Trailer
Plot summary
King Mufasa rules the Pride Lands from Pride Rock with his mate Sarabi, and Rafiki, the kingdom's shaman, presents their newborn son Simba to the gathered animals. Simba is the heir, and his uncle Scar, disgruntled that his brother now has a son, sulks behind the rock. As a cub, Simba pesters his father for a tour of the kingdom. Mufasa shows him the lands he will rule and forbids him to go near the shadowed place on the horizon. Scar mentions that forbidden ground, an elephant graveyard, counting on the cub's curiosity. Simba talks his friend Nala into visiting it, and the two give Zazu the slip. Three hyenas, Shenzi, Banzai and Ed, corner the cubs there until Mufasa arrives and drives them off.
Cast
Show all 20 cast
- Zoe Leaderas Sarafina (voice)
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Lion King (1994)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Jeremy Irons initially turned down the role of Scar because he felt uncomfortable going from his dramatic portrayal of Claus von Bülow in Reversal of Fortune to a comedic role. His performance in that film inspired the writers to add the line "You have no idea" to the script and prompted animator Andreas Deja to study Irons' facial traits and tics.
- Nathan Lane tried out for Zazu and Ernie Sabella for a hyena. The two were then appearing together in a Broadway production of Guys and Dolls. The directors liked how they worked together, so they gave them the parts of Timon and Pumbaa instead.
- The hyenas were first meant to bring Cheech & Chong back together, but Tommy Chong could not do it. His part became a female hyena, Shenzi, voiced by Whoopi Goldberg, who wanted to be in the film.
- Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, an English double act, tried out for a pair of chipmunks in The Lion King. Mortimer said the producers were keen, but the two were uneasy with their corporate attitude and left the film.
- Rowan Atkinson first turned down the offer to voice Zazu in The Lion King, saying voice work was not something he liked. His friend and fellow Mr. Bean writer and actor Robin Driscoll then convinced him to take the role.
- Tim Curry, Jonathan Pryce, David Ogden Stiers, John Lithgow, Michael Wincott, Malcolm McDowell, Alan Rickman, Patrick Stewart, and Ian McKellen were considered for Scar, but Jeremy Irons got the part.
- The wildebeest stampede sequence required five specially trained animators and technicians who spent more than two years creating the two-and-a-half-minute scene. They created several distinct wildebeest characters in a 3D computer program, multiplied them into hundreds, cel shaded them to look like drawn animation, and gave them randomized paths down a mountainside.
- Six months before The Lion King came out, the 1994 Northridge earthquake closed the studio, so the animators had to finish their work remotely.
