The Lion King Simba is given some valuable perspective from his childhood friend, Nala, and his shaman, Rafiki, before returning to challenge Scar to end his tyranny and take his place in the Circle of Life as the rightful King. Development of "The Lion King" began in 1988 during a meeting between Jeffrey Katzenberg, Roy E. Disney, and Peter Schneider while promoting "Oliver & Company" in Europe. Thomas Disch wrote a film treatment, and Woolverton developed the first scripts, while George Scribner was signed on as director, being later joined by Allers. Production began in 1991 concurrently with "Pocahontas", which wound up attracting
The Lion King (2019 film) featured in the original film. On September 28, 2016, Walt Disney Pictures confirmed that Jon Favreau would be directing a remake of the 1994 animated film "The Lion King", which would feature the songs from the 1994 film, following a string of recent box office successes on the other Disney remake films such as "Maleficent", "Cinderella", Favreau's "The Jungle Book" and "Beauty and the Beast" with the latter three also earning critical praise. Later on October 13, it was reported that Disney had hired Jeff Nathanson to write the screenplay for the remake, with the story written by Brenda Chapman.