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

[carl]

The song "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" has a sad irony to it. Simba sings it the day before Mufasa dies, making Simba the official king of the Pride Lands.

[carl]

Adult Simba's mane was supposedly inspired by Jon Bon Jovi's hair.

[frederick]

The highest grossing film of 1994 worldwide and the second highest in the U.S. behind Forrest Gump (1994).

[kim]

Nathan Lane plays the character Timon in this movie. Timon is the vegetable known as cucumber which is in Malay in Malaysia.

[chris]

When writer Irene Mecchi came on board, she was told that the story pitch was "Bambi (1942) in Africa meets Hamlet (1990)", or "Bamlet", as she termed it.

[michele]

Though playing uncle and nephew, Scar's voice actor Jeremy Irons is only 14 years older than Simba's voice actor Matthew Broderick.

[veronica]

Timon riding Pumbaa out of a desert mirage in a manner very reminiscent of Don Quixote.

[edgar]

This the only Disney film along with the remake in which two brothers die namely Mufusa and Scar. Iconically while Mufusa goes to heaven Scar ends up in Hell. The hyenas even have faces that resemble Satan before they kill Scar to further support this.

[riley]

James Caan, Robert Duvall, and Ray Liotta were considered for the role of Scar.

[ken]

Liam Neeson and Timothy Dalton were both considered for the role of Mufasa, but later turned it down, though Neeson would later voice a lion in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) and its sequels and Dalton would later have a role in a Disney film in Toy Story 3 (2010) and Toy Story 4 (2019).

[tammy]

Pumbaa's flatulence is actually Ernie Sabella zerberting on his hand (pressing his mouth on his hand and creating the sound). Sabella jokingly stated once that he is proud to be the first Disney character to express flatulence.

[kyle]

Rafiki is the only character to not have an American or British accent, and has an accent native to the film's setting in Africa (though he is voiced by an American actor, being Robert Guillaume) and sometimes speaks the African language Swahii.

[amber]

Premiered at the famed Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

[alyssa]

An alternate version of "Can You Feel the Love Tonight", a comic version to be sung by Timon and Pumbaa was storyboarded and even recorded, but never used. Elton John and Tim Rice were a little shocked when they saw that the producers originally intended to have their (eventual) Oscar-winning love ballad "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" as a duet between Timon and Pumbaa. This was changed, but Timon and Pumbaa still got to sing the final verse of the song.

[melinda]

The original concept for the production design was to stylize the backgrounds to invoke the colorful and graphic nature of African fabric patterns and tribal art. However, this gave the film an overly stylized quality so the production team then opted for the epic, mystical feel that we see in the film today.

[ken]

It is implied Nala is pregnant during the clima, as she and Simba mate during 'Can you feel the love tonight' and their cub is seen at the end of the film.

[bernard]

For The Lion King (1994)'s first film trailer, Disney opted to feature a single scene, the entire opening sequence with the song "Circle of Life". Buena Vista Pictures Distribution president Dick Cook said the decision was made for such an approach because "we were all so taken by the beauty and majesty of this piece that we felt like it was probably one of the best four minutes of film that we've seen", and Don Hahn added that "Circle of Life" worked as a trailer as it "came off so strong, and so good, and ended with such a bang". The trailer was released in November 1993, accompanying The Three Musketeers (1993) in theaters, as only a third of "The Lion King" had been completed. Audience reaction was overwhelmingly enthusiastic, causing Hahn to have some initial concerns as he became afraid of not living up to the expectations raised by the preview. Disney would, then, also follow a similar pattern for Pocahontas (1995), as they've selected the entire song of "Colors of the Wind" to be the highlight of the film's first theatrical trailer.

[gabriel]

The sixth animated film to use dust after Watership Down (1978), The Secret of NIMH (1982), The Land Before Time (1988), All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989), and Ferngully the Last Rainforest (1992).

[bernice]

The first of two times where James Earl Jones voices a Disney movie. He would do so again in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016).