The Lion King

The Lion King
Directed by	Roger Allers Robert Minkoff
Produced by	Don Hahn
Written by	Randall Wallace
Starring	Johnathan Taylor Thomas Matthew Broderick James Earl Jones Jeremy Irons Moira Kelly Niketa Calame Madge Sinclair Robert Guillaume Rowan Atkinson Nathan Lane Ernie Sabella Whoopi Goldberg Cheech Marin Jim Cummings
Music by	Hans Zimmer (score) Elton John Tim Rice (songs)
Editing by	Ivan Bilancio
Distributed by	Buena Vistas Pictures
Release date(s)	June 15, 1994
Running time	88 min
Country	USA
Language	English
Budget	$45 million
Gross revenue	$968.5 million
Followed by	The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride
IMDb profile

The Lion King is an animated musical movie produced by the Walt Disney Animation Studio, directed by Roger Allers and Robert Minkoff. It tells the story of a lion cub named Simba, prince of the Pridelands in Africa, who idolizes his father and king, Mufasa. When a plot hatched by his evil uncle Scar results in tragedy, Simba runs away and is raised by two outcasts. Years later, he must make a decision: to return to his homeland and save it from ruin or turn his back on his kingdom at its darkest hour. It gets its inspiration from William Shakespeare's Hamlet, as well as the stories of Joseph and Moses from the Bible.

Summary

In the Pridelands in Africa, a lion cub named Simba is born to King Mufasa and Queen Sarabi, presented to the kingdom by the wise mandrill shaman, Rafiki. But this angers Mufasa's brother Scar, who had been next in line to be king until Simba was born.

A few months go by, and Simba grows into an adventurous cub, idolizing his father Mufasa. Mufasa teaches him about the Circle Of Life and how being a king is more than just getting their own way all the time. Encouraged by this, Simba goes back to Pride Rock to tell Uncle Scar, who tricks him into going to the elephant graveyard, which Mufasa says is forbidden territory. He gets his best friend Nala to go along with him (while tricking Zazu, Mufasa's majordomo hornbill bird), only to encounter a trio of hyenas in league with Scar, named Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed. Zazu manages to alert Mufasa in time, who thrashes the hyenas and chases them away. Though disappointed in Simba at first for disobeying him and putting himself and Nala in danger, the king forgives him and reassures him that he would always watch over him. In the meantime, Scar colludes with the hyenas to take over the Pridelands so that the hyenas would get to eat enough.

The next day, Scar takes Simba to the gorge on the guise of his father having a surprise for him, telling him to also practice on his roar. As Simba does so, a herd of wildebeests (stirred up by the hyena trio) stampedes in the gorge, with Simba caught in the middle. Mufasa hears word of it and goes with Zazu and Scar to the gorge, where he rescues Simba. When trying to climb out, however, Scar shoves him back into the stampede, the herd trampling Mufasa to death. Simba is distraught by his father's death, which Scar tells him is his fault and then tells him to run away. Simba does so (after being briefly chased by the hyenas), and Scar takes command of the Pridelands, letting the hyenas into the kingdom.

Lost and alone, Simba is rescued in the desert by a comical duo: a wisecracking meerkat named Timon and a naïve yet friendly warthog named Pumbaa. They take Simba into their home and teach him the philosophy "Hakuna Matata", where he has no responsibilities and no worries. He grows up into a powerful young male lion, but he still feels guilt over what happened to his father. In the meantime, Rafiki realizes that Simba is still alive and sets out to find him and bring him back. Back in the jungle, Simba saves Timon and Pumbaa from a hunting lioness, only to realize that it's Nala, and the two friends reunite and fall in love. But Nala tries getting Simba to return to the Pridelands and take over from Scar (whose policy of letting the hyenas overhunt upsets the balance of the Pridelands, and even the hyenas are getting sick of Scar's reign), yet Simba refuses, but when Rafiki helps him see his father's spirit, who urges him to take his place in the Circle Of Life, Simba makes his choice and returns to the Pridelands.

Simba sneaks into Pride Rock with help from Nala, Timon, and Pumbaa, and he confronts Scar when he witnesses his uncle striking Sarabi for mentioning Mufasa's name and questioning him. Backed in a corner, Scar starts making Simba feel guilty for Mufasa's death again and backs him up against the edge of Pride Rock, only to reveal that he was the one who murdered Mufasa. Free from his guilt, Simba forces Scar to confess, and a great battle occurs: Simba, his friends, and the lionesses against Scar and his hyenas. Simba faces Scar at the top of Pride Rock, who tries saving his own fur by pinning his crimes on the hyenas, and attacks Simba after his nephew banishes him from the Pridelands. Scar gets flung off to the side of Pride Rock and survives, but he's quickly killed by the hyenas, who have overheard Scar blaming them and backed away to let him deal with Simba alone.

The movie ends with Simba becoming the new king of Pride Rock, the Pridelands being restored to its former glory, and Simba and Nala welcome their newborn cub into the world, fulfilling the Circle Of Life.

Cast

• Johnathan Taylor Thomas/Matthew Broderick as Simba (cub and adult respectively)

• Niketa Calame/Moira Kelly as Nala (cub and adult respectively)

• James Earl Jones as Mufasa

• Jeremy Irons as Scar

• Madge Sinclair as Sarabi

• Robert Guillaume as Rafiki

• Rowan Atkinson as Zazu

• Nathan Lane as Timon

• Ernie Sabella as Pumbaa

• Whoopi Goldberg as Shenzi

• Cheech Marin as Banzai

• Jim Cummings as Ed

Sequels and TV Shows

A sequel called The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride was released on home video in 1998, based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Simba and Nala's daughter Kiara learns about the Outlanders, a group of lions led by Zira who are still loyal to Simba's evil late uncle Scar. Things get more complicated when Kiara and one of the Outlanders, Kovu, fall in love with each other.

In 2004, a prequel/parallel movie called The Lion King 1 1/2 (or The Lion King 3 in other countries) was released, based on a play called Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead. This tells the backstory of Simba's misfit friends, Timon and Pumbaa, as they meet each other and Simba, as well as exploring parts of the first movie in the eyes of Timon and Pumbaa.

Two television shows were released: Timon and Pumbaa in 1995 and The Lion Guard in 2016.

Remake

In late 2016, after the success of his remake of The Jungle Book, Jon Favreau announced that he would start making a photorealistic CGI remake of The Lion King. It is to be released in theaters on July 19, 2019.

Links

• The Lion King at the Internet Movie Database