The Lion King - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of The Lion King or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to The Lion King

[bryan]

This film marks the first time Pharrell Williams has collaborated with Disney on a film; he served as the producer for five songs.

[lonnie]

Most of the film's lines are pulled directly from the original script, but the more comedic bits were given more freedom. It may not come as a surprise that when comedians Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen got together to act out their scenes as Timon and Pumbaa, they came up with some off-the-cuff jokes that were too good not to use. "We did have good black box sessions with them where they really start to improvise a lot," Jones said. "I think Seth embodies Pumbaa really well. In terms of the character, his voice, the tone and how he performs it. There's a certain level of charm and innocence to his performance that actually is working really well of Pumbaa. And likewise with Eichner and Timon. He's got this kind of sarcastic approach that's working really well too."

[ava]

John Kani has insisted in several interviews that his voice character, Rafiki, has a different personality than his animated counterpart. According to Kani, Rafiki, is more of a 'down to earth' and 'no nonsense' character this time around and will take his job, getting Simba to see the error of his ways by going back as King, more seriously.

[albert]

The shot of Timon and Pumbaa coming towards the camera from far off on the desert horizon to save Simba from the vultures is a tribute to Lawrence of Arabia (1962).

[veronica]

Amy Sedaris was originally announced as playing an elephant shrew in the film. In the final film, Sedaris instead voices a guinea fowl, while Josh McCrary voices the elephant shrew character.

[lynn]

"Be Prepared" was one of the last sequences in the film to be finished.

[jesse]

For the chase sequence where Nala surprises Timon and Pumbaa, the filmmakers were inspired by footage from Apocalypto (2006), as well as documentaries. The slow-motion and off-speed camera work contributes to the photorealism in the film.

[duane]

Chiwetel Ejiofor previously collaborated with the original voice actor of Zazu, Rowan Atkinson, in Love Actually and its television short film sequel, Red Nose Day Actually. On Love Actually, Ejiofor has also worked with Emma Thompson, who portrayed Mrs. Potts in the 2017 live-action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast.

[fred]

The film shows the juxtaposition between Scar and Mufasa's views on the throne. While Scar envies Mufasa for his immense privilege as king (he lambasts Mufasa's limited hunting policy and promises unlimited access to food in pitching his takeover plan to the hyenas), Mufasa advises young Simba that a good ruler is more interested in what they can give to their kingdom as opposed to reaping the personal benefits of the job and is shown to be against the idea of territory expansion through conquest when Simba inquires about it.

[francisco]

Second collaboration between Alfre Woodard (Sarabi) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (Scar), after 12 Years a Slave (2013).

[bryan]

The stampede sequence was one of the first to be worked on, due to the large amount of rendering it required.

[nicholas]

In order to get the sound right in the scene where Simba is practicing his roar in the gorge, the sound crew traveled to Germany's Magdeburg Zoo to record audio of lion cubs.

[harry]

While not as eccentric as his animated counterpart Rafiki does tend to laugh or chuckle at various points in the film.

[bernice]

The opening of "The Circle of Life"--the first shot in the film--was just a real picture of Africa.

[sylvia]

Donald Glover, who voices adult Simba, calls "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" his favorite part of The Lion King.

[darrell]

The distinct voices of Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, who plays adult Nala, and Alfre Woodard, who plays Sarabi, help distinguish the two characters; otherwise, female lions look quite similar and it can be hard to tell them apart. The filmmakers use the character names in the movie dialogue as a clue to who's who.

[bryan]

Billy Eichner (Timon) and Keegan-Michael Key's (Kamari) second movie collaboration, after The Angry Birds Movie (2016), of which had a sequel released the same year as this film; it featured Eric Andre's on-and-off partner Hannibal Buress.

[jamie]

The original film was expected to draw herds of moviegoers at a time when ticket sales are seriously struggling. Box office watchers predicted that the studio's grand return to the Pride Lands could become one of this year's biggest hits. "The Lion King" is expected to debut with $150 million this weekend, though some estimates show that receipts could surpass $180 million. Director Jon Favreau's use of state-of-the-art computer wizardry to bring Simba and crew to life, proved controversial among critics. Disney's crown jewel holds a surprisingly soft 59% on Rotten Tomatoes, a steep decline from Favreau's lauded "The Jungle Book," which first introduced the hyper-realistic technology. Still, there's reason to believe "The Lion King" will be critic-proof. For one, negative reviews didn't hurt the box office prospects of Guy Ritchie's "Aladdin" reboot, which is nearing $1 billion in global ticket sales. Moreover, Simba's multi-generational coming-of-age tale is familiar to just about everyone on the planet. The Tony-winning musical stage adaptation has also been a massive moneymaker over the last 20 years, grossing over $8 billion and counting. "The Lion King" also boasts some serious star power. Disney commissioned an A-list cast to bring "The Lion King" back to the big screen, including the likes of Donald Glover as Simba, Beyonce as Nala, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scar, and Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen as Timon and Pumbaa. James Earl Jones is reprising his voice role as Mufasa from the original animated movie. The chance to hear Childish Gambino and Beyonce harmonize on "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" could be a compelling enough reason to buy a movie ticket. The movie debuted in China with a mighty $54 million last weekend, pacing ahead of the studio's recent remakes such as "The Jungle Book," "Beauty and the Beast" and "Aladdin;" it launches across the globe in most international markets this weekend, followed by Hong Kong on July 25, Japan on Aug. 9 and Italy on Aug. 21. Only three of Disney's live-action titles, outside of its "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise, have grossed over $100 million in their inaugural weekend in theaters - 2017's "Beauty and the Beast" ($174 million), 2016's "The Jungle Book" ($103 million), and 2010's "Alice in Wonderland" ($116 million). "The Lion King" is the third and final of the studio's revisits to its classic properties this year. Tim Burton's "Dumbo" ended its theatrical run with $351 million worldwide, a ho-hum performance if only by Disney's standards. "Aladdin," however, is still chugging along at multiplexes with an impressive $962 million to date.

[edgar]

Instead of designing a camera move in the computer, a film crew wearing VR headsets and operating virtual cameras could actually "stand" in the environment with the animals and choose the best location for each camera angle.