The Lion King is an animated movie made by Disney in 1994. It was the most successful animated movie of the 1990s. The movie is about a young lionprince who learns about his role as king and in the circle of life.
It is dedicated to Frank Wells. Wells was the president of The Walt Disney Company. He died in a helicopter accident shortly before the movie was released into theaters. The movie was the first full-length Disney movie with no human characters since Bambi.
The Lion King is a musical. The music for the songs was written by Elton John. The lyrics were written by Tim Rice. Computer animation was used a lot to make the movie. The people who wrote The Lion King got a lot of ideas from Hamlet.
Story
In the Africa, many animals gather to see Simba, who had just been born. Simba is the son of Mufasa and Sarabi, the King and Queen of the Pridelands (an area ruled by lions). The animals celebrate and rejoice. Scar, Mufasa's brother, is jealous because Simba will be king instead of him when Mufasa dies.
Scar lies to Simba about a called the Elephant Graveyard. Scar says that only brave lions go there. Simba and his best friend Nala find the Elephant Graveyard. They are chased by the three hyenas (their names are Shenzi, Banzai and Ed). Mufasa saves Simba and Nala and takes them both home. Mufasa talks to Simba alone. He explains to Simba that being brave is not about looking for danger.
Scar is angry with the hyenas because they did not kill Simba. It is shown that the hyenas are working for Scar. They plan to kill Simba and Mufasa so that Scar can become king and the hyenas can help him rule over the animals.
The next day, Scar takes Simba into a gorge. Scar has actually planned a wildebeeststampede. Simba is trapped in the gorge as the wildebeest run towards him. Scar tells Mufasa that Simba is in trouble. Mufasa rescues Simba but is left hanging on a cliff. Scar then throws Mufasa into the stampede and Mufasa dies. Scar blames Simba for the death of Mufasa and Simba runs away.
Scar becomes king and tells everyone that Simba and Mufasa are dead. Simba runs to a desert and collapses. He is rescued by Timon the meerkat and Pumbaa the warthog. Timon and Pumbaa live in the jungle. Timon and Pumbaa look after Simba until Simba is an adult lion.
One day a female lion comes to the jungle and tries to kill and eat Pumbaa. Simba fights the lioness. Simba finds out that the other lion is his friend Nala. They are very happy to see each other and they fall in love. Nala wants Simba to go home and fight Scar because Scar is a bad king. Simba does not want go home because he thinks that he killed Mufasa.
Rafiki comes to the jungle and takes Simba to a field. In the sky above the field, Mufasa's ghost appears and tells Simba that he must go home because Simba is the true king. After this Simba goes home. Nala, Timon and Pumbaa follow him. When they get there, they see that the land is dry and the animals have gone because the hyenas have destroyed the food chain (Scar let them).
Nala gathers all of the lions and they fight Scar's hyenas. Simba attacks Scar. Scar does not want to die and so he lies to Simba that the hyenas are to blame for everything. This angers the hyenas and they attack and eat Scar alive. Rain starts to pour and the circle of life is restored.
Adaptations
The movie was also made into an award-winningstage musical. The stage show first opened on November 13, 1997 in New York City. It has been a big success. A version opened later in London, England. It is one of the United Kingdom's biggest and most popular shows. Many other shows of The Lion King have been shown across the world.
Nala's Mother - Simba's mother-in-law and the sister-in-law of Mufasa, Sarabi and Scar
Voices
Matthew Broderick as Simba, son of Mufasa and Sarabi, who grows up to become King of the Pride Lands. Rock singer Joseph Williams voiced adult Simba's singing voice.[a]
The Lion King received many award nominations. These include the Academy Award for Best Original Score (by Hans Zimmer) and the Golden Globe award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. It won both. The song "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" by Elton John and Tim Rice won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, the Golden Globe for Best Original Song, the BMI Film Music Award, and the Grammy Award for Best Vocal Performance Male.
Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media for "Circle of Life" (Nominated, lost to "Streets of Philadelphia" from Philadelphia.)
The Lion King was re-released in IMAX in 2003, 3D in 2011, for Disney's 100th anniversary in 2023 and for the movie's 30th anniversary in 2024.
Controversies
"SEX"
In one scene of the movie, it looks as if animators had accidentally written the word "sex" into some of the frames of animation, but that was a word that was vulgar and indicates sexual promiscuity. However, they wanted to show the letters "SFX" (meaning "special effects"). Because of that, in The Lion KingDVD the word has been taken out. Now, the word now reads correctly as "SFX".
Kimba the White Lion
Kimba the White Lion is an animated television program from the 1960s. It was made in Japan by Osamu Tezuka. Some characters and parts of the story in The Lion King are similar to Kimba the White Lion but Disney has said that it was not done on purpose.[14]
"The Lion Sleeps Tonight"
In one scene with Timon and Pumbaa, they both sing "The Lion Sleeps Tonight". This has caused problems between Disney and the family of South AfricanSolomon Linda, who composed the song (originally titled "Mbube") in 1939. In July 2004, the family went to court, seeking $1.6 million in royalties from Disney. In February 2006, Linda's family reached a legal settlement with Abilene Music, who held the worldwide rights and had let Disney us the song.[15]
In August 2007, the Hamasterrorist group made an animated propaganda movie that made fun of the style of The Lion King. The programme was shown on their television station, Al-Aqsa TV. Hamas was shown as a lion that chased and killed rats that looked like members of the secularFatah group in Gaza. The programme was shown for a short time but was taken off the air for changes.[17][18]
