©Disney
At the very beginning of the summer of 1994, Disney released its 43rd animated feature film (and its 32nd Classic) in American cinemas, namely a certain The Lion King. In France, you will have to wait until November 23, 1994 to discover The Lion King in theaters. The success is gigantic, and the Disney film sets records… until becoming the biggest worldwide box office success of the year 1994. It was yesterday, and yet it was 30 years ago, and yes… nbsp;! A five-figure look back at The Lion King.
© Disney
2 Oscars for The Lion King (and 3 Golden Globes)
If it is widely appreciated for the quality of its animation, its storyline or even its characters, The Lion King is also… unforgettable songs! Difficult indeed, 30 years later, not to sing the Story of Life, I Would Already Be King, Love Shines Under the Stars, Be Ready or even Hakuna Matata as soon as the situation arises. allows it (we are thinking of young parents in particular).
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A very careful audio section, which was partly left to the care of Sir Elton John, who signed Can You Feel The Love Tonight, which was rewarded with the Oscar and the Golden Globe for best original song. It also helped Elton John win a Grammy Award for Best Male Vocal Performance. At the 1995 Academy Awards, The Lion King was nominated three times in the Best Music/Original Song category alone, and also won the Oscar for Best Original Score.
A 6-minute sequence that required… 3 years of work!
If you know The Lion King, then you have undoubtedly been marked by the famous sequence preceding the death of King Mufasa. Indeed, frightened by the terrible hyenas, the wildebeests hurtling down the mountain are the result of a completely new technology at the time, marking in passing the arrival of the CGI in the # 8217;traditional animation.
© Disney
In total, no less than 3 years of work were necessary to perfect this sequence lasting only six minutes. The challenge for the teams in charge of special effects was then to create a program allowing the wildebeest not to collide, while maintaining perfectly realistic integration.
1 billion in revenue (well almost!)
In the United States, the film The Lion King enjoyed unprecedented success, grossing no less than $422 million in revenue. Not bad for an initially second-rate project, which was to come after Pocahontas, Disney executives not necessarily being confident about the success of the film.
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© Disney
However, success will also be there in the rest of the world, allowing the film to accumulate no less than 987.4 million dollars in revenue… In France, The Lion King will attract more than 10.1 million spectators in theaters.
Quite a performance for a film whose budget was only ” $79 million. So much so that The Lion King was the biggest animated success of all time for almost 20 years, until the arrival ten years ago of The Lion King. a certain Snow Queen.
32 million VHS sold, a record for Disney (and not only that)!
Only nine months after the success of The Lion King at the cinema, the video release (in VHS therefore) is scheduled for March 3, 1995 in the United States (you will have to wait until October 10 to see the VHS release In France). At the time, it was Aladdin which held the sales record for Disney, with 24 million video cassettes sold.
© VHS Fandom
Obviously, taking advantage of the notoriety of Simba, Timon, Pumba, Scar and the others, Disney exploded the counters, with no less than 32 million copies sold. A record that will never be surpassed, the Lion King VHS still being the best-selling video in history today. Note that the film was also the subject of an excellent video game, launched (among others) on Super Nintendo and SEGA Mega Drive a few days before Christmas 1994 (and it was obviously a hit).
One and the same voice for this character, everywhere in the world
In addition to its music, The Lion King also left its mark with the quality of its vocal casting. In the United States, the film notably benefited from the services of Matthew Broderick (Simba), Jeremy Irons (Scar), the unforgettable James Earl Jones in the role of Mufasa, but also a certain Rowan “Mr Bean” Atkinson, who lent his voice to Zazu. Each country of course benefited from dedicated dubbing (including Jean “Mufasa” Reno in France), but one character in particular has retained the same voice, regardless of the region of the globe. .
Indeed, in all the versions of The Lion King released around the world, the only character to retain his original voice is Ed (voiced by Jim Cummings), a hyena who is part of Scar's close guard. ;#8230; because he just laughs.
© Disney
Even today, The Lion King continues to benefit from a very special aura. In addition to the original film (and its sequels) which we can rewatch at our leisure, we discovered the film in “live action” in 2019, but The Lion King is also a musical created in July 1997, which became the first Broadway musical to exceed one billion in revenue (in 2013) and which has won more than 110 million spectators around the world. And it is still on display in 2024 at the Mogador theater in Paris. “Long live the King” so!
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