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Synopsis

In this film, the animals arrive to celebrate the birth of a new cub, Simba, the future king. But Scar, another lion with a dark mane, also known as Mufasa's brother, is first in line. The next morning, Mufasa shows Simba that everything the light touches is their kingdom. But, he isn't able to go to the elephant graveyard. Zazu comes over and tells Mufasa his morning report, until he finds out that the hyenas are invading the Pridelands, so Mufasa orders him to take Simba home. When Simba visits Scar, he accidently tells him his secret. Hearing this, Simba tells it to his best friend Nala, but in order to get himself out of trouble, he says "around the water hole". But he wouldn't tell it completely, until he and Nala get there. Sarabi thinks it's okay for them, as long as Zazu is with them. Simba gets in a huge excitement that he would dream to be King of Pride Rock. Eventually, he and Nala lose Zazu and they end up in the elephant graveyard. There, they meet the hyenas, Shenzi, Banzai and Ed. They chase Simba and Nala in order to eat them, until Mufasa attacks them and scares them away. He glares at Simba for disobeying him. Later that night, they look up at the stars, where the great kings of the past would look down on them. Meanwhile, Scar and the hyenas hatch a plan to kill Mufasa and Simba, so that Scar could be king. The next day, Scar reminds Simba to work on his little roar. When he does so, a herd of wildebeests appears, creating a stampede. They chase Simba. Mufasa then appears to rescue him, but then gets knocked into the stampede. He then jumps up and tries to climb to safety, but Scar pushes him down. As Simba watches his father die, he tries to lift him up, but it's no use. Scar tells Simba to run away and never return, then orders the hyenas to kill him. They chase him again, only this time, to a patch of thorns. Again, they fail. While Scar claims the throne, Simba is in the hot sun, getting fed by buzzards. A meerkat and warthog (also known as Timon and Pumbaa) find him, and they teach him a new lesson -- Hakuna Matata, or no worries. Simba becomes a grown-up lion, and remembers what his father told him. The following day, Pumbaa gets chased by a lioness. Simba realizes that she's Nala, and they fall in love. Nala is worried about him at first because the Pridelands are ruined -- no food, no water. But Simba refuses to go back, until Rafiki tells him that Mufasa is alive. He is led to a reflecting pool, then the ghost of Mufasa appears, telling Simba that he should go take his place in the Circle of Life. He obeys, and finds out that Nala was right. Timon and Pumbaa would also help him. When Simba and Scar finally face each other, Simba admits that his father's death was his fault... until Scar tells him that he lied, and that he killed Mufasa. A fierce battle begins between the lionesses and the hyenas, then between Simba and Scar for the throne. Simba wins, and he becomes the new king. As this happens, Pride Rock regenerates, and Simba and Nala have a newborn cub.

Cast

Character's name Voiced by
Simba Matthew Broderick
Young Simba Jonathan Taylor Thomas
Nala Moira Kelly
Young Nala Niketa Calame
Mufasa James Earl Jones
Scar Jeremy Irons
Sarabi Madge Sinclair
Timon Nathan Lane
Pumbaa Ernie Sabella
Rafiki Robert Guillaume
Zazu Rowan Atkinson
Shenzi Whoopi Goldberg
Banzai Cheech Marin
Ed Jim Cummings
Sarafina Zoe Leader

In Other Languages

Language Title
Français Le Roi lion
Español El Rey León
Português O Rei Leão
Deutsch Der König der Löwen
Italiano
Nederlands
Dansk
Norsk Løvenes konge
Suomi Leijonakuningas
Svenska Lejonkungen
Polski Król Lew
Türkçe
Magyar
Čeština
Română
Slovenčina Leví kráľ
Ελληνικά
Japanese ライオン・キング
Korean 라이온킹
Chinese (中文) 獅子王
Chinese (粵語)
Thai เดอะ ไลอ้อนคิง

Production timeline

The Lion King was the first animated feature to be an original story instead of being based on work that already existed.

  • 1991: Initially, the original director was George Scribner, later joined by Roger Allers.
  • April 1992: Rob Minkoff became another director, replacing George Scribner.
  • June 1992: Irene Mecchi joined the crew as screenwriter for The Lion King.
  • November 12, 1993: With only 1/3 of the film completed, a trailer of it was attached to The Three Musketeers (1993).

Release timeline

Format Country of origin Date
Early sneak preview USA October 1, 1993
Teaser trailer USA November 12, 1993
Theatrical trailer USA April 1994
Original theatrical USA June 24, 1994[1]
Original theatrical UK October 7, 1994
Re-issue in theaters USA November 18, 1994
Re-issue in theaters Chile December 16, 1994
VHS USA March 3, 1995
VHS Brazil April 1995
VHS South Korea May 2, 1995
VHS Japan July 28, 1995
VHS Chile September 1, 1995
VHS USA (Spanish dub) September 13, 1995
Laserdisc USA September 19, 1995
VHS UK September 20, 1995
VHS France October 20, 1995
IMAX version USA December 25, 2002
IMAX version Chile September 20, 2003
DVD South Korea October 1, 2003
DVD USA October 7, 2003
DVD UK October 31, 2003
DVD Chile November 28, 2003
DVD Australia February 21, 2004
Trailer for Diamond Edition Worldwide July 29, 2010
Trailer for the 3D re-release USA May 26, 2011
3D re-release in theaters USA September 16, 2011
3D re-release in theaters Chile October 1, 2011
Blu-ray Disc USA October 4, 2011
Blu-ray Disc Chile November 25, 2011
Digital HD USA August 15, 2017
Blu-Ray & DVD USA August 29, 2017
4K UHD USA December 4, 2018
Disney+ USA November 12, 2019

Home video timeline

Main article: Home video timeline for The Lion King series


Availability on Disney+

Audio Subtitles
Chinese (中文/简体) Y Y
Chinese (中文/繁體) Y Y
Chinese (粵語) Y Y
Dansk Y Y
Deutsch Y Y
English Y Y
Español Y Y
Español (Latinoamérica) Y Y
Français R R
Français (Canada) N N
Italiano Y Y
Magyar Y Y
Nederlands R R
Norsk Y Y
Polski Y Y
Português Y Y
Português (Brasil) Y Y
Română Y Y
Slovenčina Y Y
Suomi Y Y
Svenska Y Y
Türkçe Y Y
Íslenska Y Y
Čeština Y Y
Ελληνικά Y Y
Japanese Y Y
Korean Y Y

NOTE: This is the last Disney animated film in which Québec uses the European French dub.

Weblinks

The complete script was uploaded in HTML format to The Lion King WWW Archive in Spring 1997, and includes screenshots and sound clips of the film, all captured from the laserdisc and VHS prints.

Gallery

Screenshots

Videos

The_Lion_King_3D_Trailer_2011_NEW

The Lion King 3D Trailer 2011 NEW

The_Lion_King_Trailer

The Lion King Trailer

Rankings

Rank of worldwide release 33
Rank of release in North America 32
Rank of release on VHS worldwide 30
Rank of release on VHS in North America 28
Rank of release on DVD worldwide 53
Rank of release on DVD in North America 51
Rank of release on Blu-ray and/or Digital HD worldwide 54
Rank of release on Blu-ray and/or Digital HD in North America 53

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