The Lion King tells the story of Simba (Swahili for lion), a young lion who is to succeed his father, Mufasa, as King of the Pride Lands; however, after Simba's paternal uncle Scar murders Mufasa, Simba is manipulated into thinking he was responsible and flees into exile. [75] The Lion King was also the highest-grossing G-rated film in the United States from 1994 to 2003 and again from 2011 to 2019 until its total was surpassed by the computer-animated Toy Story 4 (2019) (unadjusted for inflation). But that release 25 years ago changed so much for Disney — and Hollywood. [20] English actors Tim Curry and Malcolm McDowell were originally considered for the role of Scar,[21] however, it was ultimately won by English actor Jeremy Irons. "The Lion King… [22] Irons initially refused the role due to not being comfortable going from the dramatic performance as Claus von Bülow in Reversal of Fortune (1990) to a comedic role. [104] [14] 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 main title was developed by Westwood Studios, and published for PC and Amiga computers and the consoles SNES and Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. But to borrow from the late historian Stephanie Camp, black history doesn’t merely add to what we know; it also changes what we know and how we know it. “It was easier and the original film was animated and they could do slow motion. 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. The trailer was released in November 1993, accompanying The Three Musketeers (1993) and Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993) in theaters; by then, only a third of The Lion King had been completed. [76], In the first two days of limited release in two theaters it grossed $622,277 and for the weekend it earned $1,586,753, placing tenth place at the box office for the weekend. In July 2004, Linda's family filed suit, seeking $1.6 million in royalties from Disney. Ironically, we would all do well to learn the invaluable lesson Mufasa was trying to teach Simba. October 2nd, 2011. This Disney animated feature follows the adventures of the young lion Simba (Jonathan Taylor Thomas), the heir of his father, Mufasa (James Earl Jones). Though upset with Simba, Mufasa forgives him and explains that the great kings of the past watch over them from the night sky, from which he will one day watch over Simba. We can look at the past and present to imagine great African leaders. "[151], Takayuki Matsutani, the president of Tezuka Productions which created Kimba the White Lion, said in 1994 that "[q]uite 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". [192] It was released on July 19, 2019. Twenty-four years later, Disney would produce a Lion King remake rendered entirely in photorealistic CG animation. [52][53], The Lion King was first released on VHS and laserdisc in the United States on March 3, 1995, under Disney's "Masterpiece Collection" video series. The original treatment, credited to Tom Disch, was called King of the Kalahari and began with a prologue featuring “an animated map of Africa” and narration by a vulture named Skobi. Computer animation was also used in several scenes, most notably in the wildebeest stampede sequence. [46], When the movie was first released in 1994, it numbered 28 versions overall in as many languages and dialects worldwide, including a special Zulu version made specifically for the movie in South Africa, where a Disney USA team went to find the Zulu voice-actors. [94] However, none of the re-releases of the first three films achieved the enormous success of The Lion King 3D and the theatrical re-release of The Little Mermaid was ultimately cancelled. Disney In the new movie, they're surrounded by antelope, bush babies, and other animals that Simba is not allowed to eat if he wants to live peacefully in the jungle with them. They aren’t taken as seriously as European rulers of the past such as Alexander the Great, King Richard the Lionheart or Napoleon, all of whom have become household names. He began his career in notable films such as The Mission and Kafka, and went on to play Humbert Humbert in Lolita and Alfred in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice after the original Lion King … In January 2005, the film, along with the sequels, went back into moratorium. Gaskill explained: "We wanted audiences to sense the vastness of the savannah and to feel the dust and the breeze swaying through the grass. But once he came in, Irons' performance inspired the writers to incorporate more of his acting as von Bülow—adding one of that character's lines, "You have no idea"—and inspired animator Andreas Deja to watch both Reversal of Fortune and Damage (1992) to pick up Irons's facial traits and tics. Happily, for those of us who generally stay far away from 'cartoons', they have succeeded. [11] 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. [91] Most box-office observers had expected the film to fall about 50 percent in its second weekend and were also expecting Moneyball (2011) to be at first place. In another sense, it is based on half the stories in classical mythology. "[41] On its first weekend, The Lion King made $2.7 million from 66 locations, a $27,664 per theater average. Sundiata then became strong and recognized as a leader among his people, sparking resentment from paternal half brother Dankaran Tourman and his mother, Sassouma Bereté. [14] The animators also studied animal movements at the Miami MetroZoo under guidance from wildlife expert Ron Magill. [7] Allers brought with him Brenda Chapman, who would become the head of story. With Matthew Broderick, Jeremy Irons, James Earl Jones, Whoopi Goldberg. A grown-up Simba rescues Timon and Pumbaa from a hungry lioness, who turns out to be Nala. [25] The Pride Lands are modeled on the Kenyan national park visited by the crew. The filmmakers have said that the story of The Lion King was inspired by the lives of Joseph and Moses, from the Bible, and William Shakespeare's Hamlet. But the real story of Sundiata Keita should make us all want to cross our arms, beat our chests and declare with pride, “Lion King forever!”. The first was sequel The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, released in 1998 on VHS. Scar refuses and attacks his nephew, but Simba throws him off the cliff after a brief fight. When the king died, many suspected foul play. Thus his role was changed into a female hyena, Shenzi, who was voiced by Whoopi Goldberg. [194] Directed, written and executive produced by Beyoncé, Black Is King is described as reimagining "the lessons of The Lion King for today’s young kings and queens in search of their own crowns". There the plotline is loosely related to the later part of the original film, with all of the main characters except Zazu and Sarabi. [90] It held off very well on its second weekend, again earning first place at the box office with a 27 percent decline to $21.9 million. Scar taunts Simba over his role in Mufasa's death and backs him to the edge of the rock, where he reveals to him that he murdered Mufasa. The Lion King Remake's Biggest Changes From the Animated Classic Despite being largely a shot-for-shot remake of the animated original, The Lion King does actually make small changes to the original narrative. 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 Return of the Jedi (1983) in March 1997. [65][88] The film opened at the number one spot on Friday, September 16, 2011, with $8.9 million[89] and finished the weekend with $30.2 million, ranking number one at the box office. [61] A second disc, with bonus features, was also included in the DVD release. Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies 25(1): 47-67. Shimizu further explained that they rejected urges from some American lawyers to sue because "we're a small, weak company... Disney's lawyers are among the top twenty in the world! A study of precolonial African history would re-center our understanding of the past away from a skewed narrative about the supremacy of European rulers, one that limits our vision of the past and future. [16] The story artists also did not have much faith in the project, with Chapman declaring she was reluctant to accept the job "because the story wasn't very good",[8] and writer Burny Mattinson saying to co-worker Joe Ranft "I don't know who is going to want to watch that one. In need of their true leader, the people sent word for Sundiata to return and take his rightful place as the king. The answer lies in the way that we’ve ignored African oral histories and culture. [211] A similar version under the name "The Legend of the Lion King" was featured in Disneyland Paris from 2004 to 2009. [14] 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 because of dialog changes. With an initial worldwide gross of $763 million, it finished its theatrical run as the highest-grossing film of 1994 and the highest-grossing animated film. Feeling guilty over his father's death, Simba refuses and storms off. [41][86] An enhanced sound mix was also provided to, as Hahn explained, "make the audience feel like they're in the middle of the movie. Laserdisc/DVD audio commentary for, Martin-Rodriguez, Manuel (2000) "Hyenas in The Pride Lands: Latinos/As and Immigration in Disney's The Lion King". The Lion King was re-released in theaters as a 3D version just over a couple weeks ago. By 1990, producer Thomas Schumacher, who had just completed The Rescuers Down Under (1990), decided to attach himself to the project "because lions are cool". [4], Because 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 the use of longer shots following the characters. 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. [199], The Square Enix series Kingdom Hearts features Simba as a recurring summon,[200][201] as well as a playable in the Lion King world, known as Pride Lands, in Kingdom Hearts II. The original animated movie makes it look like Pumbaa and Timon don't live with anyone else in their paradise. Accordingly, Konaté married Sogolon Kédjou, “the buffalo woman,” as his second wife. [179] In April 2017, Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen joined the film as Timon and Pumbaa, respectively. [137] The film received two BMI Film & TV Awards for Film Music and Most Performed Song with "Can You Feel the Love Tonight. [32] It is the only soundtrack for an animated film to be certified Diamond (10× platinum) by the Recording Industry Association of America. He further wrote in his print review, "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. [43][44] In 1994, Disney earned approximately $1 billion with products based on the film,[45] with $214 million for Lion King toys during Christmas 1994 alone. [160], Hyena biologists protested against the animal's portrayal, though the complaints may have been somewhat tongue-in-cheek. We have not forgotten about Sundiata Keita. [102] 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. The digital surround sound of the film led many of those theaters to implement Dolby Laboratories' newest sound systems. When I was told that I’d be visiting the production of Disney’s new “Lion King,” I had a hazy idea of what to expect — sets recreating the iconic landscapes of the animated … The Lion King was directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, produced by Don Hahn, and has a screenplay credited to Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, and Linda Woolverton. Chicago Tribune 26 (1994). The first, "The Legend of the Lion King", featured a recreation of the film through life-size puppets of its characters, and ran from 1994 to 2002 at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World. [7][15] Rob Minkoff replaced Scribner,[14] and producer Don Hahn joined the production as Schumacher became only an executive producer due to Disney promoting him to Vice President of Development for Feature Animation. [17][19] For the hyenas, the original intention was to reunite Cheech & Chong, but while Cheech Marin accepted to play Banzai, Tommy Chong was unavailable. [17] Jones commented that during the years of production, Mufasa "became more and more of a dopey dad instead of [a] grand king". [80], When it opened wide, The Lion King grossed $40.9 million – which at the time was the fourth biggest opening weekend ever and the highest sum for a Disney film  – to top the weekend box office. The Mandinka people were taken over by the cruel and oppressive King Soumaoro Kante of the Sosso. With Jon Favreau in as director (he directed or served as executive producer on several of the biggest Marvel superhero movies, like Iron Man and Avengers: Infinity War ) and a voice cast that includes Seth Rogan as Pumbaa (! Fearful of an attack on their lives, Sogolon took Sundiata and the rest of her children and fled into exile, leaving a kingdom in disarray. Top 10 (listed alphabetically, not ranked) –. Scar refuses to help Mufasa, instead sending him falling to his death. Simba grows up with his two new friends and other animals in their oasis, living a carefree life under the motto "hakuna matata" ("no worries" in Swahili). [181] At the end of July 2017, Beyoncé had reportedly entered final negotiations to play Nala and contribute a new soundtrack. The film centers around Simba and Nala's daughter, Kiara, who falls in love with Kovu, a male lion who was raised in a pride of Scar's followers, the Outsiders. 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