The Lion King
Short description
The Lion King follows Simba, a young lion who is heir to the throne of the Pride Lands and grows up in the care of his father, Mufasa. His uncle Scar, resentful of his own position, schemes to take power for himself. After a tragedy leaves Simba believing he is to blame, he goes into exile, where he befriends the meerkat Timon and the warthog Pumbaa and adopts their carefree outlook. Years later, prompted by his childhood companion Nala and the mandrill Rafiki, he must decide whether to return home and challenge Scar's rule.
The film was released in 1994 and was directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, both of whom made their feature directorial debut with it; Allers went on to direct Open Season, while Minkoff later directed the Stuart Little films and several other features. Jonathan Roberts, Linda Woolverton and Irene Mecchi wrote the screenplay, and Don Hahn produced. The voice cast includes Matthew Broderick as Simba, Moira Kelly as Nala, Jeremy Irons as Scar, Nathan Lane as Timon, Ernie Sabella as Pumbaa and James Earl Jones as Mufasa.
Made by Walt Disney Pictures and Walt Disney Feature Animation on a budget of 45 million dollars, the film took 763 million dollars worldwide, a large multiple of its cost. Audiences rate it highly, with 8.5 out of 10 on IMDb from around 1.3 million votes and 8.3 on TMDB, figures that sit close to the critics' rating of 8.7 from 172 reviews.
What's left behind the scenes
- Mufasa is the name of the last king of the people who inhabited Kenya before English colonization.
- For the more than 600 artists, animators, and technicians who contributed to "The Lion King", the film presented many challenges. Ultimately, more than one million drawings were created for the film, consisting of 1,197 hand-painted backgrounds and 119,058 individually drawn frames.
- In 2003, a 37-cent postage stamp dedicated to the animated film "The Lion King" was released in the USA.
- One of the bugs that Timon pulls from the log during Hakuna Matata has Mickey Mouse ears.
- Rafiki’s song “Thank you very much, eat a banana” (Ashante sana, squash banana) is a children’s counting rhyme from Africa.
- If you look closely at Zazu's beak as he descends to congratulate Simba on his victory over Scar, you can notice it moving silently. Initially, Zazu says, 'Your Majesty!'
- Mufasa was originally supposed to perform the song "To Be King," but it didn't suit the actor's voice.
- In the episode "The Man from J.U.N.G.L.E." of the "Timon & Pumbaa" animated series (1995-1998), a scene from The Lion King is parodied, when the Elephant, along with the birds, goes to Simba's presentation.
- Leafcutter ants, Colombian ground squirrels, and some species of giant anteaters, shown in the film, live only in America, not in Africa.
- When Mufasa speaks with Simba about the great kings of the past, Mickey Mouse's ears can be seen again in the starry sky. In the same episode, the constellation Leo is visible.
- The somber parts of the background score were borrowed from Mozart's Requiem.
- To make the 3D re-release of the film possible, studio staff had to recreate the animation from individual materials of the CAPS system. This resulted in some details (such as shadows and certain parts of scenes) being missing in certain scenes of the re-released version.
- "Simba" means lion, "Sarabi" means mirage, "Rafiki" means friend, "Pumbaa" means simpleton, "Banzai" means hiding, "Shenzi" means uncouth.
- The "Circle of Life" scene was used as a trailer for the animated film. During the advertising campaign, this scene could be seen on televisions in many Disney stores.
- To help the filmmakers cope with the task of conveying the natural and majestic beauty of Africa through animation, six members of the creative team visited East Africa in the early stages of production. They brought back a wealth of sketches, ideas, the phrase “Hakuna Matata,” Rafiki’s song – a children’s counting rhyme, and so on.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
