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This page was once a section on my Simba's Pride page, but got too big. Got some little known facts that aren't here? Then send them to me! I will put your name by them for credit, and your email address and page if you wish. Email little known facts to me at knarrly@hotmail.com
The Lion King
- When the film was released there was a stir in Japan. The film was very similar to the well known anime series 'Kimba the White Lion'. First there is the obvious similarity in names (Simba and Kimba). Also, both had a baboon as a shaman. But the similarities don't end there, both had an evil uncle - 'Scar' in the movie and 'Claw' in the series - as well as henchman hyenas. Plus a pose by a king on a rock. The possible lawsuit was dropped, because Osamu Tezuka's (the producer's) widow said that he would have been flattered that Disney was inspired by the series.
Fact provided by: Kalie (obtained from Internet Movie Database)
- The film's original opening was going to be a quiet dialogue-heavy sequence. Hans Zimmer (the composer) made an extended version of 'Circle of Life' to allow for some cuts from the film. The animators were very impressed with his work and decided the change the beginning so that the could use Zimmer's complete work.
Fact provided by: Kalie (obtained from Internet Movie Database)
- Simba says to his uncle Scar 'You're so weird!' To which Scar replied: 'You have no idea.' Jeremy Irons (the voice of Scar) gave this same response in the 1990 film 'Reversal of Fortune'.
Fact provided by: Kalie (obtained from Internet Movie Database)
- One of the bugs Timon pulls out of the log during 'Hakuna Matata' is wearing Mickey ears.
Fact provided by: Kalie (obtained from Internet Movie Database)
- James Earl Jones (the voice of Mufasa) and Madge Sinclair (the voice of Sarabi) played the King and Queen in the 1988 film 'Coming to America'.
Fact provided by: Kalie (obtained from Internet Movie Database)
- Many people have, by now, heard the rumor about that little word that is formed by the dust that Simba sends up into the air. This occurs after he talks to Timon and Pumbaa about the stars. Actually the letters formed are not 'SEX'(as everyone will want you to believe) , but are 'SFX' which stand for special effects. The letters were put in there by the special effects team.
Fact provided by: Kalie (obtained from Internet Movie Database)
- This is the first animated feature made completely at Disney Studios in Florida.
Fact provided by: Kalie (obtained from Internet Movie Database)
- The Music Sounds Familiar? Yep. In the original Lion King the music may sound like it's from another movie the truth is, it is. In the movie, Power of One many of the chants are the same as the Lion King. The reason is because the same team that brought together Power of One, Lebo M and Hans Zimmer, did The Lion King. In fact, the directors recieved the Power of One CD and wanted that music for the film.
Fact provided by: Alicia Miller
- When the film's creators first thought of making an animated movie about lions, they referred to the idea as "Bambi in Africa." The first drafts of the story were written in 1989 -- only then the movie was called King of the Jungle.
Fact obtained from Disney Adventure's The Lion King collector's Issue, issued in fall 2003.
- Before they worked on The Lion King, several of the film's creators spent two weeks on safari in Kenya, studying how real lions live. They watched hunting lions, mothers with cubs and big male cats stretched out in the sun. One time they tied a rope behind their Land Rover and drove slowly as lion cubs chased the rope, batting and and playing with it just like house cats. They made sketches and took photos of playful cubs to create young Simba and Nala.
Fact obtained from Disney Adventure's The Lion King collector's Issue, issued in fall 2003.
- A wildlife expert brought a lion, a baboon and some vultures to the film studio so the animators could study certain behaviors. For example, in the movie, Rafiki carries a staff, so the animators had the real baboon carry a long stick aorund so they could sketch him in different poses.
Fact obtained from Disney Adventure's The Lion King collector's Issue, issued in fall 2003.
- The creators originally imagined Sean Connery (the actor best known as the first James Bond) as the voice of Simba's dad, King Mufasa.
Fact obtained from Disney Adventure's The Lion King collector's Issue, issued in fall 2003.
- Some people at the studio considered The Lion King a "small" movie, so the creators and animators working on it referred to themselves as the "B Team." Some of the animators wanted to work on Pocahantas -- the "big" movie that the "A Team" was working on -- instead.
Fact obtained from Disney Adventure's The Lion King collector's Issue, issued in fall 2003.
- While the film's creative team traveled through Kenya, their African guides told them about some local customs and beliefs. Some of these made it into the movie, including the nonsense song lyrics that Rafiki chants: "Asante Sana! Squash banana! We we nuga! Mi mi apana!" (Roughly, it means, "Thank you very much! Squash banana! You're a baboon and I'm not!")
Fact obtained from Disney Adventure's The Lion King collector's Issue, issued in fall 2003.
- Listen closely to "Morning Report" -- does Simba seem a little...different? In the original movie, Jason Weaver provided the singing voice for young Simba. However, Jason is all grown up now, so producers tapped 14-year-old Evan "Hot Sauce" Saucedo to sing "Morning Report." (Evan is the 2003 Teen Champion on the TV series Showtime.)
Fact obtained from Disney Adventure's The Lion King collector's Issue, issued in fall 2003.
- Actor Jonathan Taylor Thomas (of TV's Home Improvement) played the part of young Simba. In the elephant graveyardscene, Simba was supposed to slide down an elephant's backbone, so Jonathan needed to sound like his back was bumping against an elephant's vertebrae. "The studio guys beat on my back [to make the noise]," says Jonathan.
Fact obtained from Disney Adventure's The Lion King collector's Issue, issued in fall 2003.
- "Bug football," a scene that was cut from the movie, showed the carefree "Hakuna Matata" lifestyle of Timon, Pumbaa, and Simba. Timon makes an "interception" of a large, juicy bug from Simba and runs towards the end zone doing his own play-by-play. He stops and throws a "bug bomb" pass to Pumbaa, who proceeds to eat the "ball." "It was a fun scene," Don Hahn says, "but it didn't move the plot forward." Now you can see it as a bonus feature on the DVD.
Fact obtained from Disney Adventure's The Lion King collector's Issue, issued in fall 2003.
- The new DVD included a scene that didn't appear in the original movie. The song, "Morning Report," was wirrten for the Broadway musical version of The Lion King, created after the movie. But producers liked the song so much they decided to add it to the movie. Animators created a whole new scene with Zazu and Simba singing "Morning Report."
Fact obtained from Disney Adventure's The Lion King collector's Issue, issued in fall 2003.
- The movie's producers considered adding other songs as well from the Broadway production. "We looked as all the songs from the stage show," says Don Hahn, "and there were wonderful songs like 'He Lives in You' [about King Mufasa living on inside Simba]. But 'Morning Report' felt like it really belonged in the movie and that you were watching the movie the way it was intended the be."
Fact obtained from Disney Adventure's The Lion King collector's Issue, issued in fall 2003.
- During development, The Lion King script was constantly changing -- some characters got more lines, and others never made it to the screen. At one time, the "cast" included a lion cub named Mee-Too, a bat-eared fox and a rhino with a tickbird on his back. The cub, fox and rhino were dropped, and the tickbird went solo for a while as King Mufasa's assistant. Finally he became a hornbill named Zazu. "The hyenas were originally sort of faceless villain," Don Hahn adds. "As we went on, we thought it would be better if we had a leader and a follower, so that's where the idea of Shenzi and Banzai came from. And then we thought that since they were laughing hyenas, we needed someone to laugh at their jokes, so that's where we got Ed. He's named for Ed McMahon, [the sidekick] from the old Tonight Show, who always laughed at Johnny Carson's jokes."
Fact obtained from Disney Adventure's The Lion King collector's Issue, issued in fall 2003.
- The song "Hakuna Matata" originally began with Timon singing a verse about "When I was a young meerkat..." The filmmakers decided the song would work better if it were shorter and got to the point right away, so they cut Timon's verse. Now it begins with Pumbaa's verse, "When I was a young warthog..."
Fact obtained from Disney Adventure's The Lion King collector's Issue, issued in fall 2003.
- In the early scripts, Scar was a rogue lion who wasn't related to Mufasa. Then the filmmakers decided that the story would be more emotional and scary if the bad guy was someone in the family. So they made him Kind Mufasa's brother -- a creepy uncle for Simba, and a threat from the "inside."
Fact obtained from Disney Adventure's The Lion King collector's Issue, issued in fall 2003.
- According to Don Hahn, there are few "inside jokes" in The Lion King because the creators wanted to keep the movie grounded in the animal world as much as possible. (That's also why you don't see these lions wearing hats or holding chicken legs with their paws or doing other "cartoony" things.) One exception: A caged Zazu sings Disney's "It's a Small World," to which Scar yells, "No, anything but that!" (If you've ever gone to Disney World's and Disneyland's It's a Small World and had the attraction's song get stuck in your head, then you know how Scar feels.)
Fact obtained from Disney Adventure's The Lion King collector's Issue, issued in fall 2003.
- "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" was the first song Tim Rice wrote for the movie. He gave the words he'd written to Elton John, who wrote the music. Elton imagined the love balladbeing sung by the two young lions -- but instead it was recorded by Timon and Pumbaa! "I was horrified when I heard it sung by the warthog. It was a shock!" say's Elton. The producers later changed their minds and gave the song to the lions. Wise move! (In the movie, Timon and Pumbaa still sing the last verse.)
Fact obtained from Disney Adventure's The Lion King collector's Issue, issued in fall 2003.
- The scene where King Mufasa's ghost appears to Simba was the last scene created for the movie. In the original script, Mufasa died and never reappeared. But the producers decided that Simba really needed to see his father again, so they created the scene with Mufasa's ghost.
Fact obtained from Disney Adventure's The Lion King collector's Issue, issued in fall 2003.
- When the first outtakes of the Lion King-script was made, Sarafina had a lot more lines. Eventually, these got cut away, and when the movie was finished, she only had one.
Fact obtained from Solveig Henne.
The Lion King 1 1/2
- I am ashamed to actually post this, but the biggest boo-boo was on the credits of this movie! They actually misspelled Zazu's name. It's listed as "Zasu". How did that pass through without being noticed?
Fact provided by: webmaster of this site
The Lion King II: Simba's Pride
- In the original script (which was started 2-3 years before Simba's Pride was released) there were no Outlanders. It was only Zira (then known as Bianca), Kovu, and the three hyenas. In this script, Kovu was Scar's son. This was changed because if Zira was Scar's mate, then why would she team up with the hyenas, who killed Scar. They also had to change the fact of Kovu being Scar's son because that would be bordering on incest. (It would make Kovu and Kiara second cousins.)
Fact provided by: Kevin
- Kathleen Turner was originally going to be the voice of Zira. Christian Slater was going to do the voice of Adult Kovu.
Fact provided by: Kevin
- At the end climax of the film, Zira was originally supposed to commit suicide. This was only changed towards the very end of production.
Fact provided by: Kevin
- Although some store merchandise shows Kovu's older brother Nuka as a cub, he is never shown in the movie as one. The first you see of him is as an equivalent of a teenager.
Fact provided by: Kevin
- 'Vitani' (Zira's daughter) was, at first, called 'Shetani'. This name means 'Devil' in the Kiswahili language, and Disney might have thought that it was unsuitable. The name 'Vitani' has no meaning. If you listen to the characters, you may hear them call her 'Shetani' at some points.
Fact provided by: Kalie (obtained from Internet Movie Database)
The Lion King - In other places!
- In the movie "Hercules" (Disney version) scar makes a cameo apperance. His pelt is thrown on hercules in the movie by the lady. How do you know it's him? There's no mistaking it. His face is seen, complete with the eye scar.
Fact provided by: Manny Zamora A.K.A Rafiki
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