Gained a total of 35 awards since the animated movie was released in 1994, the original Disney Animated Film "The Lion King" no doubt has captured the hearts of many and touched so many lives with its heart-warming story, magnificent animation, and award-winning songs.
But despite the success of the movie, only a few know the real story behind the movie's production before the film was released.
THE ORIGINAL MOVIE DIRECTOR DECIDED TO ABANDON THE FILM FOR GOOD
"The Lion King" used to have unappealing songs for its track. The playlist was so bad that the original director decided to give up on the project and pass it on to two novice directors that time, who were Rob Minkoff and Roger Allers. Goalcast shared, "He [the director] refused to have anything to do with The Lion King."
MOST OF THE CREATIVE TALENTS FOCUSED MORE ON "POCAHONTAS"
After the original director left the team, the production of the film has turned to worse after several talents decided to leave their team to work for another Disney project "Pocahontas," the movie they thought would be Disney's next big thing.
THE FILM'S FATE WAS LEFT AT THE HANDS OF INEXPERIENCED ANIMATORS
Since most of the experienced animators have left the team, the fate of the movie's success was left at the hands of novice talents. Fortunately, their hearts were filled with passion to finish this project with love and dedication, which paved the way for success in the end.
The team was so dedicated that they even went outside America, specifically to East Africa, to conduct research about the characters they will include to the story. During their stay, they learned the local Swahili term "Hakuna Matata," which inspired the team to create a new song for the characters of Pumbaa and Timon.
Despite all these ups and downs of the production, the movie was finally released on June 15, 1994, and since then created history.
For those who can't get enough of the story, plans of the remake of the favorite animated film were confirmed in September 2016, according to Disney. Scheduled to be released on July 19 next year, the film will be directed by Jon Favreau, the American actor, director, and producer who also directed the movies "The Jungle Book," "Iron Man," and "Iron Man 2".
The remake will be given life by voice actors which include Donal Glover as Simba (the Prince of Pride Rock), Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scar (the antagonist of the film who killed Mufasa and attempted to kill Simba), and James Earl Jones as Mufasa (the King of Pride Rock, but was killed by his brother Scar because of greed and love for power).
