The Lion King Discussion

[Disney Duster]

That was a really interesting read. Of note to me was the stuff about how Roger Ebert said you need human hands to make good movies, and the rest about hand-drawn animation.

[Mooky]

Has this been posted before?

Disney's Early Version of The Lion King Was Kind of Bonkers

[Disney's Divinity]

At first, I thought you might be talking about that version with the c a s i n o. Anyway, no, I don't think I've read that before. I actually like the idea of Scar burning down with "his" kingdom, although I think him being devoured by the hyenas was a fitting end, too.

The concept art for that Scar makes him look deranged. Something about it reminds me of The Secret of NIMH. Maybe that version of the character would’ve been like the bear from The Fox and the Hound or Glut from The Little Mermaid if they’d been given more definition.

[blackcauldron85]

At first, I thought you might be talking about that version with the c a s i n o.

What?!? I can find nothing on Google...

[Disney's Divinity]

I had to search for what I was thinking about, since I knew it was posted here, but I couldn't remember when / what thread. I was wrong--apparently it was a different ending for the stage show only, not the original film. Here's a link to what I was referring to. It's an idea that's always...stuck with me, I guess. Something that strange never leaves.

[thedisneyspirit]

What was with that "Scar and Mufasa aren't brothers" crap that the directors talked about a few years ago? It felt like pandering to the Youtube nitpicking critics.

[blackcauldron85]

--apparently it was a different ending for the stage show only, not the original film....It's an idea that's always...stuck with me, I guess. Something that strange never leaves.

I posted right underneath you in that thread, though not about that, so clearly i hated it and it left my memory... But that made me wonder how Disney knew about Julie Taymor and wanted her to work on TLK, and the best I could find was that Thomas Schumacher just liked her puppets/masks, that when they knew they wanted that asthetic for the show, she was who he thought of.

[Sotiris]

This was cute.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bge_9DsoMWI

[blackcauldron85]

(Bad language warning!!)Jason Weaver Turned Down $2M Check for Lion King
https://youtu.be/utesLesCSXA

[blackcauldron85]

https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-ne ... nt-flashy/

After getting his career back on track, John was offered the opportunity to spearhead the soundtrack for the 1994 animated Disney movie The Lion King. “I would be lying if I said I never had doubts about the project or, rather, my place within it,” he writes. Ultimately, he was thrilled with the final product and won an Oscar for “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” Disney offered John another deal as a result. “It was for a ridiculous amount of money,” he reveals. “They wanted me to develop more films, do TV shows and books; there was even some talk about a theme park.” After some careful consideration, however, he declined.

[Disney's Divinity]

And seeing how they ended up treating Gnomeo and Juliet years later, he probably doesn't regret that decision either.

[Sotiris]

Disney tells Berkeley parents they owe $250 for screening ‘The Lion King’
https://www.berkeleyside.com/2020/01/31 ... -lion-king

Bob Iger Apologizes To Elementary School For ‘Lion King’ Fundraiser Screening Fee
https://deadline.com/2020/02/bob-iger-a ... 202853166/

[Sotiris]

Imagination to Animation: The Lion King
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6xMn7Auqco

[Disney Duster]

Cool watching the animation work but they chose that scene?

[Sotiris]

“There was a screenplay before I came on and it was really interesting because there were hyenas and this rogue lion and the hyenas were the antagonists,” Linda shared about the state of the project when she joined The Lion King team, “To me, the hyenas weren’t a worthy opponent. You need a worthy opponent to vanquish.” She morphed the rogue lion into the leader of the hyenas and added a Shakespearean element, making him the hero’s uncle to make the ending more exciting. “There was a lion that Simba had to be stronger than to be a victor.”

Source: https://www.laughingplace.com/w/article ... ter-hours/

“My friend, the great Jess Harnell, and I were stunt singers and it was for ‘Hakuna Matata’ and I was Pumbaa and he was Timon, they hadn’t written the entire song yet.” The voice acting friends were brought in to produce a demo for The Lion King as the Elton John/Tim Rice collaboration was still being written. The directors were on hand and the lyrics weren’t exactly what they wanted. That’s when Jim Cummings got very into the character of Pumbaa and began to adlib the entire verse about how nobody likes to come near him because he’s so gassy. “I’m so proud,” Jim laughed about his uncredited contributions to the song.

Source: https://www.laughingplace.com/w/article ... ter-hours/

“In the first draft, little Simba and Nala were friends with little Pumbaa and Timon and another friend and they all ran around together,” Roger Allers shared about the film on its journey to becoming The Lion King. “In that version, when Simba was cast out by his uncle, by the hyenas… there was no love story to draw him back. There was no contact with the spirit of his father. That was all new. I would say that was probably the biggest idea, having Simba reconnect with his father… There were larger spiritual underpinnings to the whole story, the circle of life and all of that.” Roger Allers was on the project first and when Rob Minkoff joined him, they were given just a few weeks to reboot the story.

Source: https://www.laughingplace.com/w/article ... ter-hours/

[JeanGreyForever]

It's shocking that Linda went from this and BATB to Maleficent and the live-action Alice.

[Disney's Divinity]

Surprisingly, she had a significant role in making this the great film it is then. I have always heard complaints about the hyenas being people of color (the only in the film, I believe) coded as evil characters... Just imagine how much worse those complaints would've been if they were the main villains and the very white British Scar wasn't a part of the evil group as well...

In a way, I can see how Shenzi might have been a good villain on her own, if developed further. I think Whoopi Goldberg always wanted to have a big Disney villain role like Ursula, Cruella, etc.; perhaps she thought she was going to play the villain of TLK in the early stages of that film (I don't know when they cast her, if it was early or late)? Unfortunately, that might have ended up having unfortunate gender implications as well, with the patriarchal Mufasa standing for good opposite Shenzi, an evil matriarch / outsider. The Little Mermaid already has those issues somewhat, although that film doesn't glorify male power or King Triton to the degree The Lion King does with Pride Rock, Mufasa, the Kings in the stars, etc. (King Triton is acknowledged in-film as a very flawed character.) The issue would've been magnified x10 in TLK.

[DisneyFan97]

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THe swedish voices of Timon & Pumbaa Jan Rippe and Peter Ragnar.

They were flawless in the roles

Sadly, Ragnar only voiced Timon for the first movie before passing away from Cancer.

And Jan Rippe only retruned to voice Pumbba for Lion King 1 !%2.

For the tv show and Simbaäs Pride Pumbaa was instead voiced by Songwriter, Composer, Singer and all around general entertainer Bo Maniette.

Maniette also viced Captian Hook in the secend(and only available) dubb ofd Peter Pan as well has reprising the role in Return to Neverland (in my opinion to better effect).

Timon is voiced in th tv show spin off as well as Lion Guard and Simbass Pride by professional voice actor Anders Öjebo(the swedish voice of Micky Mouse amd Darkwing Duck)

[Sotiris]

After Ursula, it's Scar's turn to get a comic book origin story.

The Lion King's Scar Gets His Own Disney Villains Comic From Dynamite
https://bleedingcool.com/comics/the-lio ... -dynamite/

Scar, Gargoyles & Darkwing Duck in Dynamite April 2023 Solicits
https://bleedingcool.com/comics/scar-ga ... -solicits/

Dynamite Will Not Overprint Disney's Scar & Will Only Collect In 2025
https://bleedingcool.com/comics/dynamit ... t-in-2025/

Disney Villains: Scar #2 Preview: Feeding Time
https://bleedingcool.com/comics/disney- ... ding-time/

[singerguy04]

I've heard it referred to a couple times in other threads, but people are taking objection to the hula scene?

Lion King isn't my favorite Disney film, but it's hard to argue it has many flaws. I think the humor behind the hula scene is some of the best in the film. I've seen this movie hundreds of times and that scene still gets a chuckle out of me. I know the core of this discussion is a matter of taste, but to argue it doesn't make sense is kind of nit-picking when considering its a cartoon about talking/singing animals. If ANYTHING should draw some nonsensical criticism is the whole Monty Python reference.