History Trivia / TheLionKing1994

* ScienceMarchesOn: Rafiki is a mandrill, albeit an inaccurately portrayed one, that is referred to as a baboon. Today, mandrills are classified under the Mandrillus genus rather than the Papio genus.

** Jonathan Taylor Thomas had his back tapped when recording his shouts for the elephant graveyard scene, specifically the part where Simba and Nala ride down an elephant's vertebrae.

* LimitedSpecialCollectorsUltimateEdition: In 2014, the year of ''The Lion King'''s [[MilestoneCelebration 20th anniversary]], Walt Disney Records released a 2-Disc version of the soundtrack, to kick off the high-end Legacy Collection line. Contents include remastered versions of seven songs from the movie, the complete score available legally for the first time, some instrumental demos, Elton John's pop versions of some ''TLK'' tunes, and two songs not included in the original theatrical cut [[note]] the CutSong "Warthog Rhapsody", and "The Morning Report", a number transferred from the Broadway musical to the movie's 2003 Platinum Edition DVD and VHS, then removed again for the 2011 3D conversion[[/note]], all packaged inside a digibook of concept art, lyrics, and production notes from Don Hahn.

* TheOtherDarrin: When it was apparent that Jeremy Irons wouldn't be able to hit the high notes near the end of "Be Prepared", Creator/JimCummings stepped in to record the last verse. Only trained ears can hear the difference.

* WordOfSaintPaul: Timon and Pumbaa's [=VAs=] consider them to be a gay couple.
** Jim Cummings (voice of Ed), believes Ed is [[ObfuscatingStupidity faking his stupidity.]]
*** Likewise, Alex Kupershmidt -- co-supervising animator (with Dave Burgess) of all three main hyenas -- has stated that "[T]he directors treated Ed as a guy who knew the score, but pretended to be an idiot, and that's basically how I treated him."

* AFIS100Years100Songs: "Hakuna Matata"
* AFIS10Top10: #4, Animation

** "He Lives In You" was originally meant to be included in the original movie, but was cut and wound up being released as the first track of ''[[https://lionking.fandom.com/wiki/Rhythm_of_the_Pride_Lands Rhythm of the Pride Lands]]'', before being [[RefittedForSequel used (in abbreviated form) as the opening song of]] ''[[WesternAnimation/TheLionKingIISimbasPride Simba's Pride]]''. However, it is retained in the Broadway adaptation.

* CutSong: The [=DVDs=] have a couple of scrapped songs:
** Mufasa was to have an upbeat song early in the film called "To Be King" in which he sang about his responsibilities as king, with Zazu pumping up the perks of being king. It was cut because it was deemed out-of-character for the dignified Mufasa. It was partially revisited for ''The Lion Guard''.

** There was an unused DarkReprise of "Be Prepared" sung after Scar tells the pride of Mufasa's death.
** "Warthog Rhapsody", which was ultimately replaced by "Hakuna Matata." Later, it was reworked for the midquel, as "That's All I Need."
** A "work in progress" trailer that was attached to the beginning of the Walt Disney Classics VHS of ''WesternAnimation/TheFoxAndTheHound'' had a snippet of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5fyGO2YczY a different version of "Can You Feel The Love Tonight"]]. Unfortunately, only a few of these songs made it onto the extra features of the Platinum Edition DVD and the Diamond Edition Blu-ray/DVD combo pack. KeepCirculatingTheTapes indeed.

** "He Lives In You" was originally meant to be included in the original movie, but was cut and wound up being released as the first track of ''[[https://lionking.fandom.com/wiki/Rhythm_of_the_Pride_Lands Rhythm of the Pride Lands]]'', before being [[RefittedForSequel used (in abbreviated form) as the opening song of the second movie]]. However, it is retained in the Broadway adaptation.

* DVDCommentary: The Deluxe [=LaserDisc=] includes one by directors Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, and producer Don Hahn, the first commentary ever provided for a Disney Canon film. It has since accompanied the movie again on almost all of its subsequent home video re-releases, starting with the 2003 Platinum Edition.

* QuoteSource: This film provides the page quote for:

* ReferencedBy: [[ReferencedBy/TheLionKing1994 See this page.]]

!!Movie:

* ImageSource:
** AlwaysChaoticEvil
** BattleAmongstTheFlames
** TheDogBitesBack
** ElephantGraveyard
** EvilEyebrows (middle)
** HakunaMatata
** TheHyena
** OhCrap
** PleaseWakeUp

!The Movie:

** It's worth noting that it took ''The Lion King'' several rewrites to find its story and tone, whereas ''Pocahontas'' was based on a confusing mix of folklore and history that was already deeply ingrained in the public imagination, so the crew behind the latter film had a clear idea of what it was going to be like from the very beginning. Not to mention, ''Pocahontas'' was considered to have the greatest dramatic potential for its central message of interracial tolerance.

* NonSingingVoice: Simba and Nala have separate actors for their speaking and singing voices, both young and adult [[note]]A particularly bizarre decision in the case of Broderick who is a renowned Broadway performer[[/note]]. Jeremy Irons sings some of Scar's lyrics, but partway through, the harsher lyrics were replaced by that of Creator/JimCummings, since Irons couldn't sing the more demanding parts after [[ItMakesSenseInContext "YOU WON'T GET A SNIFF WITHOUT ME!"]] line in "[[VillainSong Be Prepared]]", [[JustifiedTrope resulting in]] Cummings subbing for him.

* TheOtherMarty: Creator/MatthewBroderick was cast as adult Simba early during production, and during the three years of voice acting only recorded with another actor once, and only discovered Creator/MoiraKelly voiced Nala at the premiere.

* CharacterSpecificPages:
** [[Characters/TheLionKingSimba Simba]]
** [[Characters/TheLionKingScar Scar]]

** Sarabi had a lullaby called "The Lion In The Moon". She sang it to Simba after he came home from the elephant graveyard afraid.

* DVDCommentary: The Deluxe [=LaserDisc=] includes one by Roger Allers, Rob Minkoff, and Don Hahn, the first commentary ever provided for an animated Disney movie. It accompanied ''TLK'' again on almost all of its subsequent home video re-releases.

* NonSingingVoice: Simba and Nala have separate actors for their speaking and singing voices, both young and adult. Jeremy Irons sings some of Scar's lyrics, but partway through, the harsher lyrics were replaced by that of Creator/JimCummings, since Irons couldn't sing the more demanding parts after [[ItMakesSenseInContext "YOU WON'T GET A SNIFF WITHOUT ME!"]] line in "[[VillainSong Be Prepared]]", [[JustifiedTrope resulting in]] Cummings subbing for him.

* CreatorBacklash: This happened before the movie even came out! Despite being credited as one of the people behind it, Jeffrey Katzenberg clearly favoured ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'' more so than ''The Lion King'' that when a large amount of ''Pocahontas'' animators jumped ship to work on ''The Lion King'' instead, Katzenberg campaigned to have production on this film shut down completely, before ultimately deciding to give it a fair shake (though he was convinced until the end that ''Pocahontas'' would be much more successful). [[note]] It's worth noting that it took ''The Lion King'' several rewrites to find its story and tone, whereas ''Pocahontas'' was based on a confusing mix of folklore and history that was already deeply ingrained in the public imagination, so the crew behind the latter film had a clear idea of what it was going to be like from the very beginning. Not to mention, ''Pocahontas'' was considered to have the greatest dramatic potential for its central message of interracial tolerance.[[/note]]

* ScrewedByTheLawyers: A ''Lion King Timon and Pumbaa'' coloring book from 1996 got plagiarized and produced as a ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' predecessor in 2011 in an attempt to defraud Katzenberg's other studio and ''Panda'' copyright holder Creator/DreamWorksAnimation; when they found the original book, it sunk that attempt and got the person behind it [[http://deadline.com/2015/12/kung-fu-panda-indictment-fraud-perjury-dreamworks-animation-1201671213/ charged with fraud]] and [[http://www.cartoonbrew.com/law/fake-kung-fu-panda-creator-convicted-fraud-faces-25-years-prison-145156.html ultimately convicted]]. In addition, Disney could possibly sue the man for [[SerialNumbersFiledOff plagiarizing one of their works directly]], which they've always frowned on (DWA and co-defendant Paramount declined an option to countersue the man as part of a settlement agreement, but the final sentencing judgment forced the man, Jayme Gordon, to pay back the millions [=DreamWorks=] Animation had spent in legal bills). [[note]] Gordon tried to write his original "copyrights" for before ''The Lion King'' had even hit theaters, when Frank Wells was still alive, and when Katzenberg was still very much employed by Disney. [[/note]]

** SurroundedByIdiots

** "Warthog Rhapsody", which was the original Hakuna Matata and was reworked for the midquel.
** A "work in progress" trailer that was attached to the beginning of Disney's ''WesternAnimation/TheFoxAndTheHound'' Walt Disney Classics video had a snippet of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5fyGO2YczY a different version of "Can You Feel The Love Tonight"]], which the ''Lion King'' Deluxe Laserdisc included in its entirety. Unfortunately, only a few of these songs made it onto the extra features of the Platinum Edition DVD and the Diamond Edition Blu-ray/DVD combo pack. KeepCirculatingTheTapes indeed.

** "He Lives In You" was originally meant to be included in the original movie, but was cut and wound up being released as the first track of [[https://lionking.fandom.com/wiki/Rhythm_of_the_Pride_Lands ''Rhythm of the Pride Lands'']], before being [[RefittedForSequel used (in abbreviated form) as the opening song of the second movie]]. However, it is retained in the Broadway adaptation.

* AllStarCast:
** The film that started the trend of hiring [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters a slew]] of name actors for an animated film rather than less well-known voiceover specialists. Though it is not [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie the first]] to do so, it ''is'' the most successful movie in the Disney animated canon for a ''reason'' and this was a big part of it. In all, you have Creator/MatthewBroderick and Jonathan Taylor Thomas[[note]]who was one of the biggest child actors at the time[[/note]] as Simba, Creator/JamesEarlJones as Mufasa, Creator/JeremyIrons as Scar, Moira Kelly as Nala, Creator/NathanLane as Timon, Creator/RowanAtkinson as Zazu, Creator/WhoopiGoldberg as Shenzi, and Cheech Marin as Banzai.
** While the Latin American Spanish dub primarily uses professional voice actors for the characters, singer Kalimba Marichal provided young Simba's singing voice.
** In the Japanese dub, Pumbaa is voiced by theater actor Atomu Kobayashi, who reprised the role in the Japanese version of the musical.

* CreatorBacklash: This happened before the movie even came out! Despite being credited as one of the people behind it, Jeffrey Katzenberg clearly favoured ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'' more so than ''The Lion King'' that when a large amount of ''Pocahontas'' animators jumped ship to work on ''The Lion King'' instead, Katzenberg campaigned to have production on this film shut down completely, before ultimately deciding to give it a fair shake (though he was convinced until the end that ''Pocahontas'' would be much more successful). [[note]] It's worth noting that it took ''The Lion King'' several rewrites to find its story and tone, whereas ''Pocahontas'' was based on a confusing mix of folklore and history that was already deeply ingrained in the public imagination, so the crew behind the latter film had a clear idea of what it was going to be like from the very beginning. Not to mention, ''Pocahontas'' was considered to have the greatest dramatic potential for its central message of interracial tolerance.

* LimitedSpecialCollectorsUltimateEdition: In 2014, the year of ''The Lion King'''s [[MilestoneCelebration 20th anniversary]], Walt Disney Records released a 2-Disc version of the soundtrack, to kick off the high-end Legacy Collection line. Contents include remastered versions of seven songs from the movie, the complete score available legally for the first time, some instrumental demos, Elton John's pop versions of some ''TLK'' tunes, and two songs not included in the original theatrical cut[[note]]the CutSong "Warthog Rhapsody", and "The Morning Report", a number transferred from the Broadway musical to the movie's 2003 Platinum Edition DVD and VHS, then removed again for the 2011 3D conversion[[/note]], all packaged inside a digibook of concept art, lyrics, and production notes from Don Hahn.

* ActingForTwo: Creator/JimCummings as Ed and the gopher. He also does Scar's last verse in "Be Prepared" after Jeremy Irons' voice gave out.

* CreatorBacklash: This happened before the movie even came out! Despite being credited as one of the people behind it, Jeffrey Katzenberg clearly favoured ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'' more so than ''The Lion King'' that when a large amount of ''Pocahontas'' animators jumped ship to work on ''The Lion King'' instead, Katzenberg campaigned to have production on this film shut down completely. [[note]] It's worth noting that it took ''The Lion King'' several rewrites to find its story and tone, whereas ''Pocahontas'' was based on a confusing mix of folklore and history that was already deeply ingrained in the public imagination, so the crew behind the latter film had a clear idea of what it was going to be like from the very beginning. Not to mention, ''Pocahontas'' was considered to have the greatest dramatic potential for its central message of interracial tolerance.

*** Likewise, Alex Kupershmidt -- co-supervising animator (with Dave Burgess) of all three main hyenas -- has stated that "[T]he directors treated Ed as a guy who know the score, but pretended to be an idiot, and that's basically how I treated him."

** "He Lives In You" was originally meant to be included in the original movie, but was cut and wound up being released as the first track of [[https://lionking.fandom.com/wiki/Rhythm_of_the_Pride_Lands Rhythm of the Pride Lands]], before being [[RefittedForSequel used (in abbreviated form) as the opening song of the second movie]]. However, it is retained in the Broadway adaptation.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Rafiki is a mandrill, albeit an inaccurately portrayed one, that is referred to as a baboon. Today mandrills are classified under the Mandrillus genus rather than the Papio genus.

** "He Lives In You" was originally meant to be included in the original movie, but was cut and wound up being released as the first track of [[https://lionking.fandom.com/wiki/Rhythm_of_the_Pride_Lands Rhythm of the Pride Lands]], before [[RefittedForSequel used (in abbreviated form) as the opening song of the second movie]]. However, it is retained in the Broadway adaptation.