Take 2: The Lion King
Posted on Mar 14, 2025 by Admin
Disney’s animated allegory stands out above the pack. We look back on how it was made, from musical numbers to simulated movement
Words Katie Kasperson | Images Disney
Now 30 years old, Disney’s The Lion King has stood the test of time, inspiring a Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, two sequels, a spin-off TV series, a 2019 CGI remake and now Mufasa: The Lion King – a prequel that details the titular lion’s origin story. The 1994 film was a truly unique piece of IP, with its creators tapping into the universality of life and death. The original allegorical story – which has been likened to Shakespeare’s Hamlet – follows Simba, son of the pride’s leader Mufasa, as he navigates guilt over his father’s passing. He runs away from home, only to return years later, unrecognisable to his friends and family and forced to become king.
The Lion King was to Disney what Shrek was to DreamWorks – a side project that came second to Pocahontas, which was released the following year and attracted most of the studio’s animators. Although it meant the crew carried an underdog mentality, this ultimately made them a force to be reckoned with, as they threw themselves into research, storyboarding and recording sessions to give audiences a reason to see a film all about animals.
The presence of Elton John and Hans Zimmer elevated The Lion King further, despite the fact it wasn’t initially set to be a musical. At the helm of the soundtrack and score, respectively, the two made it an Oscar and Grammy winner. Can You Feel the Love Tonight took best original song at the 67th Academy Awards and Zimmer bagged best original score.
The crew studied African animal behaviour by visiting Los Angeles Zoo, as well as Hell’s Gate National Park in Kenya. With Bambi as the main in-house reference, The Lion King’s animators consulted regularly with wildlife experts Jim Fowler and Ron Magill to ensure authenticity. Artistically, the filmmakers modelled their landscapes on nature documentaries, paintings and the work of John Ford, aiming for a sense of realism.
While each main character had their own lead animator, the herds proved a different beast entirely. To mimic real movement patterns, the animators used computer programs to simulate random pathways. The two-and-a-half-minute wildebeest stampede, for instance, took more than two years to create; the vintage Computer Animation Production System (CAPS) proved critical in generating the lighting, colouring and replicating camera movement.
Three decades on, we’re all still familiar with the film’s opening scene – a shot of the sun rising over the savannah backed by Circle of Life, which begins with South African composer Lebo M singing in Zulu. The movie delivers on this circularity, ending with a reprise of the same song. The first and only Disney feature to be dubbed in Zulu, The Lion King owes its global success partially to localisation, but it really goes back to the story at its heart: one that’s resonated demonstrably with audiences everywhere.
As The Lion King pushed the boundaries of virtual cinematography, Mufasa: The Lion King builds on that legacy with even more immersive visuals.
This story appears in the February 2025 issue of Definition
