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The Lion King (1994)
The animated film that started it all. Produced by Walt Disney Feature
Animation in Burbank, California, this unassuming stop-gap project grew to
become a mythic phenomenon, setting record numbers for box-office sales
and merchandising revenue around the world, and inspiring thousands of
fans to build on its story with their own creativity.
Image Archive
Hundreds of high-quality screen images, clip art, and more!
Sounds & Music
Dialogue clips, MIDI songs, and CD track information.
Texts & Fan-Fiction
Essays, reviews, production notes, and hundreds of fan stories.
Video Clips
Video files of memorable scenes, and many more interesting movie files.
Character Profiles
Pictures and descriptions of all the Lion King characters and their roles in the story.
(close)
Image Archive
Hundreds of high-quality screen images, clip art, and more!
Sounds & Music
Dialogue clips, MIDI songs, and CD track information.
Texts & Fan-Fiction
Essays, reviews, production notes, and hundreds of fan stories.
Video Clips
Video files of memorable scenes, and many more interesting movie files.
Character Profiles
Pictures and descriptions of all the Lion King characters and their roles in the story.
(close)
The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride (1998)
The long-awaited sequel. A direct-to-video production by Walt Disney Television Animation, Simba's Pride adds new characters and another chapter to the Circle of Life mythos begun in the original theatrical film.
The Lion King 1½ (2004)
The Circle of Life begins anew with a fresh, satiric retelling of the original film's story, from the comic perspective of the meerkat Timon and the warthog Pumbaa. A tribute to the grandeur of the original as much as it is a satire, this direct-to-video production (from Walt Disney TV Animation Australia) appeals to wistful nostalgia as much as to our funny bones.
The Lion King: The Broadway Musical
Premiering in Minneapolis in 1997, The Lion King: The Broadway Musical has found a permanent home as a fixture on 42nd Street, the heart of the theatre district on Times Square in New York. Numerous other productions have set up in other cities around the world to showcase Julie Taymor's revolutionary stage rendition of the original film's story.
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS LIST
v4.32
The text version of this document is available at http://www.lionking.org/faq
"The Lion King" follows the epic adventures of a young lion cub named Simba as he struggles to accept the responsibilities of adulthood and his destined role as king of the jungle. As a carefree cub, he "just can't wait to be king," and spends his days frolicking with his pal, Nala. His father, King Mufasa, the revered ruler of Pride Rock and the lands that surround it, teaches him about the "circle of life" -- the delicate balance of nature which bonds all animals together -- and cautions him to prepare for the day when he will be called upon to lead. Mufasa's evil brother, Scar, hopes that day will never arrive and schemes to do away with the king and Simba so that he can assume the throne for his own tyrannical purposes. He and his hyena henchmen -- Shenzi, Banzai and Ed -- lure Simba into the path of a wildebeest stampede in which Mufasa is killed trying to save his son.Scar convinces Simba that he is responsible for his father's death and urges him to run far away from the Pride Lands and never return. A frightened and guilt-ridden Simba flees into exile where he is befriended by a wacky but warmhearted warthog named Pumbaa and his free-wheeling meerkat companion, Timon. Under the dubious guidance of this nature's odd couple, Simba adopts their "Hakuna Matata" (no worries) attitude towards life, living on a diet of bugs and taking things one day at a time. The cub matures into a young adult and is able to put his past behind him until a beautiful young lioness, who turns out to be his childhood friend Nala, arrives on the scene. She tells him of the hard times and suffering that have come to the Pride Lands under Scar's reign and beseeches him to take his place as king. With the help of Rafiki, a wise shaman baboon, Simba realizes that his father's spirit lives on in him and that he must accept the responsibility of his destined role. In a climactic battle with his uncle and an army of hyenas, Simba attempts to reclaim his rightful place in the "circle of life."
Some statistics: "The Lion King" was released twice in the US, once on June 24, 1994, and again on November 18, 1994. From those two running times it grossed some $313 million in the box office alone, placing it fifth on the list of high-earning films of all time (after E.T., Jurassic Park, Forrest Gump, and Star Wars). Considering it cost only $40 million to produce, this is quite remarkable.
A few abbreviations will be used in this FAQ. The most common, pretty clearly, will be TLK: "The Lion King." Others are:
CoL: "Circle of Life" IJCWtbK: "I Just Can't Wait to be King" HM: "Hakuna Matata" CYFtLT: "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" ROTPL: Rhythm of the Pride Lands JE: "Jungle Emperor" by Tezuka1. What Awards Did TLK Win?
Academy Awards: Best Music - Original Score
Best Music - Song - CYFTLT
nom. Best Music - Song - HM
nom. Best Music - Song - CoL
Golden Globe: Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical
Best Original Score - Motion Picture
Best Original Song - Motion Picture - CYFTLT
nom. Best Original Song - Motion Picture - CoL
Grammy Awards: Best Male Pop Vocal Performance - CYFTLT
Best Instrumental Arrangement with Accompanying Vocals - CoL
Best Musical Album for Children
BMI/PRS: Most Performed Song from a Film - CYFTLT
Robert Musel Award (Most Played Song) - CYFTLT
1. How Do You Spell All the Names?
2. Who Did All Their Voices?
Nearly all the voices in TLK were done by notable vocalists,
already famous for their work in big-screen productions or Broadway.
Foreign language cast listings can be found at
http://www.lionking.org/international/.
3. What IS Timon, Anyway?
This is a listing of the respective species of all the characters.
4. What's That Cub's Name? / What About The Sequel?
At the very end, Rafiki presents a new cub, Simba's and Nala's, to
the expectant crowd of animals just as he had earlier with Simba himself.
This new cub is Kiara, their daughter and heiress to Pride Rock. This sets
the stage for the plot of "Simba's Pride", the direct-to-video sequel due
to be released on October 27, 1998.
Full synopses of the plot and casting is available at http://www.lionking.org/simbaspride,
as well as at many other "Simba's Pride" websites.
5. Genealogy: Who's Nala's Father?
Jeff Leadbeater has provided the following speculation on this
subject:
1) Scar Paternity Theory
Evidence that proves this comes from the movie itself. When Scar took
sole possession of the Pride Lands, he should have killed Nala, since that
is the custom. The fact that Nala wasn't killed supports Scar's paternity
of Nala.
2) Mufasa Paternity Theory
3) Improbable Timing Theory
Since we never see anyone claim paternity to Nala, we cannot say who was
her father. Until we get more evidence, these are the most likely
theories.
1. Characters' Names
Many of the characters' names are in Swahili and actually mean
things. Here is the listing of all the names that have translations
(source: the original set of Skybox trading cards; meanings of dubious
certainty are indicated with *).
A note from the Internet Movie Database (reported by Kovara):
2. "Hakuna Matata": What Does It REALLY Mean?
This phrase, the motto of Timon and Pumbaa, means nearly what they
claim it to mean: literally translated, it is "There are no concerns
here." The words have an implication of location as well as of the
concerns involved. The pronunciation used in the film is also correct,
according to Yaacov
Iland, contrary to previous claims that the emphasis should have been
placed on the first syllable of each word.
3. Rafiki's Chant
One of TLK's most frequently asked questions is "What does
Rafiki's 'squash banana' chant mean?" Well, here it is:
Again, this is in Swahili, except for "nugu" (which is Kikuyu, the
most common native language in Kenya, rather than Swahili, which is more
of a regional lingua franca). As to the history of the chant's
usage: when the production team was in Kenya to research story elements
and study lion and other animal behavior, Brenda Chapman (who worked on
storyboards) heard their guide singing it to himself, and wrote it down.
The guide told her it was well known as a meaningless local schoolyard
chant, and she felt it would work well as a part of Rafiki's character.
4. What Language Is It on the Soundtrack?
Listeners to the soundtrack, both to "Circle of Life" and the
instrumental score, will hear a large amount of African vocal material
used. This is a result of the majority of the music being arranged by Hans
Zimmer, who incorporates a lot of such material into his scores (such as
"The Power of One") through his collaborator and lyricist, Lebo M.
The vocals are in Zulu, not Swahili. This observation is
supported by several points:
The TLK Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, sold in a deep blue
CD or cassette case with an image of Simba looking into the sky, contains
the following tracks:
Early promos for the movie promised seven original John/Rice
songs, not five. One which was cut, "Warthog Rhapsody," has been released
on the new "Rhythm of the Pride Lands" CD. As to the other: Evidently
Mufasa was to sing a song entitled "To Be King," which was supposed to be
geared toward teaching Simba what it means to have the responsibility of
kingship. It was cut, presumably because they just couldn't think of
a way for James Earl Jones to SING without sounding ridiculous.... :)
2. Isn't That Ladysmith Black Mambazo I Hear?
No, though it's not a bad guess. Ladysmith is a South African a
cappella musical group who does music inspired by mining songs born
there. They are quite famous now, having done the accompaniment to Paul
Simon's "Graceland" and "The Rhythm of the Saints" albums. However, they
are not the group we hear on the TLK soundtrack.
The African vocals in TLK are created by Lebo Morake, the lyricist
who has assisted Hans Zimmer in his African-themed movie scores, such as
"The Power of One." He is the one who sings the improvisations we hear at
the beginning of CoL, as well as at the very end and in various other
parts of the score. He leads a chorus made up in large part of African
vocalists who lend to the spirit of the music with their familiarity with
the Zulu language.
3. What's This I Hear About a Second TLK CD?
A "sequel" soundtrack to TLK was released in the US on February
28, 1995: Rhythm of the Pride Lands. It consists of almost all new songs
inspired by TLK, including a couple of others that are already in
existence and even one that was cut from the movie in production. The
track listing is as follows:
There have been many mixed reactions to this CD. Some, including
that of the writer of this FAQ, are overwhelmingly positive; other people
have reported returning the CD to the store after being unimpressed by
the music. For those who wish to see for themselves, ROTPL is available
at most music stores at the regular CD price.
4. So What Are the Words to Timon's "Hula" Song?
Here they are, cut directly from the Script (see section V.2):
If you're hungry for a hunk of fat and juicy meat
Come on down and dine
Aaaare you achin'
Oy!
The following is transcribed and annotated by Michael Razzano (SakaTheCheetah@aol.com):
-It's classified mainly as a folk song, and consequently has been altered
to generate several different versions. For example, my Dad remembers
singing the song as a kid and singing "Rowl a bowl a bowl a penny a
piece", while the more likely version of "Roll _or_ bowl a _ball_ --a
penny a _pitch_" fits the song much better. The transcription in [an
earlier version of] the FAQ says "Roll _a_ bowl a _bowl_ a penny a pitch",
which doesn't really make sense, either. Also, "the English Fair" is
"Barnum's Fair".
-The song also has the alternate title of "Roll Or Bowl a Ball --a Penny a
Pitch".
-The song-- under the title "I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts"-- was performed
by Monty Python, which served to revive its popularity in the 1970s.
Rowan Atkinson was peripherally associated with the Monty Python group
early in his career, and his memories of Eric Idle's performance very
likely influenced Atkinson-- or one of his fans on the production staff--
to suggest the song's inclusion in The Lion King.
-Fred Heatherton wrote the song, which has a copyright date of 1944. My
father said that he first saw it in a movie, but failed to remember which
movie it was. I, too, was unable to find it given the date and a lack of
online information about the song. If you're up for a challenge, or
already know, I'm still looking.
The largest archive of multimedia from TLK is The Lion King WWW Archive,
located at http://www.lionking.org.
Links to other TLK sites can be found there, covering such things as
foreign sound files, fan-fiction, and other "fringe" material.
2. Scripts
The TLK Script, which is as complete and error-free as possible by
this time, is available on the Web in three formats at:
http://www.lionking.org/scripts
3. The Art of The Lion King
A valuable resource for fans of TLK and its wonderful artwork is
available in Hyperion Press' The Art of The Lion King. It is
somewhat rare, but indispensable. TLK was the first film with which Disney
(through its Hyperion publishing arm) produced an accompanying Art book;
those for more recent movies have been larger and crisper in layout, but
for a first outing, TAoTLK is stunning. Following is a set of
information provided by Matt Robinson:
Hyperion Press publishes both books, both are hardcovers, both should be
virtually identical save for the autographs and sericel.
The ISBN of the standard edition is 0-7868-6028-6
You can't miss it among the other books, it's bigger than A4 paper (at
least 35cm x 25cm) and the cover sticks out like a diamond in the rough
(oops, thats Aladdin - and The Sword in the Stone =)
The book is also almost an inch thick, with a bold blue dust
jacket with gold lettering. It's hard to miss if it's on the shelf; if it
isn't, ask the clerk to order it.
4. The TLK Mailing List
A mailing list keeps the Lion King fandom together in a tight-knit,
good-natured discussion community which grows continually. It has taken
over from alt.fan.lion-king as the
standard forum for mature discussion of the movie, with a great many
posted messages per day about ongoing topics on and related to the movie.
To join, simply send an e-mail to majordomo@lionking.org, with no
subject, and put the following in the body of the message:
SUBSCRIBE TLK-L
A Japanese animated series, first aired in 1966, has been touted
by its creators and many anime fans as the unrecognized (by Disney)
source of the story and much of the rest of TLK. They do have a point, to
be honest, although Disney officially denies all knowledge of "Jungle
Emperor" (abbreviated JE here), as it was called. (The title of the
series in the USA was "Kimba the White Lion".) The similarities are
unsettling:
http://bronze.ucs.indiana.edu/~tanaka/Tezuka_Disney/Tezuka_Disney.html
Yet, as Matt Robinson points out to me, Tezuka's team has
admitted that many of these visuals and concepts, for instance the lion
on a rock and the monkey in a tree, are stereotypical enough for a
coincidence to be conceivable, and for these parallels to be inevitable.
The storyline of JE, however, is refreshingly different from
TLK's, enough so to render any claims on that front of plagiarism by
Disney ludicrous.
Following is some information brought to my attention, once
again, by Matt, which sheds some light on the respective attitudes of the
Tezuka and Disney Companies, as well as the storyline of JE.
In "Kimba," the cub's mother dies aboard a ship and Kimba escapes,
swimming back to shore. While trying to go home, he visits cities and
realizes that mankind has created a wonderful civilization of
laws--quite different from the law of the jungle.
In "Lion King," Simba leaves the pride after mistakenly believing
that he had a role in his father's death.
In "Kimba," the hero battles poachers and trappers, a magic serpent
and even the monster of Petrified Valley. He defends his domain
against "the insect invasion," "the red menace" and "the gigantic
grasshopper." Aiding his efforts are his animal friends, Dan'l
Baboon, Pauley Cracker, Tadpole, Samson and Roger Ranger, who is a
human.
In "Lion King," however, there are no human beings and Simba fights
hyenas and Scar.
The character of Scar, the power hungry "black sheep" brother of
Mufasa, is particularly intriguing to some observers. In the TV
series, the villian Claw, who has a scar above his eye, takes over the
throne in Kimba's abscence.
Takayuki Matsutani, president of Tezuka Productions in Tokyo, said
there is some similarity between the animated creations on two counts:
the son grows up to be the king's successor after his father's death,
and the symbolic scene where Simba stands on a rock in "The Lion
King," whereas in the Japanese version, the opening scene has Kimba
standing on a rock. He also agreed there were similarities in the
baboon, the bird, the hyenas and te evil lion.
"However, quite a few staff of our company saw a preview of 'The
Lion King,' discussed this subject and came to the conclusion that you
cannot avoid having these similarities as long as you use animals as
characters and try to draw images out of them," Matsutani said.
"If the Disney Co. had gotten a hint from 'The Jungle Emperor,'
Osamu Tezuka, a founder of our company, would have been pleased," he
continued. "And, we feel the same way, rather than making a claim."
"Therefore, our company's general opinion is 'The Lion King' is a
totally different piece from 'The Jungle Emperor' and is an original
work completed by the Disney production's long-lasting excellent production
technique."
Asked about the apparent similarities, Minkoff said that whenever a
story is based in Africa, it is "not unusual to have characters like a
baboon, a bird or hyenas."
A further reference for those interested in the debate is offered
by Marc Hairston:
2. The Songs are Substandard
Another common complaint about TLK is that its songs are not up to
the standards set in The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and
Aladdin. This is not surprising. Howard Ashman, the extraordinarily gifted
lyricist who worked with Alan Menken (the composer) in the three
above-mentioned films, passed away before the completion of Aladdin, and
Tim Rice, who is in the opinion of a great many fans a decidedly
less-talented artist than Ashman, had to take over. Rice was responsible
for some of the songs in Aladdin, and stayed on to write the lyrics for
the TLK songs.
Disney also hired Elton John to write the music for the songs in
TLK, which was a move many regret, since the style John uses is
considerably more geared toward pop music than Broadway musical numbers,
which TLK and most previous Disney films have looked for.
In synopsis, the musical combination in TLK, for the songs, was an
experiment, one that perhaps did not work as expected. Moviegoers
expecting to hear songs like the ones they enjoyed in the past few movies
were in many cases disappointed.
With special thanks to Phil Pollard, who painstakingly compiled
this list, here is the Oopsies list directly from his home page. (I have
edited some misleading typos.) It covers some, but not all, of the errors
committed by Disney in bringing the film to the screen.
Note:
The Mistakes
When Simba was a newborn he had a few cub spots on him: four on his head
and three on his side. We see this when he first appears and Sarabi licks
him awake, and Rafiki anoints him. He must have grown up really fast and
have lost them, because an instant later, when Rafiki lifts Simba to the
crowd, the spots are gone.
All the lions and lionesses have yellow tinted backgrounds on their eyes
by day. In most of the night scene's, they turn closer to white. One
notable exception is the fight scene where they stay yellow for all the
cats for some forgotten reason. The mistake appears when Sarafina is
comforting her daughter Nala as Scar talks about Simba and Mufasa's
deaths. The eyes have a yellow tint, and then for one brief camera switch
are pure white.
Poor Zazu. Throughout most of the film he has three tail feathers when
standing and four in flight. This is due to the two center feathers
forming a large feather when standing. The problem is, when he is first
seen at the presentation of Simba and several times in the Stampede he has
from 4 to 8 tail feathers.
Every meerkat that appears, including Timon, has 5 horizontal stripes down
its back. The center or third stripe is slightly larger. Even for a side
view, these stripes are still visible. However, when Timon in singing the
introduction to "Can You Feel the Love Tonight," His stripes aren't
visible from the side. This occurs twice between camera switches.
In the song "I Just Can't Wait to be King," Zazu flies into the back of a
rhino. Look carefully. The rhino's ear is drawn on its shoulder.
[However, it is the FAQ writer's opinion that in this case, given
the surrealism of the style used in this scene, and given that the
rhino's head and neck are for that reason indistinguishable from its
shoulder, this is not a "goof" but a mere stylistic flourish. -BT]
There is a -single- frame missing in the fire at the end. It is
-extremely- hard to see. This was lost due to a chain being lost on the
CAPS hard drive.
When a character is created, he/she is given a character model for all to
refer to. In this movie, all the adult lions had 5 whiskers on each side
of the face. The lionesses have none. When Simba was shown as a newborn he
has none. Later, when just a young cub, Simba has 3 whiskers on is right
side and 4 on his left. At least that's how it was supposed to be.
Excluding long shots, where details are not added, the number and
appearance of whiskers on Simba, Mufasa, and Scar changed over 80 times.
Often, it was a case of whiskers disappearing for a few seconds. From
close ups to mid shots, they disappeared. Three times the 3/4 combo on
simba went to 4/3. In some scenes where Simba was with Scar, and the Scar
crew was probably animating, Simba had a 4/5 combo. Most of the times the
number would change during camera switches. A few times it would change
when a character panned off and the back on. And even once or twice, they
disappeared on a simple pan. This is a relatively large mistake but it is
easily missed. Hopefully no one got fired.
When we see Simba lying, near dead, on his side in the desert, both of his
paws are placed in front of him. But, when Pumbaa and Timon show up, one
of his paws is lying on his head. (Remember Timon lifing it up?).
Phil Pollard (pepollar@jmu.edu)
Here are a few more errors not included in the list above:
And:
I've known this for a while and am suprised that no one else posted this
mistake: During the stampede Simba's eye color changes dramatically. His
eyes are a reddish-brown, but, in the stampede they're a very pale
color. It's very noticeable in the close-up shots.
Submitted by Michael Urban (murban@tznet.com):
When Mufasa's ghost first walks up to Simba, watch the tip of his front
right paw. There is a pop that happens. It's just one frame, but
noticeable if you're looking at that area. Believe it or not, this pop was
NOT in the original movie/vhs release. It is in the IMAX/special edition
release.
When Scar pounces on Simba for the last time, Simba looks at him and grits
his teeth. In the very next shot Simba's mouth is open considerably. You
can see this if you use slow motion. There is a reason for this mistake
and it's mentioned in the commentary. The shot where Simba grits his teeth
was the very last shot added to the movie before it was released. Other
than that, his mouth was open in the previous shot and remained open in
the next shot and made perfect sense.
When adult Simba takes a breath and begins to approach the reflection
pool...His ear pops!
When Nala is stalking Pumbaa, her eyebrows pop! It was very noticable in
the VHS version, but in the DVD version, it was at least smoothed out.
2. (I'm not too sure about this one, but anyway...) When falling from
heights, cats twist in midair, landing on their feet on the ground. In the
scene where Mufasa falls from the gorge, I don't remember him twisting; he
was facing upwards all the way. (same problem in Simba's Pride, when Zira
falls from the cliff and into the river).
Disney makes no secret of the fact that TLK is very similar to
Shakespeare's "Hamlet" in a large number of instances. Some parallels
include:
Also, as noted by Gregory Gietzen, there is a similarity to "King Henry
IV, Part I"; in that play, young Prince Hal shirks his duties hanging out
with two buffoonish friends, who parallel Timon and Pumbaa quite
strikingly.
2. Injokes in TLK
Dave Cleary has put together a rather good list of injokes used in TLK:
links and references to other movies or music or what-have-you. Without
further ado:
2. Zazu sings "It's a Small World After All" (the Disney themepark
signature tune) to Scar, who reacts very negatively to it. Zazu also sings
"Nobody Know the Trouble I've Seen," which is sometimes associated with
movies about prisons or slavery.
3. in the soundtrack, quotes from Mozart's "Ave Verum Corpus" and the
Gregorian Chant "Dies Irae" both occur in spots in the movie dealing with
death. The texts of both compositions deal with the subject of death.
[Actually "Dies Irae" isn't a Gregorian chant; as pointed out by Megan
the Phantom Girlie, the melody we hear in the soundtrack is adapted from
the most common musical rendering of the traditional dirge. It's also
heard in the "Swing Your Razor Wide, Sweeney" lines in Stephen Sondheim's
"Sweeney Todd". -BT]
4. after Pumbaa, Timon, and Zazu drive the hyenas from the cave in the
last fight scene, they do the "Arsenio whoop," a noisy yell done with a
shaken fist that was popularized on "The Arsenio Hall Show" in the late
1980's-early 1990's.
5. Rafiki's kung-fu imitation while battling the hyenas during this last
fight scene is reminiscent of Bruce Lee and other kung-fu actors.
6. a few posters have mentioned that Zazu's comment about Scar early in
the movie ("He'd make a nice throw-rug...." etc.) is very much like
something out of the TV show "Blackadder," which featured Rowan Atkinson.
Whether this comes directly from that show or not, I don't know.
(Christopher Saunders, a Blackadder fan, assures me it does not.)
7. in the Elephant Graveyard scene, the hyenas drag Zazu off to a thermal
vent, unceremoniously stuff him in it, then shoot him skyward; while
being dragged off there, Zazu shouts "Oh no! Not the 'Birdie Boiler'."
This is highly reminiscent (of all things) of a couple of 1950's Warner
Bros. cartoons that starred a bulldog and black cat (one of these
cartoons was entitled "It's Hummertime!"). In these cartoons, when the
cat does something wrong or loses a bet, he has to suffer punishment in
a clever Rube-Goldberg-like manner, each of these being given a colorful
name. In all of these, the dog drags the cat off to the "punishment" and
the cat shouts, "Oh no! Not 'Roll Out the Barrel'," or "Oh no! Not 'The
Thinker'," or whatever the punishment is called. There's either a
borrowing going on here or a big-time coincidence.
8. to me, at least, the humorously confused exchange between Nala, Timon,
and Pumbaa ("Who's got a scar." "No, no, no, it's his uncle." etc.)
reminds me a lot of the humorous cross-talk scenes of Abbott and Costello
(such as their famous "Who's on First" routine).
As far as reference to TLK in other movies and TV shows, I can think of
four right away:
1. someone recently posted a reference to TLK in an episode of the TV
show "ER" in which a group of kids are told they can go watch the movie
(the kids cheer, BTW).
2. There's a scene in the movie "Toy Story" where a car radio is playing
"Hakuna Matata."
3. on the cartoon show "Animaniacs" [episode #74], there is a brief parody
of the opening presentation scene called "The Tiger Prince." On another
cartoon [episode #74], Wakko Warner decides to change his humorous
stock-in-trade facial expression. One of the options he attempts is a
tongue-hanging-out dead ringer for Ed the hyena.
4. on an episode of "The Simpsons" [episode #32], Lisa sees a cloud that
sprouts various shapes, first of a deceased friend of hers, then of a
Mufasa-like head that asks for "Kimba, uh I mean Simba" to avenge him,
then of Darth Vader, then of James Earl Jones saying "This is CNN." The
heads all pop up one next to the other.
For further references to TLK appearing throughout
popular media in recent years, please see the TLK Sightings
section: http://www.lionking.org/sightings
3. Hidden Mickeys in TLK
There is a near-comprehensive website for Hidden Mickeys; its Lion
King section can be found at http://www.hiddenmickeys.org/Disney/Movies/LionKing.html.
4. Hey! I saw "SEX" in the clouds!
There is an ongoing debate over whether or not the word "SEX" appears in
swirling dust at one point in the film. The scene in question is midway
through the movie, where Simba has just left a conversation with Timon and
Pumbaa in which they have been mocking (in a friendly fashion) his
thoughts on what the stars are. He flops down on the edge of a nearby
cliff, stirring up some milkweed floss as he does so. As the floss swirls
into the air, some claim to be able to see the word "SEX" in its swirling
patterns.
It is not known for certain whether the word was planted there
intentionally or not, or even if it exists at all; nonetheless, it has
gained the attention of such groups as the American Life Leage, who have
taken to boycotting Disney on the grounds that it is promoting "evil"
themes in its productions.
Internal Disney sources (e.g. animators) claim that the word is not "SEX"
at all, but "SFX"-- an abbreviation of "Special Effects". This certainly
seems a plausible explanation. And as Patrick Swartz notes, "I
recently discovered that the reason behind the phrase SFX "appearing" in
the clouds is that it was a dare from the SFX department of the movie
towards the animators and visual effects department. Sounds pretty
convincing to me."
Screen shots of the scene in question can be found at
http://www.lionking.org/misc/SexSighting.
The Lion King is widely available in DVD and VHS formats,
through all popular video outlets. See the following site for information
about all the various formats in which the movie can be obtained:
No. Nothing is missing from the video that was included in the
film release. The message at the beginning, informing the viewer that the
film has been "edited" for home video use, means simply that since TV
screens are of a different aspect ratio than the big screen, the video
has had portions of the left- and rightmost areas of the picture cut off
throughout the movie. This does result in the loss of some effect in the
more impressive "virtual reality" shots, such as the long camera arc with
Zazu in CoL; but for those of us who can't live without TLK in some form
or another, now that it's gone from theaters, not to mention those people
who require closed captioning to enjoy it properly, the video is
indispensable.
One note, again brought to my attention by Matt Robinson: there
is a hidden visual trick in the widescreen film, which is cut off by the
VHS formatting. Near the end, where Scar is rationalizing to Simba after
the latter challenges him to "step down or fight," Scar points upwards to
the hordes of hyenas crowded onto the rocks above. Just off the screen on
the video but visible on the film, where the rocks come down into a
V-shaped notch, one of the hyenas drawn in silhouette is actually a
schnauzer.
Counter-note: Carrie (a.k.a. "Collie", collie@worldnet.att.net)
contends that the "schnauzer" isn't one at all, but just another
hunchbacked hyena. She provides visual backup of this at http://www.lionking.org/images/Schnauzer-Collie.jpg.
Counter-counter-note: Ash De Brie (adbrie@hotmail.com) says, "It isn't a
hunchbacked Hyena. Here is proof actually. I own the widescreen version,
and was able to get a shot that clearly shows the jagged "edges" of the
sillouette is too jagged to make any sort of hunchbacked hyena. Also, if
you bend your monitor screen forward (to make the screen much brighter)
You can see the Schnauzer even has a dog nose at the tip, darkened in
blacker ink." Image at http://www.lionking.org/images/Schnauzer-ADB.jpg.
Also, and also brought to my attention by Matt :), there
were a couple of scenes which were included in storyboards but were cut
from the production film. The following text is lifted directly from a
post by Matt, with his permission.
AlWeHo@aol.com has brought the
following interesting note to light, regarding cut scenes and story
development:
Andreas Deja wanted that scene in the movie to show Scar was straight. (He
was sensitive to the speculations about Jafar in Aladdin) He also thought it
would add to the story if he had a reason besides being king, to kill-off
Mufasa. "Sparky" Katzenberg thought it would be just "too much" for the
kiddies and kept yanking it all the times it kept getting brought up.
Here's a discussion by Erin Hughes (Veda) of a whole suite of
scenes that were possibly in very early theatrical releases but
were evidently cut out or altered before the movie made it to general
release:
3. What about the LD?
The Laserdisc release of TLK, which is THX-encoded, letterboxed,
and available in both CLV and CAV editions, was released on September 19,
1995. The CLV edition costs approximately $29, and the CAV edition--
which includes large amounts of deluxe promotional material (namely, cut
scenes, early promos, song demos, development animation, character
development, and those six lithographs and that "Making of The Lion King"
show that were included with the deluxe video edition), typically costs
$129.
4. What's this about a whole new "Morning Report" song on the DVD?
The Lion King was released as a "Special Edition" DVD on October 7,
2003, and long-time fans were surprised to see that a newly animated song
had been inserted into the "Morning Report" scene—a song matching
the one in the same spot in the Broadway Musical. The DVD release contains
a feature that allows the viewer to watch either the "original theatrical
release" with the shorter, prose "report" by Zazu, or the "Special
Edition" with the song in place. The song alters the flow of the
narrative, changing the nature of Mufasa's "pouncing lesson", and many
fans prefer the original version and are grateful that it is included on
the DVD. See http://www.lionking.org/homevideo.html
for more details.
FAQ written by Brian Tiemann (btman@lionking.org)
Special thanks to all those who provided info included here, including
Buena Vista Productions, Matt Robinson, Phil Pollard, Melissa Martin, Jeff
Leadbeater, Dave Cleary, and the readership of rec.arts.disney and
alt.fan.lion-king as well as the patrons of FDCMuck and the TLK-L.
Update History
v4.32 9/12/13. Updated Rafiki's chant to the correct spellings and more
accurate details on the linguistics involved.
v4.31 8/11/10. Added an "oopsie" submitted by Vadercat.
v4.30 3/16/09. Revised the section on Characters' Names to indicate that
the sourcing on some of the translations appears not to be canonical or
accurate; thanks to simbatama@ymail.com for the pointer.
v4.29 3/1/09. Added an "oopsie" submitted by Patrick L.
v4.28 1/29/09. Added a note describing the "Morning Report" song as added
to the Special Edition DVD.
v4.27 5/12/07. Added a link to the Foreign Language Cast Listings.
v4.26 4/19/07. Adjusted the text regarding the "Asante sana" chant to
better indicate that the chant was a preexisting schoolyard rhyme rather
than something the guide made up.
v4.25 1/4/06. Added a link to the Down/Maxwell Theory of Nala's Paternity.
v4.24 11/27/05. Added an Oopsie addendum from LK Rendevour.
v4.23 8/24/05. Added an Oopsie from Agus.
v4.22 3/2/05. Added an alternate interpretation of Rafiki's chant, from
Matt Silvia.
v4.21 3/2/05. Added two more Oopsies from Brenna Tereck.
v4.20 2/25/05. Added another Oopsie and updated the Hidden Mickeys link,
both thanks to Shoka.
v4.19 2/2/05. Updated notes about pronunciation of "Hakuna Matata" based on
feedback from Yaacov Iland.
v4.18 11/18/04. Added some more Oopsies.
v4.17 10/19/04. Updated the Video Availability section to reflect the
current availability status.
v4.16 9/17/04. Added a few miscellaneous comments by Ash De Brie.
v4.15 8/11/04. Revised the section linking Rowan Atkinson, Monty Python,
and the "I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts" song.
v4.14 7/27/04. Added the "final word" on Nala's parentage theory,
following the 10th Anniversary panel with the TLK creators.
v4.13 4/17/04. Added clarification about "Dies Irae" from reader Megan the
Phantom Girlie; added Oopsie from The Funmaster about the shadows of
Scar's hyenas.
v4.12 1/22/04. Added three new "oopsies" submitted by Bonete.
v4.11 4/23/03. Added Pegasuss' clarification on sable antelope vs.
gazelles.
v4.10 8/31/02. Added a link to a local page with screenshots of the "SEX"
debate.
v4.06 8/29/02. Added another "oopsie" from Loa.
v4.05 5/30/02. Added a note about "SEX in the clouds" from Patrick Swartz.
v4.04 12/15/01. Added another "oopsie" from Eva.
v4.03 7/30/01. Revised the transcription of the "Coconuts" song.
v4.02 5/14/01. Added some more "oopsies" from Michael Urban.
v4.01 3/26/01. Added a list of possible cut scenes from very early
theatrical screenings, submitted by Erin Hughes (Veda).
v4.00 9/6/00. Moved most of the Injokes & References section out to a new
section called "TLK Sightings".
v3.99 5/29/00. Added more "oopsies".
v3.98 2/14/00. Added more injoke references, thanks to Steffen Kilb.
v3.97 1/9/99. Updated the information on the TLK video, which is now out
of print.
v3.96 12/18/98. Added a few more injoke references to TLK, from Daniel
Gallo.
v3.95 9/22/98. Changed the speculation surrounding the "Simba's Pride"
plot to a link to http://www.lionking.org/simbaspride.
v3.9 7/20/98. Added Timothy Oltrogge's counterpoint about the infamous
Schnauzer.
v3.8 7/11/98. Added some more Oopsies.
v3.7 6/3/98. Updated information on "Simba's Pride".
v3.6 3/25/98. Added information about the awards that TLK has won.
v3.5 11/21/97. Added a note about a further Shakespeare/TLK connection,
noted by Gregory Gietzen.
v3.4 10/18/97. Added a new blooper from Paul F. Ginnetty Jr.
v3.3 9/19/97. Added Greg Ludwick's lyrics to Zazu's "Coconuts" song.
v3.2 8/12/97. Overall code revamp; added a section on the "SEX in the
clouds" debate, and fixed a couple of broken links.
v3.1 1/21/97. Added info on the Tezuka debate.
v3.0 12/23/96. Reorganized a few locations; redid the Music controversy.
v2.9 11/22/96. Added info about the TLK Mailing List.
v2.8 4/24/96. Redid the Names controversy yet again.
v2.7 4/15/96. Added the list of injokes in TLK, compiled and posted to
alt.fan.lion-king by Dave Cleary.
v2.6 3/7/96. HTMLized by Bobby Peck (rpeck@usit.net)
v2.5 2/28/96. Added information about the sequel, "Simba's Pride," and
how what is known about the storyline affects our assumptions about the
name of Simba and Nala's cub.
v2.4 1/7/96. Redid the controversy about the cub's name.
v2.3: 12/23/95. Fixed the Hidden Mickeys list URL, which was out of date
since Josh Wilmes moved his site.
v2.2: 9/30/95. Since I've now actually bought the CAV LD, I know what's
on it. :) I added stuff to X.3 about it. That's probably the end of the
LD info...
v2.1: 9/19/95. Updated stuff about the video and LD, now that the
release dates have passed.
v2.0: 9/14/95. Updated several bits of dated information relating to
video release scheduling, etc.
v1.9: 9/1/95. Added a bit to the "Missing Scenes" section (X.2), provided
by AlWeHo@aol.com.
v1.8: 8/15/95. Fixed some formatting inconsistencies (like the -=-=-=-)
dividers and do forth). Also revised the box-office gross statistics--
they were wrong. :)
v1.7: 8/9/95. Added the improved flowcharts and discussions in Section
II.5, the Genealogy, courtesy of Jeff Leadbeater.
v1.6: 7/18/95. Added Section V.3, The Art of The Lion King, with info
provided by Matt Robinson.
On June 14, 2004, the creators of The Lion King gathered in
Glendale, CA, for a Tenth Anniversary Panel discussion, where Brian
Tiemann asked directors Rob Minkoff and Roger Allers point-blank the
answer to the foregoing question. Minkoff's immediate response was "Roger
[Allers]"; but after further discussion, both directors acknowledged that
Nala's father, while still not known definitively, was either Scar or
Mufasa.
One of the biggest questions about The Lion King is "Who is Nala's
father?". These three theories are the most likely ones.
?-+-? Ahadi ?-+-?
| -------+------- |
| | | |
Sarabi----+----Mufasa Scar-----+-----Sarafina
| |
| |
Simba------------+------------Nala
|
|
Kiara
This theory suggests that Mufasa and Scar co-ruled the Pride Lands, and
therefore shared the reproductive responsibilities. As a result, Mufasa
mated with Sarabi and fathered Simba, and Scar mated Sarafina and fathered
Nala.
?-+-? Ahadi ?-+-?
| | |
| | |
Sarabi----+----Mufasa-----+-----Sarafina
| |
| |
Simba-----+-----Nala
|
|
Kiara
In this theory, Mufasa is the sole ruler of the Pride Lands. As a result,
only he was allowed to mate with the females. Therefore he sired both
Nala and Simba.
?-+-? Ahadi ?-+-? ?-+-?
| | | |
| | | |
Sarabi----+----Mufasa ?------+------Sarafina
| |
| |
Simba------------+------------Nala
|
|
Kiara
In this theory, the former king (the one before Mufasa) mated with
Sarafina just before Mufasa took over. Then Mufasa mated with Sarafina.
When Nala was born, they were unsure who the father was, so they just
decided to consider Mufasa her father.
Despite this "canon" claim, James Maxwell and Raymond Down, Jr. maintain
that Nala's father cannot logically be either Scar or Mufasa; they present
an argument toward this thesis at http://www.lionking.org/text/DownMaxwellTheory.txt.
III) THE LANGUAGE
Given TLK's setting, in Africa, and the thoroughness with which
its creators designed the entire movie, not to mention the fact that Hans
Zimmer injected a great deal of his trademark African musical style into
the score and songs, it stands to reason that there would be a great deal
of linguistic correctness involved in TLK. Unfortunately, this also
entails a lot of confusion as to how the African languages in TLK work.
This section should help address that issue.
And from Chumvi Mtembezi:
"Vitani" was originally "Shetani." It is possible to hear characters refer
to her by that name. It means "Devil" in Kiswahili, however, and Disney
may have thought it was inappropriate, thereby changing it to something a
little less offensive. "Vitani" has no meaning in the Kiswahili
language,from which most of the characters' names are drawn."
"Vitani" has meaning: "At War" or "In War"; in Kiswahili.
By the way, "vita" means "war" in Kiswahili.
Asante sana! [Thank you very much!]
Squash banana! [...Squash banana.]
Wewe nugu, [You're a baboon,]
Mimi hapana! [And I'm not.]
So Rafiki is correct in his explanation of what the chant means,
at least for the last two lines; surely we could expect no less.
IV) THE MUSIC
1. What's on the Soundtrack?
The first five tracks are songs directly from the movie. Tracks
6-9 are instrumental score movements, by Hans Zimmer and unrelated to the
songs; they are excerpts, since the actual movie score is more extensive
than what is included on the soundtrack. The last three tracks are Elton
John's "Radio" versions; both CYFtLT and CoL were #1 hits on the Adult
Contemporary chart for several weeks (11 for the former, 8 for the
latter).
5. What Are the Full Lyrics to Zazu's "Coconuts" Song?
Luau!
Eat my buddy Pumbaa here because he is a treat
On this tasty swine
All you have to do is get in line
{Parenthetical parts are Pumbaa singing; the apple is at his feet.}
(Yup, yup, yup)
Foooor some bacon?
(Yup, yup, yup)
Heeee's a big pig
(Yup, yup)
You could be a big pig too.
Down at the English fair
The song was also featured on the Muppet Show:
http://home.nc.rr.com/muppetsongs/songs/bunch_of_coconuts
One evening I was there
When I heard a showman
Shouting underneath the flair...
Oh, I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts,
There they are all standing in a row.
Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head
Give 'em a twist, a flick of the wrist,
That's what the showman said.
Oi! I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts
Every ball you throw will make me rich.
And there stands me wife, the idol of me life, singing
Roll a bowl a ball a penny a pitch.
Singing roll a bowl a ball a penny a pitch,
Singing roll a bowl a ball a penny a pitch,
Roll a bowl a ball
Roll a bowl a ball
Singing roll a bowl a ball a penny a pitch.
I've done a little research, and this is some of what I found:
More information here: http://www.texnews.com/1998/2002/features/doug0610.html
V) RESOURCES
1. Text, Sound, and Image Files on the World Wide Web
The only two versions are the "standard" edition and the "limited
edition". The standard is US$50, CA$60, or 35 UK pounds depending on your
country. The limited edition seems only to be available on the other side
of the pond from me and is $250. It is signed by the producers/directors
and other people from the TLK production team. There's also a sericel
included.
VI) UNFORTUNATES
1. Similarities to Tezuka's "Jungle Taitei"
There are in fact more of these parallels. A complete synopsis of the
similarities between TLK and JE can be found on the Web at:
But, while some see obvious references and influences to Tezuka's
work in "Lion King," the story itself is quite different.
For the Lion King/Tezuka debate, you should also refer folks to
the chapter: "Jungle Emperor: A Tale of Two Lions" in Frederik Schodt's
new book "Dreamland Japan: Writings on Modern Manga" (Stonebridge Press
www.stonebridge.com) 1996. He worked as a personal translator for Tezuka
and this is part of his section on Tezuka's contribution to manga (comic
books) and anime. They *used to* (I haven't checked recently) have this
chapter up on the Stonebridge website. Anyway, it's a well written and
accurate summary of the controversy and some speculations on what Tezuka
himself might have thought about it.
VII) OOPSIES
Lion King Mistakes
We all make mistakes. Considering the amount
of work that goes into producing a Disney film, these tiny mistakes are
a credit to the Disney name in that they are the worst that can be
found.
Excluded from this list are any instances where blood or injuries disappear
in good taste. Yes, it would have been accurate for Mufasa's entrails and
body to be smeared up half the gorge from the stampede, but it does not
constitute a mistake.
[The FAQ writer notes here that, as Matt Robinson notes, Pumbaa
could easily have nudged Simba while the camera was on Timon; that's how
he knew Simba was still alive. Or, also a possibility, Simba could have
involuntarily moved his paw over his face, while unconscious, to fend off
the buzzards as they closed around him. -BT]
CHARACTER L/R # of times (comments)
Simba 0/0 24 (as cub) 0/0 11 (as adult) 3/3 2 (cub) 4/3 3 (cub - reversal of sides) 4/4 5 (cub) 4/4 1 (adult) 4/5 2 (cub - Scar lead) 5/5 2 (cub)
Mufasa 0/0 10 (excluding ghost appearance -
no pupils, no whiskers)
Scar 0/0 21
TOTAL 81
In the pyramid in "I Just Can't Wait to be King", when the pyramid
topples, an elephant lands on the horns of a gazelle. But, in an earlier
shot of the full pyramid, we clearly see that the elephants are below the
gazelle.
Pegasuss (bovidaeloony@hotmail.com) notes
that the "gazelle" is actually a sable antelope. Also she points out that
the antelope is incorrectly drawn as having upper front teeth, which all
antelope are missing.
Observing Scar, you will notice the pads on his paws are either one pad
or five pads. They change back and forth, depending on the scene.
We know that when Simba and Nala are climbing up the pile of bones, nala
slips and is about to become food for the hyenas. Simba runs down and
slashes Shenzi across her left cheek, leaving a quite noticable slash.
However, when Simba and Nala are trapped in the ribcage, and the three
hyenas are approaching, we notice that there is no slash on Shenzi's
face.
In the first sequence of "The Circle of Life" there is a problem with baby
Simba's tail. when the monkeys are jumping up and down with Pride Rock in
the back his tail is that of young Simba. This is also shown in the screen
pics in The Art of the Lion King book.
After Simba asks his mom if he and Nala may go to the waterhole, there
is an above shot of Nala, Simba, and Zazu, who is flying above them.
Zazu flaps his wings about 3 times in this scene. The first time he
flaps his wings, his shadow dosen't flap. But, his shadow flaps for the
last 2 times.
LK Rendevour (soulsisterniconero@hotmail.com)
notes: "I must point out that the red-goldish tone is due to fear. His
eyes have paled with fear and it's to convay (especially in the very close
up shots when he watches for Mufasa coming out of the stampede) his pure
fear at the whole situation."
In one of the first scenes you see a bunch of ants, all carrying small
pieces of a leaf and i'm pretty sure that this perticular species
does not live Africa... [Confirmed: Leaf Cutter Ants are native to the
Americas. (bovidaeloony@comcast.net)]
In the 'pouncing' scene, Simba clearly pounces on Zazu's back, but when
they are on the groud, Simba's paws are on Zazu's front. Zazu flipped
around in mid-air while being pounced!
During "be prepared", and the hyenas are marching in rows as scar sings on
a ledge, look at their feet. they clearly step off on either their
right/left foot (i cant remember which). the scene changes to a closeup
in the rows of hyenas facing upward toward scar. their step off has
switched to the other foot.
A coloring error is present on Sarafina's feet when Scar is announcing the
deaths of Mufasa and Simba. See Http://members.tripod.com/FunaATM/SarafinaMistake.jpg
for comparative screen shots.
When Shenzi gets swiped by Simba in the Elephant Graveyard, the scar is
gone (video) seconds later. But, I noticed, if you look hard, when Shenzi,
Banzai and Ed enter the dead end, ("Here, kitty kitty, kitty")??you can
see a red scar??still there on Shenzi's cheek??in the few??seconds before
Simba trys to roar.
Note: Ash De Brie says, "Loa's scar scene where she says you can
see it during "Here Kitty Kitty" is actually wrong. It's just Shenzi's
mouth going up to it's full grin as a thin line."
When Scar strikes Sarabi down, look at the way her front paws are laying.
It changes in the next shot or two.
In the 'Be Prepared' scene, when the hyenas sing "Its great that we'll
soon be connected to the king who'll be all time adored", there are no
shadows on the wall, except for Scar's. However, during the next six lines
when Scar sings, you clearly see the moving shadows.
In the circle of life scene, when Rafiki holds up Simba and the camera
moves around him, he moves a finger...And Simba's skin underneath hasn't
been colored!
(Funny nobody mentioned this before.)Cats usually have their claws
sheathed (meaning, you can't see them) and lions are no exception. Only,
in the scene when Nala is chasing Pumbaa in the jungle, her claws are
clearly visible. The only cats known to run with claws unsheathed are
cheetahs.
When Mufasa's ghost is talking to Simba, and the camera shows Simba
saying, "How can I go back? I'm not who I used to be," for a second or two
Simba's usually yellow eyes turn white. If you have a VCR with which you
can go frame-by-frame, you can see that for four frames, the animators
forgot to color in Simba's eyes.
I've noticed in Be Prepared, right at the beginning, we see Scar walking
towards the camera, with the green gas at either side. Well, some of the
gas flows along the floor and scar just steps on it as if he's just pasted
on the background. I know that's what is done, but it's still interesting
to see evidence of it.
hi, i'm agus, and i found a mistake in the song can't wait to be king
i saw it a long time ago, but i wasn't totally sure
i the part when simba and nala pass thru the zebras and zazu pass behind
them, when the zebras turn the back on him, before the scene changes,
zazu's shadow totally disappeares...
I found a shadow mistake in the beginning of the stampede scene, when Scar talks to Simba.
Here is a comparison picture:
http://www.lionking.org/images/lionkingmistake90309.jpg
Also the small vegetation changes from pic 2 to 3.
Lion cubs, until they reach near maturity, do NOT have tail tassels. Yet throughout the entire
movie, the cubs are shown with them!
IX) MISCELLANEOUS
1. Doesn't this plot sound familiar?
Understandably, though, the parallels end at many key spots. In
TLK:
1. Scar says "You have no idea" to Young Simba. This line comes from
"Reversal of Fortune" and was spoken by the Claus von Bulow character in
that movie. CvB was played by Jeremy Irons, who also voice Scar in TLK.
(Irons won an Oscar for his CvB role, BTW).
X) TLK AT HOME
1. Where can I get the video?
http://www.lionking.org/homevideo.html
2. Are there missing scenes in the video?
No, but there WERE at least two other scenes that got past the
brainstorming, and storyboards, but didn't arrive in the film, namely the
Warthog Rhapsody scene and song, and the scene after Simba has gone home
and Timon argues whether he should bother going to help him. This was
(understandably) cut out to keep Timon's character as lovable as possible.
Also missing is a scene where Scar (after Mufasa's death) puts the make on
Sarabi, and gets rejected by her. It may have gotten as far as the script
and I think storyboards, but never got animated.
I saw TLK when it first premered in Montreal, Quebec (Canada) in
theaters. There is missing footage from the VHS version! It is not easy
to remember all the parts from that long ago, but here are the parts that
are very clear in my memories...
"In the scene where Pumbaa trails off from Timon after a horned beetle,
he comes across the fallen log. After hiding behind a tree and crouching
under one side of the log, he slowly rises his head and stares at the
beetle right before he attempts to eat it. At this point, seconds before
Nala enters the picture, the beetle squirt black ink in Pumbaa's face
then flies off. At this point, Nala is shown stalking & preparing to
pounce from the shrubs. As Pumbaa screams, the ink is gone."
"When Simba decides on returning to the Pridelands; in the VHS version
he is shown racing across the desert, then appearing in the Pridelands on
a cliff. In the theater, this part was much longer running. It showed
Simba racing out of the jungle, then faded to the desert, then faded to
the thorns (by the gorge) then Simba arrived on the rock in the
Pidelands."
This part was more confusing...
"When Simba confronts Scar at the end of the movie at Pride Rock, Scar
points up to the many hyenas on the cliffs and says, "You see them?" Then
the hyenas all dive off the cliff and attack Simba.
(The part where the hyenas are on Simba is in the VHS movie).
"Scar looks over to the lionesses and says, "They think I'm king." I
cannot back that up, it is just in my memory from the theater experiance.
Because after Scar says, "They think I'm king" Nala says, "Well, we
don't". I do not remember that part in theaters.
I may be one of a select ,many to have seen TLK in theaters upon the
first day of release. Approximately 6 months later a griend of mine went
to a theater in Nova Scotia or New Brunswick and saw TLK in a theater.
She did not see the parts that I have stated above. When the VHS version
came out on VHS, she said that there was no difference between that of
the VHS & the theater.
Web design © 1995-2010 Brian Tiemann |
Last revised: Friday, 15-Jun-2018 00:05:08 EDT
