Surprisingly Interesting Facts You May Not Know About Disney's The Lion King

The 1994 animated musical Disney classic known as The Lion King was an unexpected favorite from the beginning. It was made at the same time as Pocahontas and had a harder time attracting eager animators because there was just more hype surrounding the Indigenous Princess. Yet the lions prevailed, and even today, the original film is hailed as one of Disney's best ever, which is why it's no surprise they decided to remake it (releasing in theaters soon!).

For such a beloved classic film, there are still many fun tidbits, myths, mysteries, and fascinating facts about the original The Lion King that most people today still don't know the truth behind! That's why we're here today, and we're convinced you'll find yourself fascinated.

What's in a name?

The Lion King wasn't always going to be The Lion King. The original name Disney coined was King of the Beasts, but they changed it to King of the Jungle for a while. It was only after they realized that lions don't live in the jungle that they changed it to something more appropriate and, in turn, iconic.

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In the beginning!

The quintessential, impossible-to-recognize opening to The Lion King, featuring the musical theme by Hans Zimmer, was not originally on the table. The opening to the movie was supposed to be dialogue-heavy! However, Disney was so impressed with Zimmer's musical theme that they changed it. And thank goodness they did, because it's just not possible to imagine the opening being any less classic.

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Trailer Fun Facts

Disney broke their own tradition when they used a complete scene from The Lion King as a promotional trailer for the film. "Why," you may ask? Because the music was just that powerful in their eyes.

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The "SEX" Scandal

There was a long-standing (and probably still widely believed today) rumor that when Simba collapsed on the cliff, all the dust and debris flying into the air spelled the word "SEX," but that's not true. It spelled "SFX," a nod to the art department.

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Gassy

Have you ever wondered which Disney character was the first ever to fart? It was Pumbaa.

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You could say it took some time.

It took nearly three full years to completely animate The Lion King's two-and-a-half-minute wildebeest stampede scene.

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Lines!

“You have no idea” is the same line Jeremy Irons, the actor who voices Scar, says in his Oscar-winning role as Claus von Bulow in Reversal of Fortune.

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Royalty

The iconic voices of Mufasa and Sarabi are James Earl Jones and Madge Sinclair. The dynamic duo were also a royal couple in another, very different movie: Coming to America.

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Different Scripts

In the original script idea for The Lion King, Scar was not related to Simba at all. He was a lone lion who was also in charge of a group of baboons instead of hyenas.

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A first? A first.

Disney was notorious for adapting stories and fairy tales into new stories for all to love, but The Lion King broke the mold. It was Disney's first animated film to feature a completely original storyline!

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Inspiring

While The Lion King is an original screenplay and not an adaptation, many people believe the movie must be inspired by Shakespeare's Hamlet. In Hamlet, Prince Hamlet seeks revenge upon his uncle Claudius, who murdered Hamlet's father and Claudius's brother in order to seize the throne. Claudius also married Hamlet's mother, Gertrude. It does bear resemblance, don't you think?

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Timon and Pumbaa

The actors who voice Timon and Pumbaa are Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella, but the dynamic duo didn't originally plan on being besties for the film. Both actors auditioned to be hyenas! Director Rob Minkoff had other ideas, though, and said:

They asked the casting director if they could audition together, and they were hilarious as they read their lines, but they didn’t seem right for the hyenas. That’s when we thought, ‘What if we use them as Timon and Pumbaa?’ It was the perfect fit.giphy

Instead...

Cheech Marin and Whoopi Goldberg were cast as hyenas instead!

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A man of many talents.

Jeremy Cummings took on multiple roles in The Lion King. He played the third hyena alongside Cheech Marin and Whoopi Goldberg, as well as the gopher who reports to Zazu early in the movie. Yet Cummings' most impressive role in The Lion King occurred when Jeremy Irons lost his voice during recording. Cummings stepped in for the last part of the song, "Be Prepared."

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So, this was a thing.

A hyena researcher sued Disney for “defamation of character” for its portrayal of the animals in the film. According to a favored myth-busting blog Londolozi:

In fact, when Disney animators went to a hyena research facility to make sketches for the movie, scientists there made a plea for the hyenas to be cast in a positive light, but, as we know, that was not to be. So enraged was one researcher that he even tried to sue Disney for defamation of character because of how they portrayed these creatures.gifer

Mother

It's not unusual for Disney to cut songs from their movies. Such was the case for a lullaby sung by Sarabi, "The Lion in the Moon."

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Hakuna Matata

Before "Hakuna Matata," there was a song called "He's Got It All Worked Out," but people weren't sold on it. Thankfully, the research team who went to Africa came back with the phrase "Hakuna Matata," and in a meeting with Tim Rice, he reflected, "Hmmm… Hakuna Matata. It’s a bit like Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo." Today, the song is a timeless classic.

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Goals

The Lion King is the highest-grossing hand-drawn animated feature of all time, with total box office earnings racking in over $987 million. Not only that, but it is also the third highest-grossing animated feature in general, the 19th highest-grossing film of all time, and the best-selling VHS ever.

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The B-Team

Made at the same time: Disney made The Lion King and Pocahontas simultaneously, but they expected Pocahontas to be the real breadwinner, and thus everyone who worked on The Lion King was considered the B-Team! Clearly, Disney's expectations were in all the wrong places.

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Rafiki

Chances are you've spent your life assuming Rafiki is a baboon, so I have some bad news for you. He's actually a mix between a mandrill and a baboon, as mandrills don't have tails.

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Bugs

A small yellow beetle that Timon finds under a log has Mickey ears on its back.

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Interesting Fact? You decide.

The actor who voiced adult Simba is Matthew Broderick, but when he read the script for The Lion King, he thought he was working on a remake of the 1960s Japanese anime show called Kimba the White Lion! However, Disney denied any connection between the two films.

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Back to Hamlet

The screenwriter Irene Mecchi said the film was pitched as: “Hamlet in Africa with Bambi thrown in, so Bamblet.”

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Considering Zazu

The voice of Zazu was performed by Rowan Atkinson, but he had competition to beat out for the role, including several other Monty Python members and even Patrick Stewart!

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Can You Feel the Love Tonight?

Supposedly, Tim Rice had as many as 15 versions of the song, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight," and the one Elton John recorded was the first!

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Cat Fight

Originally, the fight sequence between Simba and Scar called for Simba to lose before Scar died in a fire. That would somehow feel like a very different ending, wouldn't it?

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Circle of Life

The opening lyrics from The Lion King’s ‘Circle of Life’ are sung in the language of the Zulu, an ethnic group of Southern Africa. If you directly translate the words they say: “There comes a lion. Oh yes, it’s a lion.”