American animated musical drama film Leo the Lion
It is the fifth Disney animated feature film made during the Disney Renaissance and the 32nd overall. It draws some of its inspiration from the 1942 Disney animated feature Bambi as well as William Shakespeare’s Hamlet stage play. Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, and Linda Woolverton wrote the screenplay for the movie, which was produced by Don Hahn and directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff (in their feature directing debuts). are among the ensemble voice cast members in the movie. original lyrics, and Hans Zimmer provided the musical score.
Simba (Swahili for lion) is thinking . The Lion King is set in an African kingdom of lions. Before coming to challenge Scar to end his tyranny and assume his position in the Circle of Life as the legitimate king, Simba, who grew up with the carefree outcasts Timon and Pumbaa, gains insightful advice from his childhood friend Nala and his shaman, Rafiki.
On June 15, 1994, The Lion King was released, and its soundtrack, plot, themes, and animation won praise from critics. It finished behind Jurassic Park (1993). [5] It also held the distinction of being the highest-grossing animated movie until it was surpassed by Finding Nemo (2003). With over 55 million copies sold globally, the movie continues to hold the record for both best-selling home video and highest-grossing traditionally animated movie of all time. In addition to two Academy Awards for the film.
The Lion King has spawned a variety of derivative works, including a Broadway adaptation in 1997, two direct-to-video sequels (The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride (1998) and The Lion King 112 of which debuted photoreal The Lion King is the first Disney movie to have been dubbed in Zulu,[7] the only African language besides In 2016, the Library of Congress chose the movie
Plot
A lion pride rules the kingdom from Pride Rock in the Pride Lands of Africa. Rafiki the mandrill, the kingdom’s shaman and counsellor, presents Simba, the newborn son of King Mufasa and Queen Sarabi, to the gathered animals. Scar, the younger brother of Mufasa, desires the kingdom.
When Simba is a youngster, Mufasa takes him on a tour of the Pride Lands and teaches the duties of kingship as well as the concept of the “circle of life,” which unites all living things. One day, Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed, three spotted hyenas, pursue Simba and his best buddy Nala as they investigate an elephant cemetery. When his hornbill majordomo Zazu warns Mufasa, the lion cubs are saved. Mufasa is disappointed with Simba since he disobeyed him and endangered himself and Nala, but he forgives him and says that he will one day watch over Simba from the night sky, just as the great monarchs of old did for them. In exchange for hunting privileges in the Pride Lands, Scar meets the hyenas after organising the attack and persuades them to assist him in killing both Mufasa and Simba.
Scar tricks Simba and Mufasa into falling into a trap, leading the hyenas to herd a sizable herd of wildebeest into a stampede that will crush Simba. Scar refuses Mufasa’s help and instead throws him back into the stampede, where he perishes. Mufasa saves Simba but ends up dangling precariously from the edge of the ravinecome back after duping him into thinking it was his fault for the incident. Scar tells the hyenas to murder Simba after he runs away, but Simba escapes. Unaware of Simba’s survival, Scar informs the pride that Mufasa and Simba were slain in the stampede and then assumes the throne as the new king, letting hyenas enter the Pride Lands.
Simba is saved by two misfits, Timon and Pumbaa, a meerkat and a warthog, when he passes out in the wilderness. With his two new buddies, Simba grows up in their oasis and adopts their way of life of “hakuna matata” (Swahili for “no worries”). Many years later, a grown-up Simba saves Timon and Pumbaa from a ravenous lioness who turns out to be Nala. Nala and Simba have a romantic relationship, and she encourages him to go back to his family by informing him that Scar’s rule has caused a severe drought in the Pride Lands. Simba declines and storms off since he still feels bad about Mufasa’s passing. Rafiki, whom he encounters, informs Simba that Mufasa’s spirit lives on in him. The ghost of Mufasa appears to Simba in the night sky and instructs him to ascend to the throne. Simba chooses to go back to the Pride Lands when Rafiki counsels him to take lessons from the past rather than trying to escape it.
with the help of his allies and confronts Scar. Scar mocks Simba for his alleged involvement in Mufasa’s demise and leads him to the edge of the rock, where he confesses to killing Mufasa. Simba, incensed by the revelation, strikes back and compels Scar to tell the other members of the pride the truth. Timon, Pumbaa, Rafiki, Zazu, and the lionesses engage in combat with the hyenas. Scar tries to flee but is stopped by Simba at a ledge close to Pride Rock’s summit. Simba saves Scar’s life but orders him to leave the Pride Lands permanently in reference to what Scar previously told him. Scar begs for forgiveness and places the responsibility for his actions on the hyenas. Simba tosses Scar from the cliff and onto the ground below after he refuses and assaults his nephew. Scar survives the fall, but the hyenas attack and devour him after they learn that he betrayed them.
Simba reigns as king and Nala assumes the role of his queen after Scar and the hyenas are exterminated. Rafiki shows Simba and Nala’s newborn cub to the gathered animals after the Pride Lands have been restored, completing the cycle of life.
Simba, the son of Mufasa and Sarabi, is voiced by Matthew Broderick and eventually ascends to the position of King of the Pride Lands. Adult Simba’s singing voice was performed by rock musician Joseph Williams.[a]
Jason Weaver provided the singing voice for the cub, while Jonathan Taylor Thomas contributed the cub’s voice.[9]
The film’s major adversary, played by Jeremy Irons as Mufasa’s younger brother and competitor Scar, usurps the throne.
The movie opens with James Earl Jones as King of the Pride Lands and Mufasa, Simba’s father.[c]
Nala, played by Moira Kelly, was Simba’s best friend before becoming his mate and ruler of the Pride Lands.
The singing voice of young Nala was given by Laura Williams, while Niketa Calame provided the acting voice.[9]
Timon, a witty, conceited, and devoted bipedal meerkat played by Nathan Lane, becomes one of Simba’s closest friends.[e]
Timon’s closest friend and naive warthog named Pumbaa, played by Ernie Sabella, has flatulence. He also develops into one of Simba’s closest companions.
Robert Guillaume plays Rafiki, an elderly mandrill who serves as the Pride Lands’ shaman and gives the animals of the Pride Lands the newborn cubs of the King and Queen.[g]
Zazu, a hornbill who works as the king’s majordomo and is referred to as “Mufasa’s little stooge” by Shenzi, is portrayed by Rowan Atkinson.[h]
Simba’s mother, Queen Sarabi, Mufasa’s lover, and the head of the lionesses hunting group are all played by Madge Sinclair.[i]
A group of spotted hyenas led by Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin, and Jim Cummings are thought to be Scar’s “friends” and take part in his scheme to assassinate Mufasa and Simba.[j]
Shenzi, the trio’s snarky and irritable female leader, is voiced by Goldberg.
Banzai, a combative and irascible hyena who frequently complains and makes snap decisions, is voiced by Marin.
Ed, a brainless hyena played by Cummings, can only communicate by laughing.
Additionally, Cummings sung as Scar for a few lines of “Be Prepared” in place of Irons and voiced a mole that converses with Zazu.[10]
Nala’s mother Sarafina, played by Zoe Leader, is seen briefly conversing with Sarabi, the mother of Simba.
Production
Development
The origin of the idea for The Lion King is hotly contested[11][12][13]. According to Charlie Fink, who was at the time the vice president for creative affairs at Walt Disney Feature Animation, he contacted Roy E. Disney, Peter Schneider, and Jeffrey Katzenberg with a Bambi in Africa idea including lions. Another anecdote claimssubject initially rejected the idea, but nonethelessserved other animals by eating them.
After meeting with Fink and Roy E. Disney on October 11, 1988, The Brave Little Toaster author Thomas Disch wrote a nine-page treatment for the project titled King of the Kalahari the following month. also produced treatments for the project. Tripp’s treatment, dated March 2, 1989, first used the name “Simba” for the main character, who is taken in by Kwashi the baboon and Mabu the mongoose after being separated from his pride. Later, he is brought up among baboons. Later that year, Fink enlisted his friend J. Simba defeats the villainous jackal Ndogo and reunites with his pride. To create fresh narrative treatments is writer T. Allen. In order to research the animal behaviour that would be depicted in the script, Fink and Allen previously made multiple excursions to a zoo in Los Angeles. On January 19, 1990, Allen finished writing his movie, which he called The Lion King. But Fink, Katzenberg, and Roy E. Disney thought Ronald Bass, who had justwould be a better choice for Allen’s script because of his greater expertise. Bass agreed to oversee the changes but was too busy at the time to actually rewrite the script. King of the Beasts was the new title given to the script, which was finished on May 23, 1990, and is credited to both Bass and Allen.[20]
The script, which was initially titled King of the Beasts and then changed to King of the Jungle[21], was written over the course of numerous draughts over the course of a year by Linda Woolverton, who was also scripting Beauty and the Beast (1991). Scar was the leader of the baboons, Rafiki was a cheetah,[17] Timon and Pumbaa were Simba’s childhood friends, and the plot involved a conflict between lions and baboons.[22] Scar would manipulate Simba to leave the kingdom and transform him into a “lazy, slovenly, horrible character” so Simba could be overthrown after reaching adulthood. By 1990, producer Thomas Schumacher, who had
The movie was initially directed by George Scribner, who had previously helmed Oliver & Company (1988), who was later joined by Roger Allers, who served as the lead storyteller on Beauty and the Beast (1991).[16][11] Allers collaborated with Scribner and Woolverton on the project before temporarily leaving to assist in the rewriting of Aladdin (1992). travelled to Kenya’s Hell’s Gate National Park in order to study and gain an appreciation for due to disagreements with Allers and the other lead crew members.
Due to Schumacher’s promotion to Vice President of Development for Walt Disney Feature Animation, Don Hahn joined the project as producer.[31][24] Hahn found the script to be unfocused and lacking in a clear theme, and after identifying he requested a final retool. After directing Beauty and the Beast (1991), directors Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale met with Allers, Minkoff, Chapman, and Hahn for two weeks to rewrite the tale. One of the ideas that emerged from these discussions was to have Mufasa return as a ghost. because the setting was changed from the jungle to the savannah. because the writers thought it would be much more interesting if the threat came from someone within the family. Katzenberg and Michael Eisner were presented with the revised story by Allers Allers recalled Katzenberg telling them to “put in as much Hamlet as you can” after she had refuted Maureen Donley’s assertion that the plot resembled Hamlet. They turned to alternative heroic models, such as the Bible’s stories of Joseph and Moses, because they thought this one was too forced. [36]
