The Lion King (1994)

Tricked into thinking he killed his father, a guilt ridden lion cub flees into exile and abandons his identity as the future King.

Directors:

Roger Allers, Rob Minkoff

Writers:

Irene Mecchi (screenplay), Jonathan Roberts (screenplay),

Stars:

Matthew Broderick, Jeremy Irons, James Earl Jones

Top 250 #78 | Won 2 Oscars. Another 24 wins & 22 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Jonathan Taylor Thomas	...	Young Simba (voice)
Matthew Broderick	...	Adult Simba (voice)
James Earl Jones	...	Mufasa (voice)
Jeremy Irons	...	Scar (voice)
Moira Kelly	...	Adult Nala (voice)
Niketa Calame	...	Young Nala (voice)
Ernie Sabella	...	Pumbaa (voice)
Nathan Lane	...	Timon (voice)
Robert Guillaume	...	Rafiki (voice)
Rowan Atkinson	...	Zazu (voice)
Madge Sinclair	...	Sarabi (voice)
Whoopi Goldberg	...	Shenzi (voice)
Cheech Marin	...	Banzai (voice)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jim Cummings	...	Ed (voice)
Frank Welker	...	Additional Voices (voice)

Storyline

A lion prince, Simba, is born in Africa and the animals of the Pride Lands pay tribute. Later Simba is told by his father, King Mufasa, that when Mufasa dies, Simba will become King of the Pride Lands. Simba's Uncle Scar would have been king after Mufasa had Mufasa not had a child. Fuelled by rage, Scar plots to kill Mufasa and Simba so he is able to take over the throne. He uses the hyenas to cause a stampede through the canyon where Mufasa and Simba are, and personally ensures Mufasa falls to his death. Simba survives so Scar implies that the stampede was Simba's fault and that the pride will blame him. Simba flees the Pride Lands meaning never to return home. Simba is found, collapsed with exhaustion, by Timon the Meerkat, and Pumbaa the Warthog, and the trio become fast friends. Simba stays with them well into adulthood until his childhood friend, Nala, hunting beyond the Pride Lands that herds had deserted under Scar's mismanagement stumbles upon Simba's new home. Astonished to ...

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Plot Keywords:

Scar | King | Prince | Lion | Africa | 

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Taglines:

Life's greatest adventure is finding your place in the Circle of Life.

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Drama | Family | Musical

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Certificate:

G

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English Swahili Xhosa Zulu

Release Date:

24 June 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Lion King 3D

Box Office

Budget:

$45,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$47,585 (South Africa) (17 January 2003)

Gross:

$422,783,777 (USA) (13 January 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Feature Animation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

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.

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Goofs

When Simba finds Mufasa's dead body, his tears leave stains running down both cheeks. When Scar appears, Simba's face alternates between having tear stains on both cheeks in medium shots and only on his right cheek in close-ups. Once Scar tells Simba to run away, the stains disappear altogether.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Scar: [Scar catches a mouse] Life's not fair, is it? You see, I... well, I shall never be king. And you... shall never see the light of another day. Hmm-hmm-hmm, adieu.
Zazu: Didn't your mother ever tell you not to play with your food?

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Crazy Credits

Nico Golfar is also credited as "Score Wrangler".

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Connections

Featured in The Blockbuster Buster: Tarzan & the Lost City (2012)
clip is shown

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Soundtracks

"Be Prepared"
(1994)
Written by Tim Rice and Elton John
Arranged and Produced by Hans Zimmer
Performed by Jeremy Irons, with Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin, and Jim Cummings

User Reviews

The Lion King: 9/10

Released Christmas Day in 2002 to IMAX and large format screens, The Lion King makes a triumphant return to the screen after eight years. Its every bit as majestic and great as it has been before.

The Lion King Mufasa (James Earl Jones) just had a baby cub named Simba. All of the animals come to the ceremony, except for Mufasa's brother Scar (Jeremy Irons). Scar desperately wants to be King, but can't. As long as Mufasa and Simba are there. Soon Simba is able to walk and talk and is voiced by Jonathon Taylor Thomas. After hearing about an elephant graveyard from Scar, he and his friend Nala (Niketa Calame) visit it. They meet three bumbling hyenas: Banzai (Cheech Marin), Shenzi (Whoopi Goldberg), and Ed (Jim Cummings), but they manage to leave unhurt. Scar is upset that the hyenas didn't do the job, so he orders a stampede to wipe out both of them, but it only takes care of Mufasa. Scar convinces Simba that he killed Mufasa, not Scar. So Simba flees into exile.

The Lion King really benefits from the larger screen. Its lavish landscapes will be able to capture you more, and you can really savor the animation. Disney didn't need any humans, so they could spend all of the time on a great story and lush landscapes. In fact, its camera movement was so majestic that you actually felt like you were part of the pride of lions.

The music boomed and really created the atmosphere. Although I had seen this picture before, I still was tense because of the way the music played out. Most of the time, I would just roll my eyes at the attempt to make me nervous. But Hans Zimmer's music really bowled me over and made my heart do calisthenics. Unlike such new Disney pics like Lilo and Stitch, the songs actually did some good. They took you out of a somewhat dreary mood and put a smile on your face and made your feet want to tap along. There were only a few, but they were very entertaining. And the Circle of Life song at the beginning was beautiful, with its perfect pictures and perfect sound.

I really like James Earl Jones (he's pretty diverse), and this time was no exception. He seemed to act like he didn't want to do this role, but he couldn't contain his excitement for wanting to do voice-overs again (he had done some work in The Simpsons before). Matthew Broderick redeemed himself for me (after the atrocious Ferris Bueller's Day Off) by showing a strong voicing as the adult Simba. Cheech Marin, Whoopi Goldberg, and Jim Cummings really had good chemistry together, even though they didn't have much screen time. Irons was really good and creepy as Scar (one of those who you can't help but hate), and if that is him really singing, brava!

Be warned, The Lion King isn't really for youngsters. It had intense thematic elements that should have warranted a PG, instead of those that don't deserve it (Lilo and Stitch, again). The mood that the music and the script brought out could damper your day, so be warned.

This is one movie where you can feel for the characters. You don't say `haha, he's dead', you say `Gasp! I'm so sad!' If it weren't for the gifted scriptwriters, this movie would be kaput and a nothing, not the best Disney movie ever made.

The Lion King is a majestic movie, not without humor, that is for almost all to see.

My rating: 9/10

Rated G for intense thematic elements.