The Lion King (1994)

Directors:

Roger Allers
Rob Minkoff

Writers:

Irene Mecchi (written by) and
Jonathan Roberts (written by) ...

Release Date:

24 June 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Drama | Family | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

Life's greatest adventure is finding your place in the Circle of Life.

Plot:

Tricked into thinking he killed his father, a guilt ridden lion cub flees into exile and abandons his identity as the future King.

Plot Keywords:

Animal In Title | Male Female Relationship | No Opening Credits | Talking Animal | Tragic Incident

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 22 wins & 22 nominations

Cast

Jonathan Taylor Thomas	...	Young Simba (voice)
Matthew Broderick	...	Adult Simba (voice)
James Earl Jones	...	King Mufasa (voice)
Jeremy Irons	...	Scar (voice)
Moira Kelly	...	Adult Nala (voice)
Niketa Calame	...	Young Nala (voice)
Ernie Sabella	...	Pumbaa the Warthog (voice)
Nathan Lane	...	Timon the Meerkat (voice)
Robert Guillaume	...	Rafiki the Mandrill (voice)
Rowan Atkinson	...	Zazu the Hornbill (voice)
Madge Sinclair	...	Queen Sarabi (voice)
Whoopi Goldberg	...	Shenzi the Hyena (voice)
Cheech Marin	...	Banzai the Hyena (voice)
Jim Cummings	...	Ed the Hyena (voice)
Zoe Leader	...	Sarafina, Nala's Mother (voice)

Also Known As:

King of the Jungle (USA) (original script title)
Rey león, El (USA: Spanish title)

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Swahili | Xhosa | Zulu

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Portugal:M/6 | South Korea:All | Iceland:L | Canada:G (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Quebec) | Taiwan:GP | Canada:F (Ontario) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Chile:TE | Finland:K-8/5 | France:U | Germany:o.Al. | Hong Kong:I | Netherlands:AL | Norway:7 | Peru:PT | Singapore:G | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | UK:U | USA:G | Greece:K | Brazil:Livre

Company:

Walt Disney Feature Animation

Trivia:

The scenes of the hyenas chasing Simba out of the Pridelands and into the desert originally went screen right to screen left. The filmmakers flipped all the shots so that the chase now went screen left to screen right, so as to match the shot of Simba running back home to face Scar (he runs from screen right to screen left).

Goofs:

Continuity: Simba clearly pounces on Zazu's back, but when they are on the ground, Simba's paws are on Zazu's front.

Quotes:

[first lines]
[Scar catches a mouse]
Scar: Life's not fair, is it? You see, I... well, I shall never be king. And you... shall never see the light of another day. Adieu.
Zazu: Didn't your mother ever tell you not to play with your food?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in No Reservations (2007)

Soundtrack:

Circle of Life

The Best Animated Film I Have Ever Seen

The Lion King is a great film. Along with a great story (inspired by William Shakespeare's Hamlet), terrific animation, and an all star cast of voices, there are the lessons that are learned from this film (despite being a little rough for the younger children). Like responsibility and honor.

I rank this animated film among the great films I have ever seen. It was part of my childhood and it is a film experience I will never forget. And hopefully, you won't either. A++