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122-485: Hyperion Books was founded in 1990 from scratch with no backlist under Disney's then-C.E.O. Michael Eisner and Robert S. Miller. Hyperion's strategy was to not purchase backlists, but to go after newer or lesser known authors and to "capitalize on Disney talent and products." Hyperion Books for Children (HBC) and Disney Press were also launched in 1990. The Disney Publishing Group was incorporated in January 1992 and included

244-555: A Who Framed Roger Rabbit franchise. However, the lackluster success of Disney's Animal Kingdom in the years after its opening, general stagnation in Disney's revenues and various corporate issues and disputes would dampen Eisner's later career. In 1993, Katzenberg had lobbied to become Eisner's second in command, which would have meant moving Frank Wells from president to vice chairman, to which Eisner 'replied that Wells would feel "hurt" in that scenario'. Coincidentally, Wells died in

366-651: A claymation show called Glenn Martin, DDS . He was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 2012. In March 2017, came the revelation that Eisner was interested in a takeover of Portsmouth F.C. , a football club in the south of England that had fallen on hard times after years of poor ownership, before being taken over by its fans. The club released a statement on March 23, 2017, that Eisner and his Tornante Company were in an exclusivity agreement. On August 3, 2017, came confirmation that Eisner and his Tornante Company had completed their purchase for

488-562: A mockumentary style show about his takeover of the Topps Company, called "Back on Topps." In January 2022, he sold Topps to Fanatics following its loss of the Major League Baseball licensing rights. His investment firm has funded the critically acclaimed Netflix series BoJack Horseman . The College of Education at California State University, Northridge is named in his honor. In 2009, Eisner used his own money to produce

610-399: A series of commercial and critical successes . Disney also broadened its adult offerings in film when it acquired Miramax Films in 1993. Under Eisner, Disney acquired many other media sources, including ABC , most of ESPN , Fox Family Channel (now known as Freeform) and The Muppets franchise. The ABC purchase in particular reunited Eisner with his former employer. In the early part of

732-457: A " Bambi in Africa" idea with lions. Katzenberg balked at the idea at first, but nevertheless encouraged Fink and his writers to develop a mythos to explain how lions serviced other animals by eating them. Another anecdote states that the idea was conceived during a conversation between Katzenberg, Roy E. Disney, and Schneider on a flight to Europe during a promotional tour. During the conversation,

854-499: A Hawaiian version; and in 2019 the film Frozen II (2019) was dubbed into Northern Sami , even though Frozen (2013) was not. By 2022, 45 language adaptations of the film had been produced. The special Zulu dubbing was made available on the streaming platform Disney+ in October 2022, together with the Māori dubbing of Moana , and the special Arapaho dubbing of Bambi . Following

976-594: A carefree life under their motto " hakuna matata " ("no worries" in Swahili ). Years later, an adult Simba rescues Timon and Pumbaa from a hungry lioness, who is revealed to be Nala. Simba and Nala fall in love , and she urges him to return home, telling him that the Pride Lands have become drought -stricken under Scar's reign. Still feeling guilty over Mufasa's death, Simba refuses and leaves angrily. He encounters Rafiki, who tells Simba that Mufasa's spirit lives on in him. Simba

1098-414: A composing partner. As Menken was unavailable, the producers accepted Rice's suggestion of Elton John , after Rice's invitation of ABBA fell through due to Benny Andersson 's commitments to the stage musical Kristina från Duvemåla . John expressed an interest in writing "ultra-pop songs that kids would like; then adults can go and see those movies and get just as much pleasure out of them", mentioning

1220-443: A dopey dad instead of [a] grand king". Nathan Lane auditioned for Zazu , and Ernie Sabella for one of the hyenas. Upon meeting at the recording studio, Lane and Sabella – who were starring together in a Broadway production of Guys and Dolls at the time – were asked to record together as hyenas. The directors laughed at their performance and decided to instead cast them as Timon and Pumbaa. For

1342-429: A helicopter crash in 1994. When Eisner did not appoint Katzenberg to Wells' now available post, tensions arose between the two that led to Katzenberg's resignation. At the time, Eisner refused to pay Katzenberg his contractual bonus despite Katzenberg's offer to accept $ 60 million as a settlement, much less than was actually owed. Katzenberg was forced to take the issue to court, who ruled in his favor. The final settlement

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1464-498: A lack of support by Eisner, and left Disney in December 1996, via a "no fault termination" with a severance package of $ 38 million in cash, and 3 million stock options worth roughly $ 100 million, at the time of Ovitz's departure. The Ovitz episode engendered a long-running derivative suit , which finally concluded in June 2006, almost 10 years later. Chancellor William B. Chandler III of

1586-446: A lawsuit, seeking $ 1.6 million in royalties from Disney. In February 2006, Linda's heirs reached a settlement with Abilene Music, who held the worldwide rights and had licensed the song to Disney for an undisclosed amount of money. For The Lion King ' s first film trailer, Disney opted to feature a single scene, the entire opening sequence with the song "Circle of Life". Buena Vista Pictures Distribution president Dick Cook said

1708-413: A member of his executive team (which required multiple takes) Eisner "came across as stiff and awkward ... Disney executives ... were pretty much unanimous that the test was a failure....Eisner stubbornly persisted in the face of almost unanimous criticism." Eisner hired Michael Kay, a director of political commercials for then- U.S. Senator Bill Bradley , to help him improve his on-camera performance. As

1830-569: A month, as his songs for the film needed to work in the narrative continuity. Rice's lyrics—which were reworked up to the production's end—were pinned to the storyboards during development. Rewrites were frequent, with animator Andreas Deja saying that completed scenes would be delivered, only for the response to be that parts needed to be reanimated because of dialogue changes. Due to the rewrites, The Lion King missed its initial release window for Thanksgiving 1993, with The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) assuming its release slot. Hahn stated

1952-531: A new imprint, Jump at the Sun , on September 7, 1998, for the African-American children's market. On April 9, 1999, Hyperion Books, sans its for-children stable mate, was transferred to Disney's ABC Group . On May 14, 2004, Hyperion and Wenner Media agreed to a publishing and distribution deal for Wenner's new imprint Wenner Books beginning in spring 2005. On September 28, 2007, Hyperion Books moved its offices from

2074-428: A pond, but those are the kinds of images that we tried to get." The filmmakers also watched the films of John Ford and other filmmakers, which also influenced the design of the film. Because the characters were not anthropomorphized , all the animators had to learn to draw four-legged animals, and the story and character development was done through the use of longer shots following the characters. Computers helped

2196-541: A possible influence of The Jungle Book (1967), where he felt the "music was so funny and appealed to kids and adults". Rice and John wrote five original songs for The Lion King (" Circle of Life ", " I Just Can't Wait to Be King ", " Be Prepared ", " Hakuna Matata ", and " Can You Feel the Love Tonight "), with John's performance of "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" playing over the end credits. The IMAX and DVD releases added another song, "The Morning Report", based on

2318-424: A reported fee of £5.67 million. After college in 1964, he met his future wife, Jane Breckenridge, a Unitarian of Swedish and Scottish descent. They have three sons: Breck , Eric and Anders Eisner. The Lion King The Lion King is a 1994 American animated musical coming-of-age drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution under

2440-434: A result, Eisner was well-recognized by children at the company's theme parks who often asked him for autographs. During the second half of the 1980s and early 1990s, Eisner revitalized Disney. Beginning with the films Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) which was brought to Disney by Jeffrey Katzenberg and The Little Mermaid (1989) a Ron Clements idea that Eisner originally panned, its flagship animation studio enjoyed

2562-484: A score by Hans Zimmer . Inspired by African wildlife , the story is modelled primarily on William Shakespeare 's stage play Hamlet with some influence from the Biblical stories of Joseph and Moses , and follows a young heir apparent who is forced to flee after his uncle kills his father and usurps the throne. After growing up in exile, the rightful king returns to challenge the usurper and end his tyrannical rule over

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2684-592: A song discarded during development that eventually featured in the live musical version of The Lion King . The score was composed by Hans Zimmer , who was hired based on his earlier work on two films in African settings, A World Apart (1988) and The Power of One (1992), and supplemented the score with traditional native African music and choir elements arranged by Lebo M . Zimmer's partners Mark Mancina and Jay Rifkin helped with arrangements and song production. The Lion King original motion picture soundtrack

2806-518: A special preview for Walt Disney Pictures ' then-upcoming animated feature film Pocahontas (1995), in which the title character (voiced by Judy Kuhn ) sings the musical number " Colors of the Wind ". In addition, Deluxe Editions of both formats were released. The VHS Deluxe Edition included the film, an exclusive lithograph of Rafiki and Simba (in some editions), a commemorative "Circle of Life" epigraph , six concept art lithographs, another tape with

2928-577: A string of box-office bombs in the early 2000s, public feuds with former associates such as Jeffrey Katzenberg and Steve Jobs , and dissatisfaction with Eisner's management style culminated in the "Save Disney" campaign organized by Roy E. Disney , during which Eisner rapidly lost the confidence of much of Disney's Board of Directors. As a result of the pressure from the campaign, Eisner announced in March 2005 that he would step down as CEO prematurely, handing day-to-day duties to Bob Iger before formally leaving

3050-483: A surprising and unprecedented 43% of Disney's shareholders, predominantly rallied by former board members Roy Disney and Stanley Gold , withheld their proxies to re-elect Eisner to the board. This vote followed a stunning rebuke of Eisner and his executive and chairman practices by both the Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass, Lewis, a shareholder advisory service. Disney's board then gave

3172-500: A two-disc version with Blu-ray and DVD; a four-disc version with Blu-ray, DVD, Blu-ray 3D, and digital copy ; and an eight-disc box set that also includes the sequels The Lion King II: Simba's Pride and The Lion King 1½ . A standalone single-disc DVD release also followed on November 15, 2011. The Diamond Edition topped the Blu-ray charts with over 1.5 million copies sold. The film sold 3.83 million Blu-ray units in total, leading to

3294-406: Is adopted by Kwashi, a baboon , and Mabu, a mongoose . He is later raised in a community of baboons. Simba battles an evil jackal named Ndogo, and reunites with his pride. Later that same year, Fink recruited his friend J. T. Allen, a writer, to develop new story treatments. Fink and Allen had earlier made several trips to a Los Angeles zoo to observe the animal behavior that was to be featured in

3416-416: Is alerted by his majordomo , the hornbill Zazu, and rescues the cubs. Though disappointed with Simba for disobeying him and endangering himself and Nala, Mufasa forgives him. He explains that the great kings of the past watch over them from the night sky, from which he will one day watch over Simba. Scar visits the hyenas and convinces them to help him kill Mufasa and Simba in exchange for hunting rights in

3538-499: Is the first Disney film to have been dubbed in Zulu , the only African language aside from Egyptian Arabic to have been used for a feature-length Disney dub. In the Pride Lands of Tanzania , a pride of lions rule over the kingdom from Pride Rock. King Mufasa and Queen Sarabi's newborn son, Simba , is presented to the gathering animals by Rafiki the mandrill , the kingdom's shaman and advisor. Mufasa's younger brother, Scar , covets

3660-404: Is the first time a language adaptation has translated Elton John's "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" for the ending credits. The film was re-issued on December 25, 2002, for IMAX and large-format theaters. Don Hahn explained that eight years after The Lion King had its original release, "there was a whole new generation of kids who haven't really seen it, particularly on the big screen." Given

3782-730: Is underrated". In January 2006, Disney's corporate headquarters in Burbank was renamed to Team Disney – The Michael D. Eisner Building in Eisner's honor. On October 7, 2005, Eisner was a guest host for the Charlie Rose talk show. His guests were John Travolta and his ex-boss, Barry Diller . Impressed with Eisner's performance, CNBC President Mark Hoffman hired Eisner in early 2006 to host his own talk show, Conversations with Michael Eisner . The show mostly featured CEOs, political leaders, artists and actors, until its cancellation in 2009. Eisner

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3904-536: Is visited by the spirit of Mufasa in the night sky, who tells him that he must take his place as king. After Rafiki advises him to learn from the past instead of running from it, Simba decides to return to the Pride Lands. Aided by his friends, Simba sneaks past the hyenas at Pride Rock and confronts Scar, who taunts Simba over his supposed role in Mufasa's death. Scar then whispers to Simba, admitting for having killed Mufasa. Enraged, Simba retaliates and forces Scar to confess

4026-533: The Star Trek film franchise, Ordinary People , Raiders of the Lost Ark , An Officer and a Gentleman , Flashdance , Terms of Endearment , Beverly Hills Cop , and Footloose , and TV shows such as Happy Days , Laverne & Shirley , Cheers and Family Ties . Diller left Paramount on September 30, 1984, and, as his protégé, Eisner expected to assume Diller's position as studio chief. When he

4148-525: The Delaware Court of Chancery , despite describing Eisner's behavior as falling "far short of what shareholders expect and demand from those entrusted with a fiduciary position...", found in favor of Eisner and the rest of the Disney board because they had not violated the duty of care owed by a corporation's officers and board to its shareholders. Despite his record of success while serving as President, CEO and Chairman of The Walt Disney Company, Eisner

4270-555: The Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy . It is considered by many to be among the greatest animated films ever made . The film has led to many derived works , such as a Broadway adaptation in 1997; two direct-to-video follow-ups—the sequel, The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998), and the prequel/ parallel , The Lion King 1½ (2004); two television series, The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa (1995–1999) and The Lion Guard (2016–2019),

4392-675: The Walt Disney Pictures banner. The film was directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff (in their feature directorial debuts) and produced by Don Hahn , from a screenplay written by Irene Mecchi , Jonathan Roberts , and Linda Woolverton . The film features an ensemble voice cast that includes Matthew Broderick , Moira Kelly , James Earl Jones , Jeremy Irons , Jonathan Taylor Thomas , Niketa Calame, Nathan Lane , Ernie Sabella , Whoopi Goldberg , Cheech Marin , Rowan Atkinson , and Robert Guillaume . Its original songs were written by composer Elton John and lyricist Tim Rice , with

4514-476: The best-selling videotape of all time: 4.5 million tapes were sold on the first day and ultimately sales totaled more than 30 million before these home video versions went into moratorium in 1997. The VHS releases have sold a total of 32   million units in North America, and grossed $ 520 million in sales revenue. In addition, 23   million units were shipped overseas to international markets. In

4636-468: The highest-grossing film of 1994 and the second-highest-grossing film of all time , behind Jurassic Park (1993). It also held the title of being the highest-grossing animated film , until it was overtaken by Finding Nemo (2003). The film remains the highest-grossing traditionally animated film of all time , as well as the best-selling film on home video , having sold over 55 million copies worldwide. It received two Academy Awards , as well as

4758-758: The 1990s, Eisner and his partners set out to plan "The Disney Decade" which was to feature new parks around the world, existing park expansions, new films, and new media investments. While some of the proposals were completed, most were not. Those completed included the Euro Disney Resort (now Disneyland Paris ) which was vastly over budget, and had low attendance and was acknowledged by Eisner to be his "real financial disappointment", Disney-MGM Studios (now Disney's Hollywood Studios ), Disney's California Adventure Park (now Disney California Adventure ), Disney-MGM Studios Paris (eventually opened in 2002 as Walt Disney Studios Park ), and various film projects including

4880-691: The ABC headquarters at 77 West 66th Street to the Disney Publishing Worldwide offices at 114 Fifth Avenue, occupying two floors of the building, during the course of a partial move of Hyperion's operations to White Plains, New York . On June 28, 2013, Hachette announced that it would acquire Hyperion from Disney. In the deal, Hachette will take on Hyperion's adult trade list including works by Mitch Albom and Michael J. Fox and 25 books to be published. Hyperion's books related to existing Disney–ABC Television Group properties and young adult titles will join

5002-510: The Beast (1991), and Aladdin (1992). Allers brought in Brenda Chapman and Chris Sanders , whom he had worked with on Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin , to serve as head of story and production designer, respectively. Woolverton, who had just wrapped up work as screenwriter for Beauty and the Beast , wrote the initial draft of the screenplay for this film, but following her departure from

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5124-421: The Beast , Finding Nemo (2003), Monsters, Inc. (2001), and The Little Mermaid (1989) during 2012 and 2013. However, none of the re-releases of the first three films achieved the enormous success of The Lion King 3D and the theatrical re-release of The Little Mermaid was ultimately cancelled. In 2012, Ray Subers of Box Office Mojo wrote that the reason why the 3D version of The Lion King succeeded

5246-455: The CEO-designate. Eisner did not initially promote Iger as a successor until after the board put pressure on Eisner to resign. To reporters and contrary to his actual intentions, Eisner remarked that "I would not have agreed to [leave] if it hadn't been Bob. Because of governance, they wanted a big search and everything. ... And by the end of the search, it was clear that I was able to convince

5368-673: The Disney-Hyperion imprint at Disney Publishing Worldwide . On March 12, 2014, Hyperion was renamed Hachette Books, with the naming of Crown Archetype 's editor-in-chief Mauro DiPreta as the new unit's vice president and publisher. On October 12, 2017, Hachette Book Group discontinued the Weinstein Books imprint due to the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse allegations , with the imprint's staff and titles transferred to Hachette Books. On January 8, 2015, Black Dog & Leventhal (BD&L)

5490-679: The Habit (1993) in theaters; by then, only a third of The Lion King had been completed. Audience reaction was enthusiastic, causing Hahn to have some initial concerns as he became afraid of not living up to the expectations raised by the preview. Prior to the film's release, Disney did 11 test screenings . Upon release, The Lion King was accompanied by an extensive marketing campaign which included tie-ins with Burger King , Mattel , Kodak , Nestlé , and Payless ShoeSource , and various merchandise, accounting 186 licensed products. In 1994, Disney earned approximately $ 1 billion with products based on

5612-541: The Jedi (1983) in March 1997. The film also achieved the fourth-highest September opening weekend of all time. It held off very well on its second weekend, again earning first place at the box office with a 27 percent decline to $ 21.9 million. Most box-office observers had expected the film to fall about 50 percent in its second weekend and were also expecting Moneyball (2011) to be at first place. After its initial box-office success, many theaters decided to continue to show

5734-534: The Perseus Books Group hired Disney Publishing's Mary Ann Naples as vice president and publisher of Hachette Books. Michael Eisner Michael Dammann Eisner (born March 7, 1942) is an American businessman and former chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of The Walt Disney Company from September 1984 to September 2005. Prior to Disney, Eisner was president of rival film studio Paramount Pictures from 1976 to 1984, and had brief stints at

5856-496: The Philippines, the film was released on VHS in March 1995 by Magnavision. The film sold more than 55 million video copies worldwide by August 1997, making it the best-selling home video title of all time. On October 7, 2003, the film was re-released on VHS and released on DVD for the first time, titled The Lion King: Platinum Edition , as part of Disney's Platinum Edition line of DVDs. The DVD release featured two versions of

5978-413: The Pride Lands. Scar sets a trap for Simba and Mufasa. He lures Simba into a gorge and signals the hyenas to drive a large herd of wildebeest into a stampede to trample him. Scar alerts Mufasa, who saves Simba and tries to escape the gorge; he begs for Scar's help, but he throws Mufasa into the stampede to his death. Scar tricks Simba into believing that Mufasa's death was his fault and tells him to leave

6100-547: The United States as well as Helios theaters across Poland on October 8. In conjunction with the film's 30th anniversary, The Lion King was re-released on July 12, 2024. During its opening weekend, the film earned an estimated $ 1.08 million in the United States from 1,330 theaters. The Lion King was first released on VHS and LaserDisc in the United States on March 3, 1995, under Disney 's "Masterpiece Collection" video series. The VHS edition of this release contained

6222-540: The acquisitions of ABC , most of ESPN and The Muppets franchise. Eisner also led major investments and expansion of the company's theme parks both domestically and globally, including the openings of Disney-MGM Studios (now Disney's Hollywood Studios) in 1989, Euro Disney (now Disneyland Paris) in 1992, Disney's Animal Kingdom in 1998, Disney's California Adventure Park and Tokyo DisneySea in 2001, Walt Disney Studios Park in 2002 and Hong Kong Disneyland in 2005. Eisner's final years at Disney were tumultuous:

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6344-414: The already formed Hyperion Books, Hyperion Books for Children, Disney Press and other units. Hyperion took losses until 1994 when it published its most successful book to date, Don't Stand Too Close to a Naked Man by Tim Allen with 1.1 million copies sold. In March 1995 with the market too crowded with Disney books, Hyperion Books for Children merged with Disney Press. Hyperion Books for Children started

6466-429: The animators of Walt Disney Feature Animation decided to work on instead, believing it would be the more prestigious and successful of the two. The story artists also did not have much faith in the project, with Chapman declaring she was reluctant to accept the job "because the story wasn't very good", and Burny Mattinson telling his colleague Joe Ranft : "I don't know who is going to want to watch that one." Most of

6588-577: The board—our newly constructed board—that Bob was great." Within Disney, though, Eisner was telling Board members that Iger lacked "stature". On September 30, Eisner resigned both as an executive and as a member of the board of directors, and, severing all formal ties with the company, he waived his contractual rights to perks such as the use of a corporate jet and an office at the company's Burbank headquarters. While Eisner did much to stabilize and promote Disney in his early years as CEO, his performance in later years garnered much criticism. "Beginning with

6710-407: The chairmanship position to board member George Mitchell . However, the board did not immediately remove Eisner as chief executive. On March 13, 2005, Eisner announced that he would step down as CEO one year before his contract expired, and handed off day-to-day duties to Bob Iger , who had been serving as Disney's President and Chief Operating Officer and had just been selected by the directors as

6832-669: The company in September 2005. He went on to create the stop-motion animated sitcom Glenn Martin, DDS in 2009. Eisner was born to an affluent, secular Jewish family in Mount Kisco, New York . His mother, Margaret (née Dammann), whose family founded the American Safety Razor Company , was the president of the Irvington Institute, a hospital that treated children with rheumatic fever . His father, Lester Eisner, Jr.,

6954-418: The company's well-publicized distribution disputes with long-time production partner Pixar Animation Studios and its CEO Steve Jobs , with whom Disney had produced such animated feature film hits as Toy Story , A Bug's Life , Monsters, Inc. , and Finding Nemo , which were critically acclaimed and financially successful for both partners. On March 3, 2004, at Disney's annual shareholders' meeting,

7076-491: The company. Eisner brought in Jeffrey Katzenberg as Walt Disney Studios chairman. A couple of years after becoming chairman and CEO, Eisner became the host of The Wonderful World of Disney , making him the public face of the company as well as its top executive. Eisner was not a performer by profession, and studio management did not believe he could do the hosting job. After filming a test video with his wife Jane and

7198-530: The cost to Disney and the vitriol and publicity they generated, are without parallel in American business history. ... Eisner controlled and manipulated the board by keeping members isolated, preferring to communicate one-on-one; selectively doling out information, access and benefits ... and ruthlessly dispatching anyone who dared challenge him." In his book The Ride of a Lifetime , Bob Iger quotes Eisner answering criticism for micro-managing as saying: "Micromanaging

7320-487: The crew. Varied focal lengths and lenses were employed to differ from the habitual portrayal of Africa in documentaries—which employ telephoto lenses to shoot the wildlife from a distance. The epic feel drew inspiration from concept studies by artist Hans Bacher—who, following Scribner's request for realism, tried to depict effects such as lens flare —and the works of painters Charles Marion Russell , Frederic Remington , and Maxfield Parrish . Art director Andy Gaskill and

7442-498: The decision was made for such an approach because "we were all so taken by the beauty and majesty of this piece that we felt like it was probably one of the best four minutes of film that we've seen", and Don Hahn added that "Circle of Life" worked as a trailer as it "came off so strong, and so good, and ended with such a bang". The trailer was released in November 1993, accompanying The Three Musketeers (1993) and Sister Act 2: Back in

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7564-574: The fall, but the hyenas, who overheard him betraying them, attack and maul him to death. With Scar and the hyenas gone, Simba takes his place as king, and Nala becomes his queen. With the Pride Lands restored, Rafiki presents Simba and Nala's newborn cub to the assembled animals, thus continuing the circle of life. The origin of the concept for The Lion King is widely disputed. According to Charlie Fink (then- Walt Disney Feature Animation 's vice president for creative affairs), he approached Jeffrey Katzenberg , Roy E. Disney , and Peter Schneider with

7686-429: The family. Allers and Minkoff pitched the revised story to Katzenberg and Michael Eisner , to which Eisner felt the story "could be more Shakespearean "; he suggested modeling the story on King Lear . Maureen Donley, an associate producer, countered, stating that the story resembled Hamlet . Continuing on the idea, Allers recalled Katzenberg asking them to "put in as much Hamlet as you can". However, they felt it

7808-512: The film could be viewed either with or without a newly created scene – a short conversation in the film replaced with a complete song ("The Morning Report"). A Special Collector's Gift Set was also released, containing the DVD set, five exclusive lithographed character portraits (new sketches created and signed by the original character animators), and an introductory book entitled The Journey . The Platinum Edition of The Lion King featured changes made to

7930-479: The film during its IMAX re-release, including re-drawn crocodiles in the "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" sequence as well as other alterations. More than two million copies of the Platinum Edition DVD and VHS units were sold on the first day of release. A DVD box set of the three The Lion King films (in two-disc Special Edition formats) was released on December 6, 2004. In January 2005, the film, along with

8052-420: The film for more than two weeks, even though its 3D Blu-ray release was scheduled for two and a half weeks after its theatrical release. In North America, the 3D re-release ended its run in theaters on January 12, 2012, with a gross of $ 94.2 million. Outside North America, it earned $ 83.4 million. The successful 3D re-release of The Lion King made Disney and Pixar plan 3D theatrical re-releases of Beauty and

8174-505: The film had already been digitally archived during production, the restoration process was easier, while also providing many scenes with enhancements that covered up original deficiencies. An enhanced sound mix was also provided to, as Hahn explained, "make the audience feel like they're in the middle of the movie." On its first weekend, The Lion King made $ 2.7 million from 66 locations, a $ 27,664 per theater average. This run ended with $ 15.7 million on May 30, 2003. In 2011, The Lion King

8296-528: The film led many of those theaters to implement Dolby Laboratories ' newest sound systems. When first released in 1994, The Lion King numbered 28 versions overall in as many languages and dialects worldwide, including a special Zulu version made specifically for the film in South Africa, where a Disney USA team went to find the Zulu voice-actors. This is not just the only Zulu dubbing ever made by Disney, but also

8418-679: The film on the first disc, a remastered version created for the 2002 IMAX release and an edited version of the IMAX release purporting to be the original 1994 theatrical version. A second disc, with bonus features, was also included in the DVD release. The film's soundtrack was provided both in its original Dolby 5.1 track and in a new Disney Enhanced Home Theater Mix, making this one of the first Disney DVDs so equipped. This THX certified two-disc DVD release also contains several games, Timon and Pumbaa's Virtual Safari , deleted scenes, music videos and other bonus features. By means of seamless branching ,

8540-428: The film was delayed to a summer 1994 release, "with much consternation, because people said you can't release animation in the summertime." The voice actors were chosen for how they fit and could add to the characters; for instance, James Earl Jones was cast because the directors found his voice "powerful" and similar to a lion's roar. Jones remarked that during the years of production, Mufasa "became more and more of

8662-535: The film, with $ 214 million for Lion King toys during Christmas 1994 alone. The Lion King had a limited release in the United States on June 15, 1994, playing in only two theaters, El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles and Radio City Music Hall in New York City , and featuring live shows with ticket prices up to $ 30. The wide release followed on June 24, 1994, in 2,550 screens. The digital surround sound of

8784-477: The film, including the " I Just Can't Wait to Be King " sequence, was animated at the Disney-MGM Studios facility. More than 600 artists, animators, and technicians contributed to The Lion King . Weeks before the film's release, the 1994 Northridge earthquake shut down the studio and required the animators to complete via remote work . The character animators studied real-life animals for reference, as

8906-541: The film. Rowan Atkinson was initially uninterested in the studio's offer to voice Zazu, later explaining that "voice work is something I generally had never done and never liked [...] I'm a visual artist, if I'm anything, and it seemed to be a pointless thing to do". His friend and fellow Mr. Bean writer/actor Robin Driscoll convinced him to accept the role, and Atkinson retrospectively expressed that The Lion King became "a really, very special film". Matthew Broderick

9028-421: The filmmakers present their vision in new ways. For the wildebeest stampede sequence, several distinct wildebeest characters were created in a 3D computer program, multiplied into hundreds, cel shaded to look like drawn animation, and given randomized paths down a mountainside to simulate the real, unpredictable movement of a herd. Five specially trained animators and technicians spent more than two years creating

9150-423: The filmmakers sought to give the film a sense of grand sweep and epic scale similar to Lawrence of Arabia (1962). Gaskill explained: "We wanted audiences to sense the vastness of the savannah and to feel the dust and the breeze swaying through the grass. In other words, to get a real sense of nature and to feel as if they were there. It's very difficult to capture something as subtle as a sunrise or rain falling on

9272-499: The final product. The plot centered on a battle between lions and baboons, with Scar being the leader of the baboons, Rafiki being a cheetah , and Timon and Pumbaa being Simba's childhood friends. Simba would not only leave the kingdom but become a "lazy, slovenly, horrible character" due to manipulations from Scar, so Simba could be overthrown after coming of age. By 1990, producer Thomas Schumacher , who had just completed The Rescuers Down Under (1990), decided to attach himself to

9394-532: The founders of Creative Artists Agency , to be President with minimal involvement from Disney's board of directors (which at the time included Oscar-winning actor Sidney Poitier , the CEO of Hilton Hotels Corporation Stephen Bollenbach , former U.S. Senator George Mitchell , Yale dean Robert A. M. Stern , and Eisner's predecessors Raymond Watson and Card Walker ). Ovitz lasted only 14 months, partly due to outright hostility from Sandy Litvak and Steve Bollenbach and

9516-466: The half-hour TV special The Making of The Lion King , and a certificate of authenticity. The CAV laserdisc Deluxe Edition also contained the film, six concept art lithographs and The Making of The Lion King , and added storyboards, character design artwork, concept art, rough animation, and a directors' commentary that the VHS edition did not have, on a total of four double sided discs. The VHS tape quickly became

9638-501: The hyenas, the original intention was to reunite Cheech & Chong , but while Cheech Marin agreed to voice Banzai, Tommy Chong was unavailable. His role was changed into a female hyena, Shenzi, voiced by Whoopi Goldberg , who insisted on being in the film. The English double act Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer auditioned for roles as a pair of chipmunks; according to Mortimer, the producers were enthusiastic, but he and Reeves were uncomfortable with their corporate attitude and abandoned

9760-456: The idea, and within the next month, he had written a nine-paged treatment entitled King of the Kalahari . Throughout 1989, several Disney staff writers, including Jenny Tripp, Tim Disney, Valerie West and Miguel Tejada-Flores, had written treatments for the project. Tripp's treatment, dated on March 2, 1989, introduced the name "Simba" for the main character, who gets separated from his pride and

9882-439: The kingdom and never return. He then orders the hyenas to kill Simba, who escapes. Unaware of Simba's survival, Scar tells the pride that the stampede killed both Mufasa and Simba, and steps forward as the new king, allowing the hyenas into the Pride Lands. Simba collapses in a desert but is rescued by two outcasts, a meerkat and a warthog named Timon and Pumbaa . Simba grows up with his two new friends in their oasis , living

10004-414: The kingdom. Initially, The Lion King was supposed to be a non-musical, leaning towards a style similar to that of a documentary. George Scribner , who had made his feature directorial debut with Oliver & Company (1988), was hired to direct, with Allers joining him soon after following his work as a story artist or head of story on Oliver & Company , The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and

10126-601: The latter which premiered as a television film titled The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar in 2015; and a photorealistic remake in 2019, which also became the highest-grossing animated film at the time of its release. In 2016, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The Lion King

10248-581: The lavish, even reckless spending on Euro Disney, and continuing with the poorly planned and executed foray into the Internet, and perhaps worst of all, the acquisition of the Fox Family cable network - each of which is a more than $ 1 billion mistake - Eisner squandered Disney's assets. ... This is even before considering the exit of Jeffery Katzenberg, the failure to honour his contract, and the hiring and firing of Michael Ovitz, personnel and judgment errors, which, in

10370-671: The leading animators either were doing their first major work supervising a character, or had much interest in animating an animal. Thirteen of these supervising animators, both in California and in Florida, were responsible for establishing the personalities and setting the tone for the film's main characters. The animation leads for the main characters included Mark Henn on young Simba, Ruben A. Aquino on adult Simba, Andreas Deja on Scar, Aaron Blaise on young Nala, Anthony DeRosa on adult Nala, and Tony Fucile on Mufasa. Nearly twenty minutes of

10492-489: The major television networks NBC , CBS , and ABC . Eisner's 21-year stint at Disney saw the revitalization of the company's poorly performing animation studios with successful films such as The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), and The Lion King (1994), a period known as the Disney Renaissance . Eisner additionally broadened the company's media portfolio by leading

10614-466: The meetings was to have Mufasa return as a ghost . Allers also changed the character Rafiki from a more serious court advisor into a wacky shaman. The title was also changed from King of the Jungle to The Lion King , as the setting was not the jungle but the savannah. It was also decided to make Mufasa and Scar brothers, as the writers felt it was much more interesting if the threat came from someone within

10736-415: The national programming director. Eisner moved up the ranks, eventually becoming a senior vice president in charge of programming and development. In 1976, Diller, who had by then moved on to become chairman of Paramount Pictures , recruited Eisner from ABC and made him president and COO of the movie studio. During his tenure at Paramount, the studio produced films such as Saturday Night Fever , Grease ,

10858-426: The new screenplay. During the summer of 1992, Irene Mecchi was hired as the new screenwriter, and months later, she was joined by Jonathan Roberts . Mecchi and Roberts took charge of the revision process, fixing unresolved emotional issues in the script and adding comedic situations for Pumbaa, Timon, and the hyenas. Lyricist Tim Rice worked closely with the screenwriting team, flying to California at least once

10980-410: The only one made in any African language, other than Arabic . The Zulu language version was released in South Africa on November 23, 1994. The Lion King marks also the first time a special dubbing is released in honor of a Disney movie background, but not the last: in 2016 the film Moana (2016) received a special Tahitian language version, followed in 2017 by a Māori version, in 2018 by

11102-557: The part, as he felt uncomfortable going to a comedic role after his dramatic portrayal of Claus von Bülow in Reversal of Fortune (1990). His performance in that film inspired the writers to incorporate more of his acting as von Bülow in the script – adding one of that character's lines, "You have no idea" – and prompted animator Andreas Deja to watch Reversal of Fortune and Damage (1992) in order to incorporate Irons' facial traits and tics. " The Lion King

11224-477: The project "because lions are cool". Schumacher likened the King of the Jungle script to "an animated National Geographic special". George Scribner , who had directed Oliver & Company (1988), was the initial director of the film, being later joined by Roger Allers , who was the lead story man on Beauty and the Beast (1991). Allers worked with Scribner and Woolverton on the project, but temporarily left

11346-515: The project to help rewrite Aladdin (1992). Eight months later, Allers returned to the project, and brought Brenda Chapman and Chris Sanders with him. In October 1991, several of the lead crew members, including Allers, Scribner, Chapman, Sanders, and Lisa Keene visited Hell's Gate National Park in Kenya, in order to study and gain an appreciation of the environment for the film. After six months of story development work, Scribner decided to leave

11468-599: The project to write the libretto for the Broadway adaptation of Beauty and the Beast , Mecchi and Roberts were brought on board to finish and revise the script. Six months into production, Scribner left the project due to creative differences with Allers, producer Hahn, and Chapman about changing it into a musical, and Minkoff was hired to replace him in April 1992. Additionally, Beauty and the Beast directors Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise were hired to perform some additional rewrites to

11590-456: The project upon clashing with Allers and the producers over their decision to turn the film into a musical, since Scribner's intention was of making a documentary-like film more focused on natural aspects. By April 1992, Rob Minkoff had replaced Scribner as the new co-director. Don Hahn joined the production as the film's producer because Schumacher was promoted to Vice President of Development for Walt Disney Feature Animation. Hahn found

11712-450: The revisions. The new script, credited to both Allen and Bass, was retitled King of the Beasts and completed on May 23, 1990. Sometime later, Linda Woolverton , who was also writing Beauty and the Beast (1991), spent a year writing several drafts of the script, which was titled King of the Beasts and then King of the Jungle . The original version of the film was vastly different from

11834-418: The script and story. Throughout production, Allers, Scribner, Minkoff, Hahn, Chapman, Sanders, and several other animators visited Kenya to observe wildlife and get inspiration for the characters and setting. The Lion King was released on June 15, 1994, receiving critical acclaim for its music, story, themes, and animation. With an initial worldwide gross of $ 763 million, it finished its theatrical run as

11956-418: The script unfocused and lacking a clear theme, and after establishing the main theme as "leaving childhood and facing up to the realities of the world", asked for a final retool. Allers, Minkoff, Chapman, and Hahn then rewrote the story across two weeks of meetings with directors Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale , who had finished directing Beauty and the Beast (1991). One of the definite ideas that stemmed from

12078-469: The script. Allen completed his script, which was titled The Lion King , on January 19, 1990. However, Fink, Katzenberg, and Roy E. Disney felt Allen's script could benefit from a more experienced screenwriter, and turned to Ronald Bass , who had recently won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Rain Man (1988). At the time, Bass was preoccupied to rewrite the script himself, but agreed to supervise

12200-475: The sequels, went back into moratorium. The DVD releases have sold a total of 11.9   million units and grossed $ 220 million . Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released the Diamond Edition of The Lion King on October 4, 2011. This marks the first time that the film has been released in high-definition Blu-ray and on Blu-ray 3D . The initial release was produced in three different packages:

12322-460: The soundtrack's commemorative twentieth anniversary re-release in 2014. The Lion King also inspired the 1995 release Rhythm of the Pride Lands , with eight songs by Zimmer, Mancina, and Lebo M. The use of the song " The Lion Sleeps Tonight " in a scene with Timon and Pumbaa led to disputes between Disney and the family of South African Solomon Linda , who composed the song (originally titled "Mbube") in 1939. In July 2004, Linda's family filed

12444-594: The story of The Lion King was inspired by the lives of Joseph and Moses from the Bible, and Shakespeare's Hamlet , though the story has also drawn some comparisons to Shakespeare's lesser known plays Henry IV, Part 1 and Part 2 . By this point, Woolverton had left the production to work on the Broadway adaptation of Beauty and the Beast . To replace her, Allers and Minkoff met with numerous screenwriters, including Billy Bob Thornton and Joss Whedon , to discuss writing

12566-483: The success of the Māori dub of Moana , a Māori version of The Lion King was announced in 2021, and released theatrically on June 23, 2022, to align with the Māori holiday of Matariki . Much of the Matewa Media production team, including producer Chelsea Winstanley , director Tweedie Waititi , and co-musical director Rob Ruha had previously worked on the Māori language version of Moana . The Lion King Reo Māori

12688-417: The throne. Mufasa shows Simba the Pride Lands and forbids him from exploring beyond its borders. He explains to Simba the responsibilities of kingship and the "circle of life", which connects all living things. Scar manipulates Simba into exploring an elephant graveyard beyond the Pride Lands. There, Simba and his best friend, Nala , are chased by three spotted hyenas named Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed . Mufasa

12810-446: The topic of a story set in Africa came up, and Katzenberg immediately jumped at the idea. Katzenberg decided to add elements involving coming of age and death, and ideas from personal life experiences, such as some of his trials in his career in politics, saying about the film, "It is a little bit about myself." On October 11, 1988, Thomas Disch (the author of The Brave Little Toaster ) had met with Fink and Roy E. Disney to discuss

12932-410: The truth to the pride. A battle ensues between Simba and his allies and the hyenas. Scar attempts to escape, but is cornered by Simba at a ledge near the top of Pride Rock. Scar begs for mercy and blames his actions on the hyenas. Simba spares Scar's life but orders him to leave the Pride Lands forever; Scar refuses and attacks Simba. Following a brief battle, Simba throws Scar off the ledge. Scar survives

13054-401: The two-and-a-half-minute stampede. The Computer Animation Production System (CAPS) helped simulate camera movements such as tracking shots , and was employed in coloring, lighting, and particle effects. Lyricist Tim Rice , who was working with composer Alan Menken on songs for Aladdin (1992), was invited to write songs for The Lion King , and accepted on the condition of bringing in

13176-432: Was $ 280 million. Katzenberg went on to found DreamWorks SKG , with partners Steven Spielberg and David Geffen . Eisner recalled that " Roy E. Disney , who did not like him at all — I forget the reason, but Jeffrey probably did not treat him the way that Roy would have wanted to be treated — said to me, 'If you make him the president, I will start a proxy fight.'" Eisner then recruited his friend Michael Ovitz , one of

13298-559: Was a lawyer and regional administrator of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development . His great-grandfather, Sigmund Eisner , established a successful clothing company that was one of the first uniform suppliers to the Boy Scouts of America and his great-grandmother, Bertha Weiss, belonged to an immigrant family that established the town of Red Bank, New Jersey . Eisner has one sister, Margot Freedman. He

13420-438: Was also an executive producer of the show. In March 2007, Eisner's investment firm, The Tornante Company , launched a studio, Vuguru , that produces and distributes videos for the Internet, portable media devices and cell phones. In October 2007, Eisner, through his Tornante Company investment firm, partnered with Madison Dearborn Partners in the acquisition of Topps Company , the bubble-gum and collectibles firm. He produced

13542-443: Was also known for his habit of integrating much of his Paramount films with Disney. These moves were seen as unfavorable, and led to Eisner’s isolation from other Disney executives by 1995. On November 30, 2003, Roy E. Disney , the son and nephew of co-founders Roy O. Disney and Walt Disney , respectively, resigned from his positions as Disney vice chairman and chairman of Walt Disney Feature Animation . His reasons for resigning

13664-430: Was because, "the notion of a 3D re-release was still fresh and exciting, and The Lion King (3D) felt timely given the movie's imminent Blu-ray release. Audiences have been hit with three 3D re-releases in the year since, meaning the novelty value has definitely worn off." As part of Disney's 100th anniversary, The Lion King was re-released between September 29 to October 12, 2023, in selected Cinemark theaters across

13786-448: Was cast as adult Simba early during production. Broderick only recorded with another actor once over the three years he worked on the film, and only learned that Moira Kelly voiced Nala at the film's premiere. English actors Tim Curry , Malcolm McDowell , Alan Rickman , Patrick Stewart , and Ian McKellen were considered for the role of Scar , which eventually went to fellow Englishman Jeremy Irons . Irons initially turned down

13908-441: Was considered a little movie because we were going to take some risks. The pitch for the story was a lion cub gets framed for murder by his uncle set to the music of Elton John . People said, 'What? Good luck with that.' But for some reason, the people who ended up on the movie were highly passionate about it and motivated." Don Hahn The development of The Lion King coincided with that of Pocahontas (1995), which most of

14030-425: Was converted to 3D for a two-week limited theatrical re-issue and subsequent 3D Blu-ray release. The film opened at the number one spot on Friday, September 16, 2011, with $ 8.9 million and finished the weekend with $ 30.2 million, ranking number one at the box office. This made The Lion King the first re-issue release to earn the number-one slot at the American weekend box office since the re-issue of Return of

14152-539: Was done for Bambi (1942). Jim Fowler , renowned wildlife expert, visited the studios on several occasions with an assortment of lions and other savannah inhabitants to discuss behavior and help the animators give their drawings authenticity. The animators also studied animal movements at the Miami MetroZoo under guidance from wildlife expert Ron Magill . The Pride Lands are modeled on the Kenyan national park visited by

14274-527: Was his feeling that there was too much micromanagement within the studio, flops with the ABC television network, the company's growing timidity in the theme park business, the Walt Disney Company turning into a "rapacious, soul-less" company, Eisner's refusal to establish a clear succession plan, as well as the studio releasing a string of box-office movie failures starting in the year 2000, such as The Emperor's New Groove and Treasure Planet , and

14396-504: Was passed over for the job, though, he left to look for work elsewhere and lobbied for the position of CEO of The Walt Disney Company . Following the deaths of founders Walt Disney in 1966, and Roy O. Disney in 1971, The Walt Disney Company narrowly survived several takeover attempts. Its shareholders Sid Bass and Roy E. Disney brought in Eisner (as CEO and chairman of the board) and former Warner Bros. chief Frank Wells (as president) to replace Ron W. Miller in 1984 and strengthen

14518-497: Was purchased by Hachette Book Group and became an imprint of Hachette Books, with J.P. Leventhal, continuing his position as publisher of the imprint he founded in 1992. With Leventhal's announcement of his retirement on October 17, 2017, BD&L imprint was transferred to Running Press . In 2018, Hachette Books became an imprint of Perseus Books Group , with publisher DiPreta exiting the unit. Concurrently, Da Capo Press and Da Capo's Lifelong became part of Hachette. On April 8, 2019,

14640-840: Was raised on Park Avenue in Manhattan. He attended the Allen-Stevenson School kindergarten through ninth grade followed by The Lawrenceville School in 10th through his senior year and graduated from Denison University in 1964 with a bachelor's degree in English. He is a member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity and credits much of his success to his time at Keewaydin Canoe Camp for boys in Vermont . After two brief stints at NBC and CBS , Barry Diller at ABC hired Eisner as assistant to

14762-523: Was released by Walt Disney Records on April 27, 1994. It was the fourth-best-selling album of the year on the Billboard 200 and the top-selling soundtrack. It is the only soundtrack to an animated film to be certified Diamond (10× platinum) by the Recording Industry Association of America . Zimmer's complete instrumental score for the film was never originally given a full release, until

14884-587: Was too forced, and looked to other heroic archetypes such as the stories of Joseph and Moses from the Bible . Not counting most of the segments from Fantasia (1940), Saludos Amigos (1942), The Three Caballeros (1944), Make Mine Music (1946), and Melody Time (1948); and The Rescuers Down Under (1990) (a sequel to The Rescuers (1977)), The Lion King was the first Disney animated feature to be an original story, rather than be based on pre-existing works and characters. The filmmakers have stated that

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