The Lion King
THINGS YOU NEVER KNEW ~ Written on 15 March 2002
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Trivia 1. The film release caused a stir in Japan as the film resembled the renowned anime series "Kimba the White Lion". The main characters had similar names (Simba and Kimba), both had a baboon shaman. an evil uncle (Scar and Claw) with hyena sidekicks and a similar heroic pose of the king on a rock. |
1 The original opening film was supposed to have a quiet dialogue-heavy sequence much like Beauty and the Beast. However, when composer Hans Zimmer prepared his interpretation of "Circle of Life", he made an extended version which impressed the animators so much that they changed the beginning to the one that was released in order to use the entire work Zimmer prepared.
2 James Earl Jones and Madge Sinclair, who voiced King Mufasa and Queen Sarabi respectively, played an African king and queen in the movie Coming to America (1998), also starring Eddie Murphy as their son.
3 When Simba told Scar (voiced by Jeremy Irons) "You're so weird." Scar replies: "You have no idea!", a similar reply Irons used in Reversal of Fortune (1990).
4 During the song "Hakuna Matata", Timon pulls out a bug wearing Mickey Mouse ears.
5 An extra song was actually written for Timon and Pumbaa named appropriately as "Warthog Rhapsody" by Elton John and Tim Rice. It was actually recorded but was never animated and hence not used.
6 Nala's mother's name which was never mentioned in the movie was Sarafina.
7 There were rumours that when Simba collapses on the cliff after talking with Timon and Pumbaa about the stars, the dust/seeds fly up to form the word "SEX". It actually forms the letters "SFX", the abbreviation of the special effects team that worked on that portion of the film.