Films & Shows

The Lion King First premiered in the theatres of New York and Los Angeles on June 17th, 1994 and June 24th, 1994 in North America. It was released on VHS on June 24th, 1994. The Lion King was based on the Shakespearean play, Hamlet.

The Story

It is the story of Simba, a lion cub who "Just Can't Wait to Be King" by taking over in his father, King Mufasa's place. Scar, Simba's evil uncle who has just come up with a plan with the hyenas to overthrow the present King. This plan, of course also happens include Simba. So one day Scar leads Simba to the bottom of a gorge and tells him to wait for his father's surprise, which Scar then explains to him that "It's to Die For.." Suddenly a loud cry of hoofbeats signals Simba that a large group stampeding wildebeests are trampling towards him. As he rushes and clings to a branch of a plain rotted tree, Scar runs to the King and tells Mufasa that Simba is down in the gorge with a herd of stampeding wildebeests. His father of course, not wanting to lose a son, rushes to his grave trying to save Simba and himself. Simba runs away shortly after Scar tells him that it's all Simba's fault, which of course is not true. After fleeing from the Pride Lands, Simba is saved by Timon the meerkat and Pumbaa the warthog from a group evil buzzards that wanted enjoy a warm meal. Scar on the other paw, becomes King of the Pride Lands and unites the hyenas to live with the other lionesses. The lionesses are forced to overhunt because of the hyenas. When there are no food left to be found, everyone is starting to emaciate, but Scar forces the lionesses to look harder. Simba, after the death of his father is heartbroken because he believes he had caused it. Everything gets better after Timon and Pumbaa become best pals with Simba and teaches him the ways of "Hakuna Matata", which of course means "no worries". Now, when Simba has all grown up, his cubhood friend Nala who was searching for help had found him in the jungle. Simba now has a full grown mane and Nala had also lost her cubhood and is now a full grown lioness. Their past friendship has now secretly unraveled into love. Nala, of course does not know what had happened in his past, tells Simba that he must now return to Pride Rock or everyone will starve and die a painful death. Simba refuses, but does not tell her why. Simba then remembers what his father told him about "The Great Kings of The Past" live up in the starry skies of the night. He seeks his father but fails. Then suddenly... "Asante Sana, Squash Banana, We-we Nugu, Mi mi Apana", a voice cried out. The voice was from no one but a baboon named Rafiki, a mystical shaman. The wise old monkey leads Simba to a watering hole and shows him his father. "You see, he lives in you". A wind blew through the soft grass as the form of a once majestic King takes shape in the clouds above. "Remember who you are". It was no one but his father. With a swing of his walking stick from Rafiki and some courage, Simba decides to face his past. As he arrives in the Pride Lands, his friends joined him shortly after. He meets his rival once again; Scar struck Sarabi, Simba's mother, as Simba makes his way to the bottom, he meets his mother and Scar. Simba tells Scar to step down from the throne, but he refuses, this time because of the hyenas still think he's the King. Scar reminds Simba of Mufasa's Death, this time he mentions who was responsible in front of the lionesses. Scar backs Simba up until he hangs on his forepaws off the promontory of Pride Rock. His uncle then then claims that himself had killed his own brother. He thought it was too late but, yet again, he was wrong. Simba lept up and pounced on Scar; he made Scar admit he was the one that really killed Mufasa. As the hyenas attacked Simba, the lionesses atacked the hyenas. Meanwhile Timon and Pumbaa were also doing their share of driving off the hyenas. Scar struck Simba and Simba struck Scar, they both did not expect of what will happen next. Scar lept for Simba, but Simba threw his uncle over the side of Pride Rock using a signature flip Nala has used on him earlier.Simba won, he overthrew his uncle. Simba is now the King. He came down and nuzzled his mother and his betrothed, Nala. Yet again Rafiki had appeared, he greatly appreciated the warm hug Simba gave him. "It is Time". Simba slowly paced his way up to the tip of Pride Rock and let out a heart shaking roar. The lionesses also joined him shortly thereafter. The clouds cleared and a clear familiar voice heard above all others. "Remember".

 

 

The Musical

The Lion King was not intended to be a Broadway musical that is being featured in five countries internationally. It is starred in the U.S.A., United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, and Australia. Canada used to be on this list, but sadly the cast performed their last show in Toronto at the Princess of Wales Theatre at the end of January of 2004.With 1,500 performances over 3 1/2 years over in front of 2.9 million people. It is a spectacular show and is almost always sold out. The costumes are so different yet so real. If you are able to see it, you should. It is wonderful.

"You see kids' faces, you see adults' faces when those animals walk through the theater at the beginning of the show and you're blown away. I get goose bumps thinking about it now."

-Sir Elton John, Song Composer

"Leaps of fantasy is something we try to do in animated films, and something surely that Julie Taymor did on the stage."

-Don Hahn, Producer of Animated Feature

 

More Pictures in the Posters and Miscellaneous Pictures Sections

 

 

 

The Lion King Special Edition opened to IMAX theatres worldwide on December 25th, 2002 and was released on DVD and VHS on October 2003.

The Lion King Special Edition

 

The Lion King Platinum Edition DVD Root Menu

 

The Lion King Special Edition was a remake of the original feature. It included a new song, "The Morning Report" which was inspired by "The Lion King" Broadway musical. It was redrawn and fixed up frame by frame just in time for the 8th anniversary of the first release (not really, actually 8 years and 6 months). They invited back the original animators for the animation of "The Morning Report" and to touch up the movie. Below are some of the differences from the 1994 version and the 2002 Special Edition. The 1994 pictures are not as wide as the Special Edition because the VHS does not have the widescreen feature, whereas the Special Edition DVD does.

 

1994: Before touch up

2002: After touch up

1994: Notice the giant leaves blocking the view on the right and the top left corner

2002: Et voila! Gone!

 

 

The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride was released on VHS( and DVD) on October 27th, 1998. I am unsure about the DVD release date, but I think it is around 1998-2000. The Lion King 2 was based on the Shakespearean play, Romeo and Juliet.

The Lion King II: Simba's Pride

 

With the success of the previous movie, Disney decided to continue with a sequel to The Lion King. The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride was a direct-to-video sequel which meant that it was not shown in theatres, but was only available on VHS.

This movie, as commented by the fans of the original "The Lion King", was of poor quality. This is not everyone's opinion, but others. Some people may cherish this movie, and some may not, so please don't be offended.

As you probably know, this sequel is about Simba's daughter and how she met an "outlander", Kovu, to join the pride that Simba had banished, together with his. Kovu, is the descendant of Zira and hand-picked by Scar to follow in his paw-prints to be King of Pride Rock. Kiara, on the other paw, does not want be queen and wants to go somewhere where she could take care of herself.

I really liked the cover design, but I thought Simba's mane was weirdly drawn in the movie. I actually liked the powerful song, "One of Us" as you can hear the heart-pounding music, more of a nice African beat to it.

 

The Lion King 1 1/2 was released onto VHS and DVD on February 10th, 2004

The Lion King 1 1/2 and

The Lion King 3: Hakuna Matata

The Lion King 3: Hakuna Matata on DVD and VHS on February 16th, 2004

 

The "interquel" known as The Lion King 1 1/2 and The Lion King 3: Hakuna Matata is the Timon and Pumbaa's side of the story of the famous prequel: The Lion King.

Once again we enter the world of Shakespeare, something called "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead" which is a modernized play based on Hamlet from the main characters' perspective, which of course is what The Lion King 1 1/2 (3) is of The Lion King.

The movie had some flaws and some bad animation, mostly because this movie was made by DisneyToons Studio in Australia, with no animators from the original "The Lion King" (I think). Maybe the cause was that because Timon and Pumbaa are telling the story from their perspective, which may not be always true.

Note: It will onliy be called "The Lion King 1 1/2" in North America and "The Lion King 3: Hakuna Matata" everywhere else.

The Lion King 1 1/2 DVD cover as sold in Canada

The Lion King 1 1/2 DVD root menu

 

 

 

 

This page was last revised on February 22nd, 2004