Between making good-natured jokes at Pumbaa's expense, giving gourmet commentary on the bugs de jour and pitching his free-wheeling lifestyle to Simba, he is a loyal little guy who'd give his last wisecrack to help a friend. Additionally, The Lion King Expanded Score contains never-before-released instrumental music from Hans Zimmer's original score. Disney’s The Lion King, directed by Jon Favreau, journeys to the African savanna, where a future king is born. This is the second film in which James Earl Jones and Madge Sinclair appear as king and queen, and the parents of the protagonist, the first being in an R-rated live-action movie Coming to America. As well as being released as a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack and a stand-alone DVD Edition like the previous Diamond Edition releases, The Lion King was the first to be released in a Disney 3D Blu-ray combo pack.

To compound this, Scar once again sends the hyenas to kill Simba, but as Simba reaches a thorny embankment, they let him escape, hurling threats that he will be killed if ever seen again. The Lion King was released on DVD for the second time and was also the first Diamond Edition title to include a 1-Disc DVD Edition instead of a 2-Disc DVD set like previous Diamond titles, which became available on November 15, 2011. 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. Although she and Simba were best friends, the two never admitted to being in love until they were reunited years later.Jim Fowler, a 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 an authentic feel. This is the first Disney film whose title not only is near or at the beginning of the movie but at the end (before the credits), more being Tarzan, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Brother Bear, and Raya and the Last Dragon. Prior to announcing the Diamond Edition release of the film, Disney showed clips of the film on Blu-ray at the Consumer Electronics Show 2008.

By means of seamless branching, 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"). In Mouse Hunt, Nathan Lane's character Ernie Smuntz says Hakuna Matata to one of the auctioneers, a reference to Timon in the Lion King.Additionally, Aquaman is seen eating grass like the gazelles did, and the Batman logo is used in replacement for the rising sun. Sometime later, Scar lures Simba into a gorge for a "surprise from his father" then signals the hyenas to create a wildebeest stampede down into the gorge where Simba is. Also sharing another birthday are Tim Rice (the lyricist) and Niketa Calame-Harris (the speaking voice of Young Nala): November 10th. The film is one of Disney's first attempts at animating hair and fur, due to getting its technology to create fur. However, in recent events, the plagiarism accusations were debunked, mainly because Disney claimed they had no knowledge of Kimba and that it was all a coincidence.

That night back at Pride Rock, Scar informs Sarabi, Nala, and the rest of the pride that both Mufasa and Simba were killed in the stampede and that he is assuming the throne as the closest of kin. She was shown to be a fierce fighter, and she was known for a special move, where she would flip an attacker onto his back and pin him to the ground. The film concludes with Rafiki presenting Simba and Nala's newborn cub into the air, thus continuing the Circle of Life.

The character animators studied real-life animals for reference, as was done for the 1942 Disney film Bambi.

Alone" • " So Sumo Me/ Now Museum, Now You Don't" • " Visiting Pig-nitaries/ The Truth About Kats and Hogs" • " Escape from Newark/ Truth Be Told" • " Circus Jerks/ Nest Best Thing" • " Super Hog-O/ Don't Have the Vegas Idea" • " Hot Enough for Ya? This well-padded warthog is a bit clumsy but more than makes up for his slow thought processes with empathy and intuition. Cheerful, feisty lion cub Simba "Just Can't Wait to Be King," but with the loss of his dad, Mufasa, his adventures take a new path. Jeremy Irons and Ernie Sabella both share the same birthday: September 19; Sabella was born on Irons's first birthday.The idea for The Lion King was conceived in late 1988 during a conversation between Jeffrey Katzenberg, Roy E.