younger Simba,
with Jason Weaver providing his singing voice.
·
James
Earl Jones as Mufasa - Scar's older brother, Sarabi's husband,
Simba's father, Nala's father-in-law and the former King of the Pride Lands.
·
Jeremy
Irons as Scar - Mufasa's younger brother, Sarabi's
brother-in-law and Simba's uncle.
·
Moira
Kelly as Nala - Sarafina's daughter, Simba's best friend and
wife, Mufasa and Sarabi's daughter-in-law and the current Queen of the Pride
Lands. Sally Dwatsky provides Nala's singing voice. Niketa Calame plays the
younger Nala, with Laura Williams providing her singing voice.
·
Nathan
Lane as Timon - Simba's meerkat friend.
·
Ernie
Sabella as Pumbaa - Simba's warthog friend.
·
Robert
Guillaume as Rafiki - a wise old mandrill who serves as shaman of
the Pride Lands and presents newborn cubs of The Lion King and Queen to the
animals of the Pride Lands.
·
Rowan
Atkinson as Zazu - A Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill who serves
as The Lion King's adviser.
·
Madge
Sinclair as Sarabi - Mufasa's wife, Scar's sister-in-law, Simba's
mother and the former Queen of the Pride Lands.
·
Whoopi
Goldberg as Shenzi - The only female and leader of the hyena trio
who serve Scar.
·
Cheech
Marin as Banzai - One of the two male members of the hyena
trio who serve Scar.
·
Jim
Cummings as Ed - One of the two male members of the hyena trio
who serve Scar and the only one of the trio who laughs instead of talking.
Production
Story development
The idea for The
Lion King started in late 1988 during a conversation between Jeffrey
Katzenberg, Roy E. Disney and Peter Schneider on a plane to Europe to promote
the film Oliver and Company. During the conversation, the topic of a story set
in Africa came up, and Katzenberg immediately jumped at the idea. Producer Thomas
Schumacher, who had just completed The Rescuers Down Under, decided to attach
himself to the project "because lions are cool". The idea was then
developed by Walt Disney Feature Animation's vice president for creative
affairs Charlie Fink. Katzenberg decided to add elements involving coming of
age and death, and ideas from personal life experiences, such as some of his
trials in his bumpy road in politics, saying about the film, "It is a
little bit about myself."
In November of
that year Thomas Disch (author of The Brave Little Toaster) wrote a treatment,
entitled King of the Kalahari, and afterwards Linda Woolverton spent an
year writing drafts of the script, which was titled King of the Beasts
and then King of the Jungle. The original version of the film was very
different from the final film. The plot was centered in a battle being between
lions and baboons with Scar being the leader of the baboons, Rafiki being a
cheetah, and Timon and Pumbaa being Simba's childhood friends. Simba would also
not leave the kingdom, but become a "lazy, slovenly, horrible
character" due to manipulations from Scar, so Simba could be overthrown
after coming of age.
Oliver and Company director George Scibner was the initial director of the film, being later
joined by Roger Allers, who was the lead story man on Beauty and the Beast in
October 1991. Allers brought with him Brenda Chapman, who would become the head
of story. After six months of story development work Scribner decided to leave
the project, as he clashed with Allers and the producers on their decision to
turn the film into a musical, as Scribner's intention was of making a
documentary-like film more focused on natural aspects. Rob Minkoff replaced
Scribner, and producer Don Hahn joined the production. Hahn found the script
unfocused and lacking a clear theme, and after establishing the main theme as
"leaving childhood and facing up to the realities of the world",
asked for a final retool. Allers, Minkoff, Chapman and Hahn then rewrote the story
across two weeks of meetings with directors Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale, who
had just finished Beauty and the Beast. The script also had its title
changed from King of the Jungle to The Lion King, as the setting
was not the jungle but the savannah. The Lion King was the first Disney
animated feature to be an original story, rather than being based on an
already-existing work. The filmmakers have said that the story of The Lion
King was inspired by the Joseph and Moses stories from the Bible and William
Shakespeare's Hamlet.
During the summer
of 1992, the team was joined by screenwriter Irene Mecchi, with a second
screenwriter, Jonathan Roberts, joining a few months later. Mecchi and Roberts
took charge of the revision process, fixing unresolved emotional issues in the
script and adding comic business for Pumbaa, Timon and the hyenas. Lyricist Tim
Rice worked closely with the writing team, flying to California at least once a
month, as his songs needed to work in the narrative continuity. Rice's lyrics -
which were reworked up to the production's end - were even pinned to the storyboards
during development. Rewrites were frequent, with animator Andreas Deja saying
that completed scenes would be delivered only for the response to be that parts
needed to be reanimated due to dialog changes.
Casting
The voice actors
were chosen for how they fit and could add to the characters - for instance, James
Earl Jones was cast because the directors found his voice "powerful"
and similar to a lion's roar. Nathaan Lane originally auditioned for Zazu, and Ernie
Sabella for a hyena. Upon meeting each other at the recording studio, the
actors, who at the time were co-stars in Guys and Dolls, asked to record together as hyenas. The directors laughed at their
performance and decided to cast the duo as Timon and Pumbaa. For the hyenas,
the original intention was reuniting Cheech & Chong, but while Cheech Marin
accepted to play Banzai, Tommy Chong was unavailable. Thus his role was changed
into a female hyena, Shenzi, played by Whoopi Goldberg.
Animation
“The Lion King was
considered a little movie because we were going to take some risks. The pitch
for the story was a lion cub gets framed for murder by his uncle set to the
music of Elton John. People said, ‘What? Good luck with that’ But for some
reason, the people who ended up on the movie were highly passionate about it
and motivated.” ~ Don Hahn
The development of
The Lion King started concurrently with Pocahontas, which most of the
animators of Walt Disney Feature Animation decided to work on instead,
believing it would be the more prestigious and successful of the two. The story
artists also did not have much faith in the project, with Brenda Chapman
declaring she was reluctant to accept the job "because the story wasn't
very good", and writer Burny Mattinson saying to co-worker Joe Ranft about
the film that "I don't know who is going to want to watch that one."
Most of the leading animators were either doing their first major work
supervising a character, or had much interest in animating an animal. Thirteen
of these supervising animators, both in California and Florida, were
responsible for establishing the personalities and setting the tone for the
film's main characters. The animation leads for the main characters included Mark
Henn on young Simba, Ruben A. Aquino on adult Simba, Andreas Deja on Scar, Aaron
Blaise on young Nala, Anthony DeRosa on adult Nala, and Tony Fucile on Mufasa.
Nearly 20 minutes of the film, including the "I Just Can't Wait to Be
King" sequence. were animated at the Disney-MGM Studiosfacility.
Ultimately, more than 600 artists, animators and technicians contributed to The
Lion King over the course of its production. Weeks before the film was to
be released, production was affected by the 1994 Northridge earthquake, which
shut off the studio and required the animators to finish their work from home.
The character
animators studied real-life animals for reference, as was done for the 1942
Disney film Bambi. Jim Fowler, renowned wildlife expert, visited the studios on
several occasions with an assortment of lions and other savannah inhabitants to
discuss behavior and help the animators give their drawings an authentic feel.
During pre-production in 1991, several of the lead crew members, including
Allers, Scribner, Hahn, Chapman, and production designer Chris Sanders, had
taken a trip to Hell’s Gate National Park in Kenya, in order to study and gain
an appreciation of the environment for the film. The Pride Lands are modeled on
the national park. Varied focal lengths and lenses were employed to differ from
the habitual portrayal of Africa in documentaries - which employ telephoto
lenses to shoot the wildlife from a distance. The epic feel drew inspiration
from concept studies by artist Hans Bacher - which, following Scribner's
request for realism, tried to depict effects such as lens flare - and the works
of painters Charles Marion Russell, Frederic Remington and Maxfield Parrish.
Since the characters were not anthropomorphized, all the animators had to learn
to draw four-legged animals, and the story and character development was done
through usage of longer shots following the characters.
The use of
computers helped the filmmakers present their vision in new ways. The most
notable use of computer animation is in the "wildebeest stampede"
sequence. Several distinct wildebeest characters were created in a 3D computer
program, multiplied into hundreds, cel shaded to look like drawn animation, and
given randomized paths down a mountainside to simulate the real, unpredictable
movement of a herd. Five specially trained animators and technicians spent more
than two years creating the two-and-a-half minute stampede sequence. Other
usages of computer animation were done through CAPS, which helped simulate
camera movements such as tracking shots, and was employed on the coloring,
lighting and particle effects.
The enthusiastic
audience reception to an early Lion King film trailer, which consisted
solely of the opening sequence with the song "Circle of Life",
suggested that the film would be very successful. While both The Lion King
and Pocahontas were commercial successes, The Lion King received
more positive feedback and earned larger grosses than did Pocahontas,
released one year later.
Music
Lyricist Tim Rice,
who was working with composer Alan Menken on songs for Aladdin, was invited to
write the songs, and accepted on the condition of finding a composing partner.
As Menken was unavailable, the producers accepted Rice's suggestion of Elton
John, after Rice's invitation of ABBA fell through due to Benny Andersson being
busy with the musical Kristina fran Duvemala. John expressed an interest of
writing "ultra-pop songs that kids would like; then adults can go and see
those movies and get just as much pleasure out of them", mentioning a
possible influence of The Jungle Book, where he felt the "music was so
funny and appealed to kids and adults".
John and Rice
wrote five original songs for this film ("Circle of Life", "I
Just Can’t Wait to Be King", "Be Prepared", "Hakuna Matata"
and "Can You Feel the Love Tonight") with the singer's performance of
"Can You Feel the Love Tonight" over the end credits. The IMAX and
DVD releases added another song, "The Morning Report", which was
based on a song discarded during development that eventually got featured in the
live musical version of The Lion King. The film's score was composed by Hans
Zimmer, who was hired based on his work in two films in African settings, The
Power of One and A World Apart, and supplemented the score with traditional
African music and choir elements arranged by Lebo M.
The film's
original motion picture soundtrack was released on July 13, 1994. It was the
fourth-best-selling album of the year on the Billboard 200 and the top-selling
soundtrack. It is the only soundtrack for an animated film to be Diamond
certified (10x platinum). Additionally, The Lion King Expanded Score
contains never-before-released instrumental music from Hans Zimmer's original
score.
The use of the
song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" in a scene with Timon and Pumbaa 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.
Release
Promotion
Upon release, The
Lion King was accompanied by an extensive marketing campaign which included
tie-ins with Burger King, Mattel, Kodak, Nestle and Payless Shoesource, and
various merchandise, accounting 186 licensed products. In 1994, Disney earned
approximately $1 billion with products based on the film, with $214 million
alone for Lion King toys during Christmas 1994.
Box office
|
Box office revenue
|
Box office ranking
|
|
|
United States
|
Foreign
|
Worldwide
|
All time domestic
|
All time worldwide
|
|
$422,783,777
|
$528,800,000
|
$951,583,777
|
#9
|
#14
|
|
The Lion King earned $422,783,777 in North America and an estimated $528,800,000 in
other territories for a worldwide total of $951,583,777. It is the second-highest-grossing
animated film of all time worldwide and the highest-grossing film of Walt
Disney Animation Studios. It is also the highest-grossing motion picture of 1994
worldwide. The Lion King held the record for the highest-grossing
animated feature film (in North America, overseas and worldwide) until it was
surpassed by the computer animated Finding Nemo (2003), shrek 2 (2004), Ice
Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) and Toy Story3 (2010). During its 3D
re-release in 2011, The Lion King surpassed all but Toy Story 3
to rank as the second-highest-grossing animated film worldwide, and the
highest-grossing hand-drawn animation. It is also the biggest animated movie of
the last 50 years in terms of estimated attendance.
Original
theatrical run
The Lion King had a limited release in North America on June 15, 1994, playing in only
two theaters, El Capitan Theater in Los Angeles and Radio City Music Hall in
New York City. It still earned $1,586,753 across the weekend of June 17–19,
standing at the tenth place of the box office ranking. The average of $793,377
per theater stands as the largest ever achieved during a weekend. The wide
release followed on June 24, 1994, in 2,550 theaters. The Lion King
grossed $40.9 million - which at the time was the fourth biggest opening
weekend earning ever and the highest sum for a Disney film - to top the weekend
box office. By the end of its theatrical run, in spring 1995, it had earned
$312,855,561, being the second-highest-grossing 1994 film in North America
behind Forest Gump. The worldwide total was $772.6 million, placing it as the
highest-grossing film of the year.
Re-releases
2002 IMAX &
Large-Format
The film was
re-issued on December 25, 2002 for IMAX and large-format theaters. On it's
first weekend, it made $2.7 million from 66 locations, a $27,664 per theater
average. This run ended with $15,686,215 on May 30, 2003.
2011 3D Conversion
In 2011, The
Lion King was converted to 3D for a two-week limited theatrical re-issue
and subsequent 3D Blu-Ray release. The film opened at the number one spot on
Friday, September 16, 2011 with $8.9 million and finished the weekend with
$30.2 million, ranking number one at the box office. This made The Lion King
the first re-issue release to earn the number-one slot at the American weekend
box office since the re-issue of Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi in March 1997. The film
also achieved the fourth-highest September opening weekend of all time. It held
off very well on its second weekend, again earning first place at the box office
with a 27% decline to $21.9 million. Most box-office observers had expected the
film to fall about 50% in its second weekend and were also expecting Moneyball
to be at first place. The weekend overall broke the record for the busiest
September weekend of all time (at least a $117 million aggregated gross).
After its initial
box-office success, many theaters decided to continue to show the film for more
than two weeks, even though its 3D Blu-Ray release was scheduled for
two-and-a-half weeks after its theatrical release. But during its third
weekend, the film came in third place behind Dolphin Tale and Moneyball after
falling a steep 52% fall to $10.6 million. However, notably, while September
2011 was the highest-grossing September of all time, The Lion King 3D
was September's highest-grossing movie (with a $71.9 million gross by the end
of the month). This was also the highest gross for a movie in September since The
Sixth Sense earned $84.4 million in 1999. This re-release ended its run in
theaters on January 12, 2012 with a gross $94,242,001 in North America and
$74,300,000 internationally. The successful 3D re-release of The Lion King
made Disney and Pixar plan 3D theatrical re-releases of Beauty and the Beast, Finding
Nemo, Monsters Inc., The Little Mermaid, and WALL-E from 2012 to 2014.
Critical response
The Lion King garnered critical acclaim and at Rotten Tomatoes, based on 75 reviews
collected, the film has an overall approval rating of 88%, with a weighted
average score of 8/10. Among Rotten Tomatoes' Cream of the Crop, which
consists of popular and notable critics from the top newspapers, websites,
television and radio programs, the film holds an overall approval rating of 100
percent. Metacritic, which assigns a normalized 0–100 rating to reviews from
mainstream critics, calculated an average score of 84 from the 13 reviews it
collected.
Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger
Ebert called the film "a superbly drawn animated feature" and, in his
print review wrote, "The saga of Simba, which in its deeply buried origins
owes something to Greek tragedy and certainly to Hamlet, is a learning
experience as well as an entertainment." On the television program Siskel
& Ebert the film was praised but received a mixed reaction when compared to
previous Disney films. Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert both gave the film a
"Thumbs Up" but Siskel said that it was not as good as earlier films
such as Beauty and the Beast and was "a good film, not a great one".
Hal Hinson of The Washington Post called it "an impressive, almost
daunting achievement" and felt that the film was "spectacular in a
manner that has nearly become commonplace with Disney's feature-length
animations", but was less enthusiastic toward the end of his review
saying, "Shakespearean in tone, epic in scope, it seems more appropriate
for grown-ups than for kids. If truth be told, even for adults it is downright
strange." Owen Gleiberman, film critic for Entertainment Weekly, praised
the film and wrote that it "has the resonance to stand not just as a
terrific cartoon but as an emotionally pungent movie". Rolling Stone film
critic Peter Travers praised the film and felt that it was "a hugely
entertaining blend of music, fun and eye-popping thrills, though it doesn't
lack for heart". The staff of TV Guide wrote that "The film has some
of Disney's most spectacular animation yet—particularly in the wildebeest
stampede—and strong vocal performances, especially by skilled Broadway comedian
Nathan Lane. However, it suffers from a curiously undeveloped story line."
James Berardinelli, film critic for ReelViews, praised the film saying,
"With each new animated release, Disney seems to be expanding its
already-broad horizons a little more. The Lion King is the most mature (in more
than one sense) of these films, and there clearly has been a conscious effort
to please adults as much as children. Happily, for those of us who generally
stay far away from 'cartoons', they have succeeded."
Accolades
The Lion King received four Golden Globe and academy Award nominations. The film would
go on to win two Golden Globes, for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy and
Best Original Score, as well as two Academy Awards, for Best Original Score (by
Hans Zimmer) and Best Original Song with "Can You Feel the Love Tonight"
by Elton John and Tim Rice. The songs "Circle of Life" and "Hakuna
Matata" were also nominated. "Can You Feel the Love Tonight"
also won the BMI Film Music Award, and the Grammy Award for Best Male Vocal
Performance. The film also won Annie Awards for Best Animated Feature, Best
Achievement in Voice Acting (for Jeremy Irons) and Best Individual Achievement
for Story Contribution in the Field of Animation.
At the Saturn
Awards, the film was nominated in two categories, Best Fantasy Film and Best
Performance by a Younger Actor although it did not win in either category. The
film also received two nominations at the British Academy Film Awards, for Best
Sound as well as the Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music although it lost in
both categories to Speed and Backbeat respectively. The film received two BMI
Film & TV Awards for Film Music and Most Performed Song with "Can You
Feel the Love Tonight." At the 1995 MTV Movie Awards the film received
nominations for Best Villain and Best Song, though it lost in both categories. The
Lion King won the Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie at the 1995 Kids’
Choice Awards.
In 2008, The
Lion King was ranked as the 319th greatest film ever made by Empire
magazine, and in June 2011, TIME named it one of "The 25 All-TIME Best
Animated Films". In June 2008, the American Film Institute revealed its
"10 Top 10"—the best ten films in ten "classic" American
film genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. The
Lion King was acknowledged as the 4th best film in the animation genre.
American
film Institute Lists
·
AFI’s
100 Years…100 Movies – Nominated
·
AFI’s
100 Years…100Songs::
o "Hakuna Matata" – #99
o "Circle of Life" – Nominated
o "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" – Nominated
·
ARI’s
Greatest Movie Musicals – Nominated
·
AFI’s
100 years…100 Cheers – Nominated
·
AFI’s
100 Years…100 Movies )10th Anniversary Edition – Nominated
·
AFI’s
10 Top 10 – #4 Animated Film
Home media
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. 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 lithographs and The Making of The
Lion King, and added storyboards, character design artwork, concept art,
rough animation, and a directors' commentary that the VHS edition did not have,
on a total of four double sided discs. The VHS tape quickly became one of the
best-selling videotapes of all time: 4.5 million tapes were sold on the first
day and ultimately sales totaled more than 30 million before these home video
versions went into moratorium in 1997.
On October 7,
2003, the film was re-released on VHS and released on DVD for the first time,
titled The Lion King: Platinum Edition, as part of Disney's Platinum
Edition line of animated classic DVDs. The DVD release featured two versions of
the film on the first disc, a remastered version created for the 2002 IMAX
release and an edited version of the IMAX release purporting to be the original
1994 theatrical version. A second disc, with bonus features, was also included
in the DVD release. The film's soundtrack was provided both in its original Dolby
5.1 track and in a new Disney Enhanced Home Theater Mix, making this one of the
first Disney DVDs so equipped. By means of seamless branching, the film could
be viewed either with or without a newly-created scene – a short conversation
in the film replaced with a complete song ("The Morning Report"). A
Special Collector's Gift Set was also released, containing 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. The Platinum Edition of The Lion King featured changes made
to the film during its IMAX re-release, including re-drawn crocodiles in the
"I Just Can't Wait to Be King" sequence as well as other alterations.
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 The Lion King
films (in two-disc Special Edition formats) was released on December 6, 2004.
In January 2005, the film, along with the sequels, went back into moratorium.
The Diamond
Edition of The Lion King was released on October 4, 2011. This marks the
time that the film has been released in high-definition Blu-ray and on Blu-ray
3D. The initial release was produced in three different packages, a two-disc
version with Blu-Ray and DVD, a four-disc version with Blu-Ray, DVD, Blu-Ray
3D, and digital copy, and an eight-disc box set which also included the sequels
The Lion King 2: Simba’s Prind and The Lion King 1 ½ . A standalone single-disc DVD release also followed on November 15, 2011.
The Diamond Edition topped the Blu-Ray charts with over 1.5 million copies
sold.
Controversies
Comparison of Kimba the White Lion
(left) and
The Lion King on Pride Rock (right).
Certain elements
of the film were considered bear a resemblance to a famous 1960s Japanese anime
television show, Kimba the White Lion, with characters having analogues, and
various individual scenes being nearly identical in composition and camera
angle. Matthew Broderick believed initially that he was in fact working on a
remake of Kimba, since he was familiar with the Japanese original.
Disney's official stance is that the similarities are all coincidental.
Yoshihiro Shimizu, of Tezuka Productions, which created Kimba the White Lion,
has refuted rumours that the studio was paid hush money by Disney but explains
that they rejected urges from within the industry to sue because, "we're a
small, weak company. It wouldn't be worth it anyway ... Disney's lawyers are
among the top twenty in the world!"
Protests were
raised against one scene where it appears as if the word "SEX" might
have been embedded into the dust flying in the sky when Simba flops down, which
conservative activist Donald Wildmon asserted was a subliminal message intended
to promote sexual promiscuity. The film's animators have stated that the
letters spell "SFX" (a common abbreviation of "special effects"),
and was intended as an innocent "signature" created by the effects
animation team.
Hyena biologists
protested against the animal's portrayal: one hyena researcher sued Disney
studios for defamation of character, and another - who had organized the
animators' visit to the University of California's Field Station for
Behavioural Research, where they would observe and sketch captive hyenas -
included boycotting The Lion King as a way of helping to preserve hyenas
in the wild.
Legacy
Sequels and
spin-offs
Between 1995 and
1999, the characters of Timon and Pumbaa received their own animated show, The
Lion King’s Timon and Pumbaa, which ran for three seasons and 85 episodes.
Ernie Sabella continued to voice Pumbaa, while Timon was voiced by Quinton
Flynn and Kevin Schon in addition to Nathan Lane himself.
In 1998, a sequel
entitled The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride was released on VHS. The film centers
around Simba's daughter, Kiara, who falls in love with Kovu, a male lion who
was raised in a pride of Scar's followers, the Outsiders. 2004 saw the release
of another Lion King film on DVD, The Lion King 1 ½. It is a prequel in
showing how Timon and Pumbaa met each other, and a parallel in that it also
depicts what the characters did during the events of the original movie.
Video games
Along with the film release, three different video games
based on The Lion King were released by Virgin Interactive on December
1994. The main title was developed by Westwood Studios, and published for PC
and Amiga computers and the consoles SNES and Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. Dark
Technologies created the Game Boy version, while Syrox Developments handled the Master System and Game Gear
version.
Another adaptation
by Torus Games, The Lion King: Simba’s Mighty Advednture, telling the story of
both The Lion King and Simba's Pride, was released in 2000 for
the Game Boy Color and PlayStation. Timon and Pumbaa also appeared in Timon
& Pumbaa’s Jungle Games, a 1995 PC game collection of puzzle games by 7th
Level, later ported to the SNES by Tiertex.
Simba is a
recurring summon in the Kingdom Hearts series by Square Enix, and Kingdom
Hearts II features a playable The Lion King world known as Pride Lands,
with a plotline loosely related to the storyline of the original film. Simba
was also featured in the Nintendo DS title Disney Friends.
Musical adaptation
A musical adaption
with the same name premiered in Minneapolis, Minnesota in July 1997, opening on
Broadway in October 1997 at the New Amsterdam Theatre. It won six Tony Awards
including Best Musical. The show moved to the Minskoff Theatre in 2006 and is
still running to this day. It is now Broadway's seventh longest-running show in
history. The show's financial success lead to other productions in North
America and all over the world.
http://disney.go.com/disneyinsider/history/movies
http://en.wikipedia.org
