The Lion King

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The Lion King Trivia

Several character names are based on Swahili words: - Shenzi: Barbarous/Uncouth/Uncivilized/Savage - Pumbaa: Ignorant/Lazy/Careless - Sarabi: Mirage - Rafiki: Comrade/Friend - Simba: Lion/Courageous Warrior - Mufasa: reportedly the name of the last king of the Bagada people, who were dispersed during the English colonization of Kenya. - Nala: gift
An alternate version of Can You Feel the Love Tonight, a comic version to be sung by Timon and Pumbaa was storyboarded and even recorded but never used.
When writer Irene Mecchi came on board, she was told that the story pitch was "Bambi in Africa meets Hamlet", or "Bamlet", as she termed it.
The premiere for the IMAX version of the movie in New York had a strange request on the invitations: "No nannies." (In other words, "You are more than welcome to bring your children to this movie, but we sent the invitation to you and not to them for a reason.")
The Broadway production of "The Lion King" opened at the New Amsterdam Theater on October 15, 1997, has run for 5240 performances and is currently the ninth longest-running show on Broadway (as of July 2010). "The Lion King" won the 1998 Tony Award (New York City) for the Best Musical and received nominations for Best Score and Best Book.
Mufasa was to sing a song titled To Be King, but it didn't suit James Earl Jones' singing voice.
To date this movie still holds the record for being the highest grossing traditionally animated film in history.
The line, "What do you want me to do, dress in drag and do the hula?" was improvised by Nathan Lane.
Premiered at the famed Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
The last Disney movie to be supervised by Jeffrey Katzenberg before he left to form DreamWorks.
Voted number 1 in Cuatro's (Spain) "Tu película Disney"
There have been rumors that when Simba collapses on the cliff after talking with Timon and Pumbaa about stars, the dust that flies off the cliff forms the letters SEX. In fact it forms the letters SFX, the abbreviation of the special-effects team that worked on that portion of the film.
George Scribner was the film's original director.
Elton John and Tim Rice were a little shocked when they saw that the producers originally intended to have their (eventual) Oscar-winning love ballad "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" as a duet between Timon and Pumbaa.
Nala's mother is named Sarafina. The name is never used in the film, however it does appear in the credits and on pieces of merchandise based on the film, including the trading cards issued at Burger King for a Lion King-based promotion.
John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam and Patrick Hewes Stewart were all considered for the role of Zazu. The role was finally given to Rowan Atkinson after the animators watched some episodes of Mr. Bean (UK). They even modeled Zazu's appearance after Atkinson. According to producer Don Hahn, every English comedian (as well as Patrick Hewes Stewart and Simon Callow, both of whom are classically trained Shakespearean actors) who performed from 1960-1991 and were still active in acting were either seriously considered, turned down or auditioned for the role.
Originally, the hyenas Banzai and Shenzi were supposed to be voiced by Tommy Chong and Cheech Marin. But the directors couldn't get hold of Chong, so they cast Whoopi Goldberg as Shenzi instead.
German-born Hans Zimmer called in the services of his South African friend, Lebo M., to help provide some authenticity to the film's musical soundtrack. The two had previously collaborated on John G. Avildsen's The Power of One. It is Lebo M.'s call that you hear on the opening bars of "Circle of Life". He also wrote the African chant that underpins this stirring version of the song.
The wildebeest stampede took Disney's CG department approximately three years to animate.
Originally, Scar was going to send adult Nala away from Pride Rock because she ignored his romantic approaches, after which she finds Simba alive and well with Timon and Pumbaa. This idea was ultimately abandoned, as sexual harassment was considered improper in a family movie. However, the stage musical adaptation includes this plot development as part of director Julie Taymor's efforts to expand the female characters' presence in the story.
Although all of the animals are obviously anthropomorphic in the film, hyenas (as the villainous characters) were most given the short end of the stick from the reality. In fact, Spotted Hyenas are considered the equal of lions in terms of intelligence and ferocity. They have an equally intricate social structure and are less likely to kill their own kind than lions (hyena clan matriarchs allow very little intra-species aggression). Also, while portrayed as nearly full scavengers, in reality lions scavenge the kills of hyenas as much as (if not more so) than hyenas scavenge lion kills.
For its Platinum Edition DVD release, a new song was recorded and animated. "The Morning Report" was written for the Broadway musical by Elton John and Tim Rice. They wrote two other songs for the play, "Chow Down" and "The Madness of King Scar".
This animated movie was Gregory Peck's favorite animated film, he also ranked it in his top five all time favorite movies.
The first Disney cartoon to be dubbed into Zulu for its African release.
Pumbaa the Warthog was the first character in Disney films to exhibit flatulence.
Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane would later appear together in The Producers . Coincidentally, both films now exist as Broadway musicals.
At the end of the movie when Simba looks up to the stars and hears "remember", you can make out a lion standing from the stars, representing Mufasa's star-sign.
When Mufasa tells Simba about the Great Kings of the Past if you look at the stars in the wide shot you can see Mickey Mouse.
The original opening to the film was supposed to have been a quiet dialogue-heavy sequence. When composer Hans Zimmer prepared his interpretation of Circle of Life, he made an extended version so he would have some flexibility as to what to cut for the film. The animators were so impressed with the work that they decided to change the beginning into the currently seen sequence so they could use the entire work that Zimmer prepared.
The Lion King opened on Broadway in 1997. The musical garnered 6 Tony Awards including Best Musical, and is produced by Disney Theatrical.
Disney's 32nd animated feature.
In the end of the scene where Mufasa explains to Simba that the stars are old kings, we can see the constellation of Leo (the lion) in the sky.
One of three Disney movies to win a Golden Globe for Best Picture. The other two are Beauty and the Beast and Toy Story 2 (all three were in the category "Comedy or Musical").
The plot-line is loosely based upon William Shakespeare's Hamlet; a story of a young prince whose uncle takes over the kingdom and marries the queen after killing the king/prince's father. After being away from home for a period of time, these events lead to the prince's plans for revenge. The prince receives some advice from his father's ghost. Also, during the scene where Zazu sings I've got a lovely bunch of Coconuts, Scar Has a skull in his hand.
Production took place at Walt Disney Animation Studios in Glendale, California, and Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida. Thirteen supervising animators, both in California and Florida, were responsible for establishing the personalities and setting the tone for the film's main characters.
The scenes of the hyenas chasing Simba out of the Pridelands and into the desert originally went screen right to screen left. The filmmakers flipped all the shots so that the chase now went screen left to screen right, so as to match the shot of Simba running back home to face Scar (he runs from screen right to screen left).
A new computer program had to be written for the CG wildebeest stampede that allowed hundreds of computer generated animals to run but without colliding into each other.
[June 2008] Ranked #4 on the American Film Institute's list of the 10 greatest films in the genre "Animation".
The best selling home video of all time, with more than 55 million copies sold to date.
There is a lost verse of "Hakuna Matata" that was storyboarded which explained Timon's situation. It was later used in The Lion King 1½ (2004) (V).
Tim Curry and Malcolm McDowell were both considered for the role of Scar.
An extra song for Timon & Pumbaa, Warthog Rhapsody, was written by Elton John and Tim Rice for the film, and was recorded by Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, and Jason Weaver. The sequence that was planned for it was worked out on the storyboard, but was never animated and so the song was not used.
Several Disney animators went to Africa to study animal behavior and interaction in the wild. A grown lion and a cub were also brought into the animation studio as models for anatomy and musculature.
The highest grossing movie of 1994 worldwide and the second highest in the US behind Forrest Gump.
Unlike the other lions, Scar's claws are always displayed throughout the movie.
Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella were originally cast as the hyenas Banzai and Shenzi (played by Whoopi Goldberg and Cheech Marin in the film). The crew loved their performance and thought the duo would be even better as Timon and Pumbaa.
Voted number 6 in channel 4's (UK) "Greatest Family Films"
When Simba calls the hyenas 'stupid', a very nervous Zazu mutters 'Ixnay on the Upid-stay'. This is Pig Latin, roughly translated it means 'Don't say stupid'.
The first Disney animation movie to be dubbed into Portuguese in Portugal rather than Brazil.
Besides inspirations from William Shakespeare's Hamlet, the story also has elements of the Osirian family myths of Ancient Egyptian mythology. In the Osirian myths, the king (Mufasa/Osiris) is killed by his jealous brother (Scar/Seth) and the rightful heir (Simba/Horus) is sent into exile as a boy. The murdered king visits and mentors his son in ghostly visits and when the heir comes of age, he returns to exact revenge on his father's murderer.