The Lion King
Top Links
trailers and videosfull cast and crewtriviaofficial sitesmemorable quotes
main detailscombined detailsfull cast and crewcompany credits
Awards & Reviews
user reviewsexternal reviewsawardsuser ratingsparents guidemessage board
Plot & Quotes
plot summarysynopsisplot keywordsmemorable quotes
Did You Know?
triviagoofssoundtrack listingcrazy creditsalternate versionsmovie connectionsFAQ
Other Info
box office/businessrelease datesfilming locationstechnical specsliterature listingsNewsDesk
taglines trailers and videos posters photo gallery
External Links
showtimesofficial sitesmiscellaneousphotographssound clipsvideo clips
Visit our FAQ Help to learn more

FAQ Contents

A Note Regarding Spoilers



No. The Lion King is an animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and its story was written by numerous Disney storywriters, with its screenplay written prominently by Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, and Linda Woolverton. They confirmed that the story was influenced by the Shakespearean plays Hamlet and Richard III, the Biblical stories of Moses and Joseph, as well as by Disney classic Bambi (1942).

In the real lion world, male lions can have dark manes, some of them even turning black, due to age or genetics. However, Scar was Mufasa's younger brother, and Mufasa doesn't have a darker mane so most viewers conclude that Scar was given a black mane so as to distinguish him as the evil lion, rather like the bad cowboy always wearing a black hat. In actuality, Scar and Mufasa were not originally designed to be related. In early drafts of the script, Scar was a rogue lion and not Mufasa's brother. They look different because their relation was added later but their original designs were kept.

Male lions maintain a pride of female lions, young males, and cubs. When the young males reach adulthood, they are chased out of the pride by the adult males. In each pride, it is the females who do the hunting, and they usually stay with their birth prides their whole lives. It is not uncommon for two males (who may or may not be related) to protect a pride. Some prides even have three or more males, in which case the males are almost always related or grew up together. Male lions without lionesses often form "bachelor prides" of about 3-5 and attempt to win lionesses from other males. In a real lion pride, Mufasa and Scar likely would have ruled equally.

How does the movie end?

With help from Rafiki, Simba sees Mufasa in a vision. Mufasa convinces Simba to return to Pride Rock and take his place in the circle of life. Simba finds that the land is as Nala described it -- barren and black, thanks to Scar having turned it over to the hyenas. While Timon and Pumbaa distract the hyenas, Simba and Nala sneak past. Simba locates Scar and, while watching from behind a rock, Simba sees Scar reprimanding Sarabi for not bringing back any food. Angered when Scar slaps Sarabi, Simba orders Scar to step down, but Scar makes Simba reveal his role in causing Mufasa's death. Scar backs Simba against the cliff edge until Simba is hanging with only his front paws keeping him from falling into a fire that has been started below from a strike of lightning. Scar then boasts about how he did the same thing to Mufasa, causing him to fall to his death. Simba rallies his strength and leaps on Scar. The hyenas leap on Simba while the lionesses, led by Nala and Sarabi, leap on Scar. An all-out fight between lions and hyenas breaks out, resulting in Simba and Scar at each others' throats. The hyenas overhear Scar telling Simba that it was all the fault of the hyenas, so they turn on Scar, killing him. As rain starts to put out the fire, Simba hugs Rafiki and climbs to the top of Pride Rock where he lets out a loud roar. In the final scene, lushness has returned to the land and the herds have come back. Simba and Nala nuzzle each other, and Rafiki presents them with their new lion cub.

The Morning Report is a song that was featured in the Broadway version of The Lion King but not included in the movie. It describes the life in the pride lands for Simba and Mufasa. The song appears on the special edition version, and it is written by the original songwriters, Sir Elton John and Tim Rice.

In the scene where Simba and his father go to the grassland and Zazu flies to them to tell them his morning report, additional footage with music was added. Since it was not possible to integrate the footage into the scene seamlessly some changes had to be made. The Special Edition runs approx. 43 seconds longer than the Theatrical Version. A detailed comparison between both versions with pictures can be found here.

Several, actually. Probably the biggest difference is that the character of Rafiki is changed to a female in the Broadway version. This is because the producers felt there weren't any truly strong female characters in the film. In the musical, most of the scenes are extended and new songs are added. For instance, young Simba and Nala running from the Hyenas is extended, with a new song called "Chow Down" inserted. Additionally, many of the songs from the film are reprised throughout the musical, including Be Prepared. Additionally, the Broadway version has entirely new scenes that never even took place in the film. Amongst these are a scene between Zazu and Mufasa, which implies Zazu was the majordomo to the previous king (Mufasa's father) and that young Mufasa ran off and got into trouble all the time, much like young Simba - this scene also features a humorous moment of Mufasa joking about firing Zazu. Another scene later on involves Scar trying to make Nala his queen, in an effort to gain more respect from the tribe. Some things are changed based on where the play is going on. For instance, when the play is shown in Vegas, Zazu sings an excerpt from Viva Las Vegas while locked in Scar's cage (he sang "It's A Small World" in the original film.)

Page last updated by bj_kuehl, 7 months ago
Top 5 Contributors: bj_kuehl, RJR_37, BlondieActress, Balana, phebtober


Related Links

Plot summary Plot synopsis Parents Guide
Trivia Quotes Goofs
Soundtrack listing Crazy credits Alternate versions
Movie connections User reviews Main details