Untitled - The Walt Disney Company Nordic
Untitled - The Walt Disney Company Nordic
Untitled - The Walt Disney Company Nordic
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©2011 <strong>Disney</strong> Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
WALT DISNEY PICTURES<br />
Presents<br />
“THE LION KING”<br />
Directed by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ROGER ALLERS<br />
and ROB MINKOFF<br />
Produced by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DON HAHN<br />
Screenplay by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .IRENE MECCHI<br />
and JONATHAN ROBERTS<br />
and LINDA WOOLVERTON<br />
Songs by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .TIM RICE<br />
and ELTON JOHN<br />
Original Score Composed and Arranged by . . . . . . . . . . .HANS ZIMMER<br />
Executive Producers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . THOMAS SCHUMACHER<br />
and SARAH McARTHUR<br />
“Can You Feel the Love Tonight” Performed by . . . . . . . . . ELTON JOHN<br />
Produced by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .CHRIS THOMAS<br />
Associate Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ALICE DEWEY<br />
Art Direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ANDY GASKILL<br />
Production Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHRIS SANDERS<br />
Artistic Coordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RANDY FULLMER<br />
Supervising Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TOM FINAN<br />
and JOHN CARNOCHAN<br />
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Artistic Supervisors<br />
Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BRENDA CHAPMAN<br />
Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DAN ST . PIERRE<br />
Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DOUG BALL<br />
Clean-Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VERA LANPHER<br />
Visual Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SCOTT SANTORO<br />
Computer Graphics Imagery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .SCOTT F . JOHNSTON<br />
Story<br />
BURNY MATTINSON<br />
BARRY JOHNSON LORNA COOK<br />
THOM ENRIQUEZ ANDY GASKILL<br />
GARY TROUSDALE JIM CAPOBIANCO<br />
KEVIN HARKEY JORGEN KLUBEIN<br />
CHRIS SANDERS TOM SITO<br />
LARRY LEKER JOE RANFT<br />
RICK MAKI ED GOMBERT<br />
FRANCIS GLEBAS MARK KAUSLER<br />
Additional Story Material<br />
J .T . ALLEN GEORGE SCRIBNER<br />
MIGUEL TEJADA-FLORES MIGUEL TEJADA-FLORES<br />
BOB TZUDIKER BOB TZUDIKER<br />
KIRK WISE KIRK WISE<br />
CAST<br />
(in alphabetical order)<br />
Zazu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ROWAN ATKINSON<br />
Simba . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .MATTHEW BRODERICK<br />
Young Nala . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NIKETA CALAME<br />
Ed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JIM CUMMINGS<br />
Shenzi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .WHOOPI GOLDBERG<br />
Rafiki . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ROBERT GUILLAUME<br />
Scar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JEREMY IRONS<br />
Mufasa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JAMES EARL JONES<br />
Nala . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MOIRA KELLY<br />
Timon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .NATHAN LANE<br />
Banzai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .CHEECH MARIN<br />
Pumbaa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ERNIE SABELLA<br />
Sarabi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MADGE SINCLAIR<br />
Young Simba . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .JONATHAN TAYLOR THOMAS
CINEMATIC HISTORY<br />
“<strong>The</strong> Lion King” Leaps Off the Charts<br />
When “<strong>The</strong> Lion King” first roared into theaters in 1994, the<br />
story of Simba and his father touched the hearts of an entire<br />
generation—its pioneering soundtrack, unexpected humor and<br />
compelling characters captivated audiences worldwide . <strong>The</strong><br />
film, which followed “<strong>The</strong> Little Mermaid” and “Beauty and the<br />
Beast,” propelled <strong>The</strong> <strong>Walt</strong> <strong>Disney</strong> Studios’ animation renaissance,<br />
becoming the highest-grossing animated film of all time . (In<br />
the U .S ., it continues to be the highest-grossing hand-drawn<br />
animated film ever .) “<strong>The</strong> Lion King” won the Oscar® for Best<br />
Original Score (Hans Zimmer) and Best Original Song (Elton<br />
John/Tim Rice, “Can You Feel the Love Tonight”) and earned<br />
Golden Globes® in both categories as well as for Best Motion Picture—Comedy or Musical . It is the best-selling home entertainment release<br />
of all time and inspired a Tony Award®-winning Broadway musical that became the seventh-longest-running musical in Broadway history in<br />
January 2011 .<br />
And now, the popular classic is in 3D for the first time ever .<br />
A special two-week theatrical extravaganza kicks off Sept . 16, 2011,<br />
showcasing the film on the big screen in <strong>Disney</strong> Digital 3D . Its highly<br />
anticipated home-entertainment debut kicks off October 4, celebrating<br />
the Diamond Edition release of the epic movie “<strong>The</strong> Lion King” in highdefinition<br />
Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D .<br />
Nearly a decade since “<strong>The</strong> Lion King” last appeared on the big screen, the<br />
upcoming theatrical release invites new generations into the Circle of Life .<br />
<strong>The</strong> two-week, 3D presentation is a planned wide domestic release—the<br />
biggest since the film’s 1994 debut—and the film’s first-ever 3D release .<br />
<strong>The</strong> Blu-ray debut marks the first time “<strong>The</strong> Lion King” has been available in any form since 2004 . Featuring pristine high-definition picture and<br />
sound, the Blu-ray creates an incredible at-home experience with a host of picture and sound enhancements, interactive features and bonus<br />
content, including a new set of hilarious animated bloopers .<br />
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“<strong>The</strong> Lion King”: Diamond Edition home-entertainment release will be available from the <strong>Disney</strong> Vault for a limited time only beginning<br />
October 4, as follows:<br />
• 4-Disc Blu-ray Combo Pack (for the suggested retail price of $49.99 U.S./$56.99 Canada)<br />
o “<strong>The</strong> Lion King” = Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy<br />
• 2-Disc Blu-ray Combo Pack (for the suggested retail price of<br />
$39.99 U.S./$46.99 Canada)<br />
o “<strong>The</strong> Lion King” = Blu-ray + DVD<br />
• 8-Disc Trilogy (for the suggested retail price of $100.00<br />
U.S./$115.00 Canada)<br />
o “<strong>The</strong> Lion King” = Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy<br />
o “<strong>The</strong> Lion King 1 ½” = Blu-ray + DVD<br />
o “<strong>The</strong> Lion King II: Simba’s Pride” = Blu-ray + DVD<br />
<strong>The</strong> one-disc DVD edition will be available on November 15.<br />
CAN YOU FEEL THE LOVE?<br />
“‘<strong>The</strong> Lion King’ is essentially a love story between a father and son,” says producer Don Hahn, whose recent projects include Tim Burton’s<br />
“Frankenweenie” and the documentary “Hand Held .” “It’s about that moment in life when you realize that your father is going to pass on to you<br />
his wisdom and knowledge . <strong>The</strong> Circle of Life . Someday we all become adults . <strong>The</strong> baton will be passed on to us and we’re going to have to<br />
grow up .”<br />
An original story, breathtaking animation, beloved characters and award-winning music set the stage for “<strong>The</strong> Lion King,” a <strong>Disney</strong> classic that<br />
follows the adventures of Simba, the feisty lion cub who “just can’t wait to be king .” But his envious Uncle Scar has plans for his own ascent<br />
to the throne, and he forces Simba’s exile from the kingdom . Alone and adrift, Simba soon joins the escapades of a hilarious meerkat named<br />
Timon and his warmhearted warthog pal, Pumbaa . Adopting their carefree lifestyle of “Hakuna Matata,” Simba ignores his real responsibilities<br />
until he realizes his destiny and returns to the Pride Lands to claim his place in the Circle of Life . <strong>The</strong> all-star vocal talents—including Matthew<br />
Broderick, Nathan Lane, Whoopi Goldberg, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, Ernie Sabella, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Robert Guillaume, Cheech<br />
Marin and Moira Kelly—plus the rip-roaring comedy and uplifting messages of courage, loyalty and hope make this a timeless tale for all ages .<br />
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According to Allers, who went on to direct the short “<strong>The</strong> Little Matchgirl”<br />
and Sony Pictures Animation’s “Open Season,” “<strong>The</strong> real heart and<br />
emotional underpinning of the whole story is the father-son relationship .<br />
At one point in the film, Simba steps into his father’s paw print and we<br />
see this image of his little paw in an enormous print . It is very symbolic .<br />
When his father is taken away from him too soon, he feels unworthy and<br />
inadequate . My favorite part of the film is when his father returns in ghost<br />
form and tells him that his spirit lives on in his son .”<br />
Produced by Hahn and directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff from<br />
a script by Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts and Linda Woolverton, “<strong>The</strong><br />
Lion King” features five popular songs by legendary singer/songwriter<br />
Elton John and Academy Award®-winning lyricist Tim Rice, plus composer<br />
Hans Zimmer’s evocative score and musical supervision . Set against<br />
the breathtaking natural beauty, mysticism and diversity of the African<br />
landscape, captured and stylized by a team of top artistic talents, <strong>Disney</strong>’s<br />
32nd full-length animated film is a uniquely entertaining coming-of-age<br />
allegory based on an original story that has since joined the ranks of classic<br />
fairy tales and literary favorites . “<strong>The</strong> Lion King” is rated G by the MPAA .<br />
Minkoff, who later directed “<strong>The</strong> Forbidden Kingdom” and “Flypaper,” adds: “We set out to do something very different from the things that had<br />
been done before . ‘Aladdin,’ ‘Beauty’ and ‘Mermaid’ were all basically love stories, and this one is more about the relationship between a father<br />
and a son . It is just as crucial and interesting in its own way, but a real different subject and a change of pace from other <strong>Disney</strong> films .”<br />
Recalls Lane, who later reteamed with Broderick on Broadway in “<strong>The</strong> Producers,” “<strong>The</strong>y showed us two clips from the movie and I thought to<br />
myself, ‘Well, not only is this good, there’s something very special about this .’ Obviously, there’s something in [the film] that touches people—<br />
it’s why it was hugely successful and why it stays with people . [<strong>The</strong><br />
filmmakers] worked for a long time to get the story right and that’s why<br />
these films work and why they’re considered classics .”<br />
Broderick remembers the first time he saw the film with an audience .<br />
“<strong>The</strong>re’s nothing like sitting with a real audience,” he says . “I thought, ‘Wow,<br />
these children will take their children [someday] .’ I could tell I was part of<br />
‘Snow White .’ It felt like we were part of those movies that seem to live<br />
years and years through generations .”<br />
“THE LION KING” LIKE NEVER BEFORE<br />
Filmmakers Add All-New Dimension to Classic Film<br />
“<strong>The</strong> Lion King” is one of <strong>Disney</strong>’s first hand-drawn 2D animated classic to be revamped with the latest 3D technology . Filmmakers decided<br />
to bring the classic back to the big screen and into fans’ homes in a whole new way, immersing audiences into the world of the Pride Lands .<br />
“<strong>The</strong> 3D aspect of a film can help to better tell a story,” says 3D stereographer Robert Neuman . “We used it in the way a composer uses music<br />
to score a film, having it echo the emotional content of the story . Getting the chance to add 3D to ‘<strong>The</strong> Lion King’ and to work with the original<br />
filmmakers to ensure the use of depth reflected their vision and enhanced their story was an incredible opportunity .”<br />
Producer Don Hahn, along with the original directors, Rob Minkoff and Roger Allers, viewed every single image of the film during the 3D<br />
4
conversion process, providing direction<br />
on depth queues as well as final<br />
approval on the shots during dailies .<br />
Additionally, a handful of artists who<br />
worked on the 3D conversion process<br />
also worked on the original release of<br />
“<strong>The</strong> Lion King .”<br />
<strong>The</strong> conversion required a team of<br />
more than 60 3D artists from multiple<br />
disciplines, including lighting, layout,<br />
effects and software engineering .<br />
Together, they defined a new dimension<br />
for “<strong>The</strong> Lion King,” returning to the<br />
original CAPS files (the compositing software program) and painstakingly working to establish the perception of depth necessary to establish<br />
the third dimensionality to the imagery . Overseeing each step, Neuman created the 3D Script for the film, which involved mapping out the<br />
depth levels of each layer given to establish the 3D effects . With some scenes holding more than 100 composited layers of elements and<br />
artwork, there was a rich source of material to work from, which allowed the artists to bring out even greater 3D detail and volume to the film .<br />
One of the more challenging characters to convert to 3D was Zazu—<br />
Mufasa’s chief of protocol—with his wings and beak requiring several<br />
layers of 3D depth . <strong>The</strong> most difficult sequence to convert within the<br />
film was Scar’s villainous song “Be Prepared,” because it contained several<br />
effects shots and a multitude of characters, including hoards of his hyena<br />
henchmen .<br />
From start to finish, the entire conversion project took four months—a<br />
remarkably quick turnaround, given the complexity of imagery and the<br />
wide variety of animal characters within the film . “What was exciting for me was the prospect of using our technology to create a fusion of<br />
the beauty and charm of traditional animation with the immersive quality<br />
of 3D cinema and see an entirely new art form emerge,” says Neuman . “In<br />
this way, no matter how many times they had enjoyed ‘<strong>The</strong> Lion King’ in<br />
the past, we could give audiences the thrill of seeing it once again…for<br />
the first time!”<br />
“With this new 3D release, audiences will experience ‘<strong>The</strong> Lion King’ as<br />
they have never before,” says Sara Duran Singer, senior vice president of<br />
post production for <strong>The</strong> <strong>Walt</strong> <strong>Disney</strong> Studios . “<strong>The</strong>y will be immersed in<br />
the savanna and surrounded by the exciting images and incredible new<br />
7 .1/3D <strong>Disney</strong> mix by Academy Award® nominee Terry Porter (“Beauty<br />
and the Beast”) . It’s not to be missed!”<br />
NEW ANIMATION FOR BLU-RAY BONUS FEATURES<br />
Recalling the Hijinks<br />
To create one of the many new bonus features accompanying “<strong>The</strong> Lion King” on its Blu-ray® Diamond Edition debut, Producer Don Hahn<br />
reassembled many of the supervising character animators from the 1994 production to animate all-new sequences for an exclusive “Lion King”<br />
5
looper reel . Featuring never-before-seen outtakes of recording sessions with the film’s voice<br />
talent, these hilarious new moments add to the fun and enjoyment of this classic film .<br />
Says Hahn: “When we were making the movie, there was always fun and hijinks behind the scenes,<br />
and it’s stuff you never share, because it’s your dirty laundry . When it came time to put together<br />
the Blu-ray for ‘<strong>The</strong> Lion King,’ we thought it would be fun to dust off some of the old recording<br />
sessions and find those little gems from Matthew Broderick, James Earl Jones and Nathan Lane<br />
that were the flubs and outtakes, things that didn’t make it to the screen . And we did . Our poor<br />
editor went through what had to be 200 hours’ worth of recording sessions that spanned a threeyear<br />
period . She came up with bucketfuls of stuff and we went back to the original animators .<br />
We wanted to get down to the best of the best, the three minutes that is the essence of these<br />
characters .”<br />
UNFORGETTABLE<br />
Original Story, Stellar Soundtrack and Cool Characters Come Together<br />
“<strong>The</strong> Lion King” follows the epic adventures of young Simba (voiced by Jonathan Taylor Thomas), a lion cub who struggles to accept the<br />
responsibilities of adulthood and his destined role as king of the jungle . As a carefree cub, he “just can’t wait to be king,” spending his days<br />
frolicking with his pal Nala (voiced by Niketa Calame) . His father, King<br />
Mufasa (voiced by James Earl Jones), the revered ruler of the Pride Lands<br />
and the lands that surround it, teaches him about the Circle of Life—the<br />
delicate balance of nature which bonds all animals together—and helps<br />
him prepare for the day when he will be called upon to lead . Mufasa’s evil<br />
brother, Scar (voiced by Jeremy Irons), hopes that day will never arrive and<br />
schemes to do away with the king and Simba so that he can assume the<br />
throne for his own tyrannical purposes . He and his hyena henchmen—<br />
Shenzi (voiced by Whoopi Goldberg), Banzai (voiced by Cheech Marin)<br />
and Ed (voiced by Jim Cummings)—lure Simba into the path of a<br />
wildebeest stampede in which Mufasa perishes trying to save his son . Scar then convinces Simba that he is responsible for his father’s death<br />
and urges him to run far away from the Pride Lands and never return .<br />
A frightened and guilt-ridden Simba flees into exile, where he is befriended by a wacky but warmhearted warthog named Pumbaa (voiced<br />
by Ernie Sabella) and his freewheeling meerkat companion, Timon (voiced by Nathan Lane) . Simba adopts their “Hakuna Matata” (no worries)<br />
attitude toward life, living on a diet of bugs and taking things one day at a<br />
time . <strong>The</strong> cub matures into a young adult (voiced by Matthew Broderick)<br />
and is able to put his past behind him until Nala, now a beautiful young<br />
lioness (voiced by Moira Kelly), arrives on the scene and tells him of the<br />
hard times and suffering that have come to the Pride Lands under Scar’s<br />
reign . With the help of Rafiki (voiced by Robert Guillaume), a wise shaman<br />
baboon, Simba realizes that his father’s spirit lives on in him and that he<br />
must accept the responsibility of his destined role as king . But first, he<br />
must take on his uncle and his army of hyenas .<br />
Also featured in the vocal cast is Rowan Atkinson as a hapless hornbill serving as King Mufasa’s loyal assistant and guardian to young Simba .<br />
Actress Madge Sinclair provided the maternal voice of Simba’s mother, Queen Sarabi .<br />
6
DOING THEIR HOMEWORK<br />
For the more than 600 artists, animators and technicians who contributed to “<strong>The</strong> Lion King” over its lengthy production schedule, the film<br />
presented many challenges . In the end, more than one million drawings were created for the film, which is made up of 1,197 hand-painted<br />
backgrounds and 119,058 individually colored frames of film.<br />
To prepare the filmmakers for the daunting task of capturing the vast<br />
natural beauty of Africa in animation, six members of the creative team<br />
visited Eastern Africa during the early stages of production . For each<br />
of them, the trip had a profound impact and helped them create and<br />
design the exciting visuals that make this film so special and unique .<br />
Close encounters with real lions and other jungle animals helped shape<br />
and define the roles the characters would play in the film . <strong>The</strong> numerous<br />
sketches, photos and videos they brought back with them enabled art<br />
director Andy Gaskill and production designer Chris Sanders to add<br />
authentic flavor to the reality-based “fantasy Africa” they were creating for the film . <strong>The</strong> unforgettable images of fiery sunrises, velvety-blue<br />
nights, dusty gorges, lush green jungles and earth-tone colors of the Serengeti were all inspired by this trip and the natural beauty that<br />
abounds here .<br />
FINDING THE CIRCLE OF LIFE<br />
<strong>The</strong> idea for an African-based coming-of-age story originated in the story<br />
department of <strong>Walt</strong> <strong>Disney</strong> Animation Studios in 1990 . <strong>The</strong> project was<br />
initially called “King of the Jungle” and, like most animated features, its<br />
development was evolutionary, taking years to create and refine .<br />
According to producer Hahn, “<strong>The</strong> strength of our process here at <strong>Disney</strong><br />
is the ability and willingness to throw things out, move things around or<br />
try something completely different . For example, the song ‘Can You Feel<br />
the Love Tonight’ was in different places and sung by different characters<br />
during the course of the production and finally became the beautiful love<br />
ballad that is in the final film .”<br />
For story head Brenda Chapman, who went on to direct “<strong>The</strong> Prince of Egypt” at DreamWorks and now calls Pixar Animation Studios home, the<br />
process was very rewarding but not without its share of frustrations . “Writing an original story is definitely more challenging,” says Chapman,<br />
“because there is nothing to fall back on . <strong>The</strong>re is no structure to begin<br />
with . Sometimes we found ourselves in left field and didn’t know it until<br />
we were way out there . <strong>The</strong> story changed quite a bit from the initial<br />
idea that Simba would stay with the pride after his father’s death . It was<br />
our job to make the main character likable and sympathetic . It was also<br />
challenging to make the environment and characters interesting . In real<br />
life, lions basically sleep, eat and have no props .”<br />
Chapman credits her trip to Kenya in 1991 as being a real turning point on<br />
this project . “It made me very passionate about this film and helped me<br />
to approach it with lots of new insights about the animals and the environment . It also gave us the idea for ‘Hakuna Matata,’ which is a very<br />
popular expression over there . Rafiki’s nonsense rhyme—‘asante sana, squash banana…we we negu, mi mi apana’—also came out of that trip .<br />
It was a schoolyard chant that our guide made up when he was a kid and used to sing it just for the heck of it . I wrote it down in my notebook<br />
because it was so amusing and it worked perfectly when we needed it for the scene with Rafiki and Simba .”<br />
7
In April 1992, when Minkoff joined the directing team, a brainstorming<br />
session was held to revamp the story . For two days, producer Hahn presided<br />
over the intensive discussion that included the two directors and Chapman .<br />
Also attending were Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale, the directing and storysavvy<br />
duo responsible for “Beauty and the Beast .” What emerged was a<br />
character makeover for Simba and a radically revised second half of the<br />
film . Screenwriters Irene Mecchi and Jonathan Roberts later added comic<br />
situations with foils Pumbaa and Timon, as well as the hyenas .<br />
Mecchi enjoyed the process of writing an animated feature and describes it<br />
as writing in layers . “You are constantly going back and putting another layer on,” she says . “Because the film is in production for such a long<br />
period of time, there are always opportunities to improve and re-address issues and to contribute to the growth of the characters .”<br />
Roberts adds, “As a writer, working on an animated film is very satisfying because the storyboard process lets you instantly visualize what you<br />
have written and see your work immediately in picture form . <strong>The</strong> recording sessions are kind of like out-of-town tryouts for a play . You’re able<br />
to hear the actors speaking your lines, and then you have the luxury of being able to go back and adjust the dialogue . <strong>The</strong> whole process is<br />
very collaborative and it is a big satisfaction to hear moviegoers of all ages reacting to your lines .”<br />
ART DIRECTION<br />
<strong>Disney</strong>’s Artists Capture the Essence of Africa<br />
At the same time that the story was beginning to take shape, the artistic<br />
team was searching for the best ways to visualize and stylize the African<br />
settings so that they would serve the needs of the story and still be realistic<br />
enough to be believable . <strong>The</strong> trip to Africa had given Allers, Chapman<br />
and production designer Chris Sanders a profound new appreciation for<br />
the natural environments and inspired them to find ways to incorporate<br />
these elements into the design of the film .<br />
Art director Andy Gaskill played a key role in defining the film’s aesthetics<br />
with his color sketches, numerous workbook drawings and suggestions<br />
for everything from character design to layout and effects . His interpretation of the opening musical sequence, “Circle of Life,” in terms of<br />
composition, staging and design set the tone for the stylized realism that was to influence much of the film . “Africa is the unspoken character<br />
in this film,” says Gaskill . “We wanted to give the art direction the same sense of grand sweep and epic scale that David Lean put into ‘Lawrence<br />
of Arabia’ and to have that same element of drama played against a huge canvas with nature and weather . We wanted audiences to sense<br />
the vastness of the savanna and to feel the dust and the breeze swaying<br />
through the grass . In other words, to get a real sense of nature and to feel<br />
as if they were there . It’s very difficult to capture something as subtle as<br />
a sunrise or rain falling on a pond, but those are the kinds of images that<br />
we tried to get .”<br />
Adds Hahn: “<strong>The</strong> look of the film celebrates the cyclical nature of jungle life<br />
and the seasons in Africa . <strong>The</strong>re are droughts and fires within the context<br />
of the story and finally rain, which represents life and rejuvenation . In<br />
terms of the locales, we ended up creating a ‘fantasy Africa,’ using real<br />
elements and heightening their reality . We grabbed places from all over the continent—Kenya, the Ivory Coast, even Casablanca—and put<br />
them into one film . N .C . Wyeth’s paintings inspired us with their powerful composition, bold dramatic strokes, dynamic light sources and<br />
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simple color palettes . Maxfield Parrish’s work was another great source for us, and J .C . Leyendecker’s strong designs and approach to illustrated<br />
characters were very similar to what we were trying to achieve .”<br />
According to Minkoff, “When I first came onto the project, it<br />
occurred to me that the film had a lot of the same themes<br />
and imagery of classic American western paintings and films .<br />
We had the epic landscapes, the evocative lighting and the<br />
protagonist’s internal struggle of responsibility . Studying<br />
the dramatic styles of such classic painters and Frederic<br />
Remington and Charles Marion Russell and seeing how they<br />
depicted tremendous scope and beautiful lighting was a<br />
tremendous inspiration . Watching some of the epic Western<br />
films of John Ford and other great directors also had an<br />
impact on our final approach and design .”<br />
Gaskill credits the use of subliminal elements like wind and lighting with helping to make the film seem real and alive . “<strong>The</strong>re are a lot of scenes<br />
with leaves rustling in the wind, grass blowing and lion’s manes moving in the breeze,” he says . “It is very time-consuming to animate, but it<br />
implies an atmosphere and a weather condition that you can’t get any other way . In other scenes, we have moving clouds casting shadows<br />
and changing light patterns onto the ground below . Without these things, the scene wouldn’t be nearly as special .”<br />
Background supervisor Doug Ball and his team of 20 artists get much<br />
of the credit for adding depth and realism to the settings . Ball’s keen<br />
instincts for color styling and ability to capture subtle gradations of light<br />
in a landscape helped to make the film consistently interesting and<br />
believable . <strong>The</strong> extraordinary work of effects supervisor Scott Santoro and<br />
his team also added an extra variety of natural elements . In his role as<br />
artistic coordinator, Randy Fullmer worked closely with all the different<br />
departments and made sure the overall look of the film was consistent<br />
and true to the integrity of the artistic vision .<br />
Dealing with the sprawling, horizontal African landscapes proved to be another challenge for Gaskill and Dan St . Pierre, the film’s layout<br />
supervisor . “In this film, all we had was grass, trees, dirt and rocks to work with,” says St . Pierre . “When you’re dealing with a character like a lion<br />
cub that’s only 24 inches long, point of view suddenly becomes very important, because that’s the only way you can give any sense of scale .”<br />
Another key player on the artistic team was production designer Chris Sanders, who was called upon to let his imagination run wild for the film’s<br />
more fanciful sequences and stylistic departures .<br />
His distinctly graphic approach is evident in two of<br />
the musical numbers “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King”<br />
and “Hakuna Matata,” as well as in the climactic fight<br />
sequence between Scar and Simba .<br />
Sanders, who cites the wacky, abstract title song<br />
sequence from <strong>Disney</strong>’s animated “<strong>The</strong> Three<br />
Caballeros” as being a major influence on his desire<br />
to become an animator, wanted to experiment<br />
with the visuals for “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King .”<br />
“During this particular song, the animals behave<br />
much differently than they do in the rest of the film,”<br />
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he says . “I kept thinking that it would be extremely odd if these realistic animals suddenly started singing, dancing and piling on top of each<br />
other, so I suggested that we diverge completely, visually, and make it a fantasy so we wouldn’t be changing the rules .<br />
“We decided to be as free and relaxed about this sequence as possible and just have fun with it,” Sanders continues . “Using many of the natural<br />
patterns that we observed in Africa, we set out to create a cub’s eye view of the monarchy . From the moment Simba jumps into the scene, the<br />
whole landscape dissolves from one world to another . We used brighter colors, bolder shapes and a whole different design approach to make it look<br />
different .”<br />
SOUNDS OF THE SAVANNA<br />
Groundbreaking Soundtrack Takes “<strong>The</strong> Lion King” to New Levels<br />
Music has long been used to bring stories to life at <strong>The</strong> <strong>Walt</strong> <strong>Disney</strong> Studios . For “<strong>The</strong> Lion King,” filmmakers brought together a trio of musical<br />
talents to create one of the most integral, sophisticated and delightful collaborations in the studio’s history .<br />
Lyricist Tim Rice was the first member of the music team to join the project . “<strong>The</strong> studio asked me if I had any suggestions as to who could<br />
write the music,” says Rice . “<strong>The</strong>y said, ‘Choose anybody in the world and choose the best .’ I said, ‘Well, Elton John would be fantastic, but you<br />
probably won’t get a hold of him, simply because he’s very busy and he hasn’t done a film score like this in 25 years.’<strong>The</strong>y asked him and, to<br />
my amazement, Elton said ‘Yes .’”<br />
Executive producer Tom Schumacher was dispatched to London to<br />
present the story to John . “We found him to be a very interested and<br />
insightful collaborator who was a big champion of turning this story<br />
into a musical,” says Schumacher . “We showed him drafts of the script<br />
and screened the rough cut of the film for him on several occasions . He<br />
provided numerous comments and notes which we incorporated into<br />
the film and which benefited the overall production . With Tim as our<br />
main creative liaison, Elton became an important part of the filmmaking<br />
process and really seemed to enjoy himself along the way .”<br />
Says John, who recently executive produced and provided the music for the animated “Gnomeo & Juliet,” “I actually jumped at the chance<br />
because I knew that <strong>Disney</strong> was a class act and I liked the storyline and the people immediately .<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Disney</strong> films last forever, and children watch them and adults watch them and get just as<br />
much fun out of them . For me, this project was exciting and challenging because I had to write<br />
differently from what I would write for myself . I was pleased that the story was about animals,<br />
because ‘<strong>The</strong> Jungle Book’ is one of my favorite <strong>Disney</strong> films . I think that ‘<strong>The</strong> Lion King’ is the<br />
funniest movie <strong>Disney</strong> made since ‘Jungle Book .’ In fact, I probably think it’s the funniest movie<br />
they’ve ever made .”<br />
Rice says that he was accustomed to writing lyrics to a tune—but “<strong>The</strong> Lion King” was different .<br />
“Elton is one of those rare examples of a composer who actually likes to get the words first,” says<br />
Rice . “In the case of a film like ‘<strong>The</strong> Lion King,’ that proved to be quite useful, because the key thing<br />
with a <strong>Disney</strong> animated feature is to get the storyline dead right . Everything flows from the story .”<br />
Rice became an integral part of the story team, with his lyrics becoming just as important to<br />
the film as any other element of the script . He spent a great deal of time in meetings with the<br />
producer, directors and writers during the production . Once the lyrics and placement of the<br />
songs were agreed upon, Rice would serve as the “go-between” with Elton . “I was staggered<br />
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y Elton’s brilliant method of working and the speed of it,” says Rice . “He has always said if he doesn’t get a tune right in 20 minutes, he just<br />
throws it away . I witnessed him create ‘Circle of Life’ from start to finish . I gave him the lyrics at the beginning of the session at about two in the<br />
afternoon . He didn’t want it before . By half past three, he’d finished writing and recording a stunning demo .”<br />
John and Rice later collaborated on the Broadway musical “Aida” and DreamWorks’ “<strong>The</strong> Road to El Dorado .”<br />
Of the five songs the duo wrote for “<strong>The</strong> Lion King,” “Circle of Life” stands apart as being perhaps the most meaningful to the theme of the<br />
film . <strong>The</strong> song, which was the third to be written by the duo, worked so well, in fact, that it became the anthem and was chosen to open the<br />
film without any establishing dialogue . <strong>The</strong> main vocal is delivered in an impressive and powerful gospel style by Carmen Twillie, a talented<br />
performer with numerous film and recording credits .<br />
“‘Circle of Life’ points out that everything is interrelated and that everybody has some sort of responsibility to somebody else,” says Rice . “We<br />
are all bound together . No man or lion for that matter is an island . This powerful song seemed to set the agenda for the film, and I think it’s a<br />
very dramatic opening to the movie .”<br />
Much of the power and drama of that song and the film’s overall musical impact derive from the contribution of the third major player on<br />
the music team, composer/arranger Hans Zimmer . His genius for conceptualizing music and experimentation helped to transform John’s<br />
essentially western pop/rock/gospel tunes into fully realized African-flavored melodies complete with authentic Zulu chanting, extensive<br />
choral arrangements and rhythms and instrumentation associated with Africa . African-born singer/arranger Lebo M . helped Zimmer recruit<br />
and record singers in Los Angeles, London and South Africa for a series of extensive vocal sessions . He also wrote the Zulu lyrics heard in “Circle<br />
of Life” and throughout the film .<br />
“<strong>The</strong> one-two punch for us on this film in terms of music was having Tim and Elton write some great songs and then having Hans Zimmer<br />
turn them into what they are in the film,” says producer Don Hahn . “Elton’s gift is writing memorable, unforgettable melodies that move you .<br />
He puts his emotions into his music, which is beautiful and stunning . Hans brings an added dimension to those songs through percussion and<br />
the emotion of the voices . It gives a tremendous sense of emotion and a feeling of locale and is very much a celebration of African music . In a<br />
sense, he is the final storyteller, with his ability to underline the emotions of the piece through his score and music supervision .”<br />
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Says Zimmer: “Elton was a very courageous man to just give me his demos and leave me to do whatever I wanted with them . His songs were<br />
great to begin with and I painted a little color into them . I work like an animator, in a way . I do this sort of black-and-white sketch on a piano<br />
and then I start filling in the colors as I go along .”<br />
<strong>The</strong> decision to use extensive choir vocals was Zimmer’s . “Musicians playing an instrument are basically just trying to get as close to the<br />
emotion of a human voice as possible . So I thought I’d go straight to the source and get some really great singers together for this . <strong>The</strong> voice<br />
speaks to you emotionally and more directly than going through the process of translating it into an instrument .”<br />
Zimmer and Lebo M . built the perfect choral sound, and in April 1994,<br />
Lebo traveled to BOP Recording Studios in Mmabatho (160 miles from<br />
Johannesburg) to work with Mbongeni Ngema (“Sarafina”) in recording a<br />
choir of 30 local singers for the final tracks .<br />
<strong>The</strong> Zimmer-arranged version of “Circle of Life” was like a revelation to the<br />
filmmakers and won the approval of composer Elton John . “It was written<br />
as a straight song and it was his idea to give it an African slant and make<br />
it like a chant,” says John . “His arrangement really made a difference to the<br />
song and the movie’s opening . It fits in beautifully . I have tremendous respect for his talent as a writer/composer .”<br />
Zimmer contributed in many ways to the overall emotional impact of the movie with his song arrangements and evocative score . “I think<br />
music is a great way of telling a story, especially where words don’t quite reach you,” says the composer . “Emotions are universal, and music is<br />
the universal language .”<br />
Perhaps the most difficult song in the film to write was the love ballad “Can<br />
You Feel the Love Tonight .” Although chronologically it was the first to be<br />
written, this song went through many modifications as this critical part<br />
of the story evolved and was reworked time and again . By Rice’s count,<br />
he wrote 15 sets of lyrics for that song over a period of several years. At<br />
one point in the restructuring, the song was to be sung by Pumbaa and<br />
Timon . Feeling quite strongly about the role of the “love song” in a <strong>Disney</strong><br />
film, John lobbied the directors to allow Simba and Nala to sing it as<br />
intended . Joseph Williams and Sally Dworsky provide the singing voices<br />
for the two lovers, with Kristle Edwards lending support . <strong>The</strong> original lyrics to “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” can be heard over the end credits<br />
in John’s distinct version of the song .<br />
For Simba’s song, “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King,” John composed an up-tempo, cheeky tune that he describes as “Eddie Cochran meets Motown”<br />
in terms of style . Rice’s lyrics reveal the young lion cub’s ambitions and lend themselves to the fantasy-based visuals that accompany the<br />
song. Jason Weaver is heard as Simba, while the multitalented 15-year-old Laura Williams, a classically trained pianist and a member of the<br />
contemporary gospel recording group All God’s Children, chimes in as<br />
Nala . Rowan Atkinson, as Zazu, also offers a few musical meanderings .<br />
Jeremy Irons made his screen singing debut on “Be Prepared” as the<br />
villainous Scar bares his teeth and ambitions to an army of hideous<br />
hyenas . With just the right balance of menace and humor, the song itself<br />
grows bigger and bigger as Scar gets carried away with himself and his<br />
own oratory . Producer Hahn sees it as “a classic villain’s song where Scar<br />
gets to twirl his mustache and hatch his plot . It launches into a kind of<br />
bacchanal conga-line moment where the audience discovers what his<br />
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eal motivation is .”<br />
<strong>The</strong> final song written for the film was “Hakuna Matata,” a delightful zydeco-flavored tune based on the Swahili expression for “no worries .”<br />
Delivered with great fervor and panache by Broadway veterans Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella in their respective roles as Timon and Pumbaa,<br />
this song presented an opposing philosophy to the one offered in “Circle of Life” and provides a few musical clues as to what Simba’s life will be<br />
like with his new companions . Jason Weaver and Joseph Williams take turns singing as Simba as he matures from a carefree cub to adulthood .<br />
BRINGING THE CHARACTERS TO LIFE<br />
Filmmakers Call on Nature Experts to Ensure Authenticity<br />
Just as <strong>Walt</strong> <strong>Disney</strong> called upon the leading experts of the day to help his artists prepare for the task of realistically animating animals for the<br />
1942 nature-based drama “Bambi,” Producer Don Hahn enlisted the expertise of top specialists to teach his crew some of the fine points of<br />
animal behavior and anatomy .<br />
Jim Fowler, renowned wildlife expert, adventurer and veteran of<br />
television’s long-running “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom,” visited the<br />
studio on several occasions with an assortment of lions and other jungle<br />
inhabitants to discuss behavior and give the animators an authentic feel<br />
for their subjects . He taught them how lions greet one another by gently<br />
butting heads and show affection by placing one’s head under the other’s<br />
chin . He talked about how they protect themselves by lying on their<br />
backs and using their claws to ward off attackers and how they fight rivals<br />
by rising on their hind legs like a clash of the titans .<br />
Anatomy consultant Stuart Sumida, a biology professor at Cal State San<br />
Bernardino, also helped the animators get a better understanding for<br />
their characters’ movements through his informative lectures at the studio on comparative anatomy, skeletal structure and action analysis .<br />
During those early experimental stages, animators also made frequent trips to the zoo—the Los Angeles Zoo, the San Diego Zoo and Wild<br />
Animal Park, the Metro Zoo in Miami and the Living Desert Wildlife and Botanical Park in Palm Springs—to study everything from wildebeests<br />
to meerkats . Animal trainer David McMillan and his 700-pound lion, Poncho, became regulars at the animation department while Nick Toth of<br />
Cougar Hill Ranch corralled some of his large cat “pets” to help the cause .<br />
According to producer Don Hahn, “Animators go through essentially all<br />
the same processes that any actor does, except somehow they have to<br />
distill those thoughts through the end of their fingers, onto a piece of<br />
paper . And so the directors cast animators just like a director on a liveaction<br />
film would cast an actor .”<br />
<strong>The</strong> biggest challenge on this film for the animators was to realistically<br />
draw four-legged characters . Ruben Aquino, the supervising animator<br />
responsible for adult Simba, who most recently worked on this year’s<br />
“Winnie the Pooh,” had the distinction of being the first artist assigned to<br />
“<strong>The</strong> Lion King .” His initial job was to research different forms of animal locomotion and to lay the groundwork for his colleagues who would<br />
soon be joining the production . He watched every wildlife documentary he could get his hands on, made numerous sketches and workbooks<br />
and analyzed different forms of locomotion, from the rocking, prancing moves of the wildebeests and the loping gait of the hyenas to the<br />
trot-like run of the warthog .<br />
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“Animal locomotion is one of the hardest things to do in animation,” says Aquino . “With<br />
quadrupeds, you’ve got twice as many legs to worry about as you do with human characters .<br />
Animating their movements from certain angles can be very difficult, and transitioning between<br />
a run and a walk cycle is particularly hard . It was important that the audience believe that these<br />
characters were real, and the more we understood their anatomy, the easier it was to animate .”<br />
Also helpful to Aquino during his research phase was watching some of the <strong>Disney</strong> animated<br />
classics . “‘Lady and the Tramp’ was a great inspiration in terms of the acting . No other film has<br />
done better as far as creating personality in four-legged animals goes . I really liked the way Tramp<br />
delivers his lines while he’s walking . ‘<strong>The</strong> Jungle Book’ and ‘Bambi’ were also useful for reference<br />
purposes .”<br />
Aquino also drew major inspiration from Matthew Broderick, who provides the voice for his<br />
character . “He’s got a very warm and appealing voice,” says the animator . “<strong>The</strong>re’s also a lot of<br />
humor and vulnerability in his delivery, which really gave me something to go on and made it<br />
easier for me to flesh out my performance .”<br />
Director Minkoff added, “Matthew was able to humanize the hero character for us with his performance and give Simba a lot of depth .<br />
Sometimes heroes end up becoming two-dimensional because they are very difficult roles to approach . Matthew brought a great deal of<br />
sensitivity and thoughtfulness to the role, along with sincerity and a sense of humor .”<br />
Working primarily with four-legged animals also proved challenging to the animators in terms of gesturing and attitudes . According to<br />
Andreas Deja, Scar’s supervising animator, whose recent credits include “Winnie the Pooh”<br />
and “<strong>The</strong> Princess and the Frog,” “When I first began to animate this character, I remember<br />
thinking, ‘How am I going to get all this humanized personality into this character without<br />
hands?’ Hands are so important to expressing a character’s emotions . Finally, I learned to<br />
concentrate on the overall body attitude—the angle of the head and the facial expressions .<br />
Sometimes, very subtle things like raising an eyebrow let you show what the character is<br />
thinking . You have fewer things to work with, but I think it can be as powerful in the end if<br />
you really understand the scene and get the acting right .”<br />
In the case of Scar, Deja used the character’s walk to express personality . “His walk is totally<br />
different from other lions’ . He’s usually lower to the ground because he’s sneakier . He has<br />
more of a gliding walk, kind of slick and elegant, while the others are much more powerful<br />
and heavy .”<br />
<strong>The</strong> primary inspiration for Deja’s performance and Scar’s ultimate design came directly<br />
from actor Jeremy Irons . “As a voice talent and actor, he was able to do so much with the<br />
dialogue and was a great springboard for the character,” says Deja . “He had a way of playing<br />
with the words and twisting them so that they would come out very sarcastic and always<br />
a bit unexpected . I would watch him at the recording sessions and then run back to my desk because I couldn’t wait to get started with the<br />
animation .”<br />
Adds director Allers: “Jeremy’s recording sessions produced an embarrassment of riches . He would give us so many different interpretations<br />
that it became difficult for us to pick which was the best . He is a craftsman with his voice and was able to give all kinds of inflection and nuance .<br />
He brings to the character an air of incredible intelligence, yet sort of twisted and dark . He was absolutely brilliant .”<br />
Says Deja: “People sometimes ask, ‘Don’t you get bored doing all those drawings?’ and the thing of it is that we don’t think about drawing, we<br />
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think about acting . My job is to figure out who this character is and what he’s going through emotionally at any given point . You have to know<br />
what his likes and dislikes are and how he feels about himself and the other characters . Jeremy does the voice, but the performance and how<br />
he would move and act is really up to me . I have to come up with that performance that you see up there on the screen .”<br />
Some of Iron’s physical traits also had an influence on Deja’s design for<br />
the character . “<strong>The</strong>re was a darkness around his eyes that fascinated me<br />
and gave him an eerie look in his films . I wanted to keep that quality, so I<br />
gave Scar dark circles around his eyes and combed his mane as if it were<br />
slicked back .<br />
“You don’t really turn down the part of a villain whether you’re an actor or<br />
an animator,” continues Deja, “because they’re very juicy . Villains tend to<br />
be really expressive and usually motivate the story . <strong>The</strong>y’re also a lot more<br />
challenging from an animation standpoint . In the case of Scar, he is probably the most evil of all the villains I have worked with . He enjoys<br />
playing with his victims, and there are many different levels to his personality .”<br />
<strong>The</strong> assignment of animating the film’s comic duo, Pumbaa and Timon, fell to real-life pals and co-workers Tony Bancroft and Mike Surrey . Voice<br />
talents Nathan Lane (Timon) and Ernie Sabella (Pumbaa) proved to have the right comedic combination for the roles .<br />
“In real life, the warthog would probably eat the meerkat, so we took quite a few liberties in making them best friends,” says Surrey . “With these<br />
two characters, we were able to go much broader and concentrate mainly<br />
on their personalities . Nathan was great to work with, and just watching<br />
him at the recording sessions provided some wonderful material . He has<br />
these really distinct eyebrows and facial expressions that I was able to<br />
incorporate into the character of Timon .”<br />
Adds Bancroft, “I would typically start the animation on most scenes<br />
because Pumbaa is almost like a moving stage for Timon . In fact, Timon<br />
is usually on Pumbaa’s head or his nose or climbing all over him . Before I<br />
did any actual drawing, I’d talk the scene over with Mike to make sure that<br />
what I was doing would work with what he had in mind for Timon . <strong>The</strong>re’s a lot of interplay between the two characters, and we both had a<br />
lot of fun working on them .”<br />
<strong>The</strong> animated antics of King Mufasa’s dedicated secretary bird, a hornbill named Zazu, were guided by supervising animator Ellen Woodbury .<br />
In addition to studying endless footage of birds, her research included a firsthand encounter with Jim Fowler’s visiting hornbill, analyzing<br />
skeletons and muscle systems for birds and a trip to a Palm Desert aviary . “You somehow have to invent the sensation of what it’s like to fly,”<br />
says Woodbury . “Watching birds fly and hearing the sound their wings make along with all the other research gives you part of the image . By<br />
the time I did my test animation, I felt like I could fly . It was very liberating and exhilarating . It really helped me to internalize the process and<br />
pretend that I was moving through the scene the way Zazu would . Rowan Atkinson’s voice is incredibly rich, and listening to his readings gave<br />
me so much to work with .”<br />
For supervising animator Mark Henn, a 28-year <strong>Disney</strong> veteran who recently worked on “Winnie the Pooh” and “<strong>The</strong> Princess and the Frog,”<br />
overseeing young Simba was one of his best assignments . “<strong>The</strong> thing that really excited me about this film was its emotional content,” says<br />
Henn . “It is very powerful, and the struggles that Simba goes through, the highs and the lows of his life, is what sets this film apart for me . <strong>The</strong><br />
challenge for us as actors and animators was to ‘get into his paws’ and take that feeling and keep it building on it . In order for the film to work,<br />
the audience has to really like Simba and be willing to cheer for him and cry with him at times .”<br />
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TECHNOLOGICAL FEATS<br />
Building the Perfect Wildebeests<br />
For the pivotal scene in the film where Scar enacts his plan to do away with his royal relatives, directors Allers and Minkoff wanted to create<br />
something with the same visual impact as the dramatic events that were unfolding . <strong>The</strong> script called for thousands of stampeding wildebeests<br />
to pour over the hilltop into the gorge below . <strong>Walt</strong> <strong>Disney</strong> Animation Studios’ CGI (computer-generated imagery) department was called upon<br />
to help pull off this amazing feat and to enhance the emotional impact of the scene . Five specially trained animators and technicians in this<br />
department spent more than two years creating the impressive 2½-minute sequence, which represented a new level of sophistication for the<br />
art form and a dramatic highlight for the film .<br />
“A stampede of thousands of wildebeests would be too laborious to create<br />
by hand,” says CGI supervisor Scott Johnston, “but animators working with<br />
computers can figure out what the behavior of the animal is and replicate<br />
it . We can also create all the camera angles that the scene requires and<br />
match them to the landscape of the environment .”<br />
Starting with a two-dimensional model sheet and some conventional<br />
hand-drawn rough animation created by supervising animator Ruben<br />
Aquino, Johnston and his CGI team were able to generate three-dimensional representations of a wildebeest inside the computer . Once this<br />
digitized computer version existed, the camera could be placed anywhere to allow different angles during the course of a scene .<br />
“Since the scene called for a stampede, we had to come up with a way that our animators could control the behavior of herds of wildebeests<br />
without having them bump into each other,” says Johnston . “We developed a simulation program that would allow us to designate leaders and<br />
followers within each group . We were also able to individualize and vary the movement of each animal within a group to give them a certain<br />
random quality . Effectively they could all be doing different things with the library of behavior, including slow and fast gallops, various head<br />
tosses and even a few different kinds of leaps .”<br />
<strong>The</strong> hand-drawn animation of Simba and Mufasa was composited with the CGI wildebeest stampede and the film’s other hand-drawn<br />
elements, including backgrounds and effects .<br />
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS<br />
ROGER ALLERS (Director) made his feature-film directing debut on “<strong>The</strong> Lion King” following a prolific two-decade career in the medium that<br />
has included everything from character design and animation to story supervision . He was instrumental in shaping the structure and dialogue<br />
for many <strong>Disney</strong> animated features, serving as official head of story on “Oliver & <strong>Company</strong>” and “Beauty and the Beast” and contributing to “<strong>The</strong><br />
Little Mermaid,” “<strong>The</strong> Prince and the Pauper,” “<strong>The</strong> Rescuers Down Under,” “Aladdin” and “<strong>The</strong> Emperor’s New Groove” in a senior story capacity .<br />
Following “<strong>The</strong> Lion King,” Allers continued contributing his story talents<br />
to subsequent projects, including “<strong>The</strong> Emperor’s New Groove,” “<strong>The</strong> Lion<br />
King 1 ½” and the short film “<strong>The</strong> Little Matchgirl” in 2006 . He directed<br />
“Open Season” for Sony Pictures Animation .<br />
Born in Rye, NY, and raised mainly in Scottsdale, Ariz ., Allers became<br />
hooked on animation when he saw <strong>Disney</strong>’s classic “Peter Pan” at the<br />
impressionable age of 5. A few years later he decided that he would<br />
become a <strong>Disney</strong> artist and sent off to <strong>Disney</strong>land for a do-it-yourself<br />
animation kit . In no time at all, he was drawing basic poses with Donald<br />
Duck and other assorted characters and reading books on the art of animation . In high school, he gave up his goal of animation, discouraged<br />
by the death of <strong>Walt</strong> <strong>Disney</strong> .<br />
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At Arizona State University, Allers honed his artistic skills by studying drawing and painting . After receiving his degree in fine arts, he spent the<br />
next two years traveling and living in Greece . During that time, he did a lot of drawing, spent some time living in a cave and met his future<br />
spouse . In 1973, he and his wife moved to Boston, where he sat in on an animation class at Harvard and renewed his interest in the medium .<br />
Armed with a 15-second film and his college portfolio, Allers applied for a job with Lisberger Studios, headed by Steven Lisberger, who would<br />
go on to direct “Tron” and produce “Tron: Legacy” for <strong>Disney</strong>, and was hired to animate for such diverse programs as “Sesame Street,” “<strong>The</strong><br />
Electric <strong>Company</strong>,” “Make a Wish,” intros to the Boston Pops telecasts and various commercials for the local market .<br />
Allers relocated to Los Angeles in 1978 with Lisberger Studios to work on a feature project called “Animalympics.” Serving as the director’s<br />
right-hand man, he provided story work, character design and animation on that film . This was followed by a six-month stint as part of the<br />
storyboard team creating the innovative <strong>Disney</strong> live-action fantasy “Tron .”<br />
In 1980, Allers and his family moved to Toronto, Canada, where he worked for Nelvana Studios as an animator on a feature called“Rock & Rule.”<br />
This two-year assignment was followed by a return to Los Angeles, where he provided character design, preliminary animation and story<br />
development for the Japanese-produced feature “Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland .” He went on to live in Tokyo for the next two years<br />
in his role as one of the animation directors overseeing the Japanese artists .<br />
Returning to Los Angeles again, in 1985, Allers heard that <strong>Disney</strong> was looking for a storyboard person on“Olivery & <strong>Company</strong>”and immediately<br />
applied for the job . Asked to draw some sample character model sheets as a tryout, he worked on a portfolio and was hired shortly thereafter .<br />
He eventually went on to become the head of story on that film . Following “Oliver,” he went to work on “<strong>The</strong> Little Mermaid .”<br />
Story assignments on “<strong>The</strong> Prince and the Pauper” and “<strong>The</strong> Rescuers Down Under” followed before Allers was tapped to head the story team<br />
for “Beauty and the Beast .” His story talents and sensibilities were called upon again during the formative stages of “Aladdin,” which he worked<br />
on for six months before commencing his work on “<strong>The</strong> Lion King .”<br />
ROB MINKOFF (Director) has a uniquely eclectic career as a filmmaker, including the animated masterpiece “<strong>The</strong> Lion King,” the blockbuster<br />
action picture “<strong>The</strong> Forbidden Kingdom,” starring Jackie Chan and Jet Li, and the recent Sundance Film Festival event “Flypaper,” starring Patrick<br />
Dempsey, Tim Blake Nelson and Ashley Judd . Having traveled to China initially in 1997, Minkoff continued to develop a deep interest in Asian<br />
history and culture . He is currently developing several China-related projects, including the upcoming action fantasy “Chinese Odyssey .”<br />
Minkoff began his directorial career at <strong>Disney</strong> with two Roger Rabbit shorts, “Tummy Trouble” and “Rollercoaster Rabbit .” After a 12-year career at<br />
<strong>Disney</strong>, Minkoff left to direct the combination live-action/animation “Stuart Little” and “Stuart Little 2” for Sony’s Columbia Pictures . In addition<br />
to supervising the creation of “<strong>The</strong> Lion King” and “Stuart Little,” he’s worked with an incredible array of award-winning talent, including Steven<br />
Spielberg, Robert Zemeckis, Hugh Laurie, Eddie Murphy and Michael J . Fox .<br />
Minkoff is one of only a few filmmakers to have directed both live-action and animated features and innovated the use of the combined<br />
mediums with the photo-realistic CGI for “Stuart Little” and “Stuart Little 2 .” His work has been exemplified by both commercial success and<br />
artistic innovation, his films having grossed more than $1.5 billion worldwide.<br />
He owns a home in Beijing and recently married the 76th generational descendant of Confucius .<br />
DON HAHN (Producer) began his professional career at <strong>Disney</strong> in 1976 and has gone on to become one of the most influential and successful<br />
animation producers working in the industry today . He is currently developing the stop-motion animated feature “Frankenweenie” with<br />
director Tim Burton and directing and producing several documentary projects . Hahn has also authored three books on the art of animation,<br />
including the 2008 book“<strong>The</strong> Alchemy of Animation,”which provides the definitive account of how animated films are created in the modern<br />
age . His newest book, “Brain Storm — Unleashing Your Creative Self,” was released this year .<br />
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Hahn produced the <strong>Disney</strong> classic “Beauty and the Beast,” the first animated film to receive a Best Picture Oscar® nomination from the Academy<br />
of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and to win a Golden Globe® for Best Picture . His next film, “<strong>The</strong> Lion King,” broke box-office records all over<br />
the world to become the top-grossing traditionally animated film in <strong>Disney</strong> history and a long-running blockbuster Broadway musical . Hahn<br />
also served as associate producer on the landmark motion picture “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” (with Amblin’ Entertainment) . His other films<br />
include “<strong>The</strong> Hunchback of Notre Dame,” “Atlantis: <strong>The</strong> Lost Empire” and the 2006 short “<strong>The</strong> Little Matchgirl,” which earned Hahn his second<br />
Oscar® nomination .<br />
Hahn made his directorial debut on “Waking Sleeping Beauty,” a documentary that chronicles the perfect storm of people and circumstances<br />
that led to <strong>Disney</strong>’s animation renaissance in the 1980s and ’90s. <strong>The</strong> film played to rave reviews at film festivals in Telluride, Toronto, and the<br />
Hamptons, where it won the audience award for best documentary . It was released theatrically in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San<br />
Francisco in March 2010 .<br />
Hahn’s second documentary, “Hand Held,” was a personal undertaking and was in the making for several years . <strong>The</strong> feature-length documentary<br />
chronicles the story of Boston Globe photographer Mike Carroll, from his horrific discovery of pediatric AIDS in Romanian orphanages to his<br />
subsequent 20-year odyssey fighting against stultifying bureaucracy to bring aid to forgotten children halfway around the world .<br />
Hahn was born in Chicago and studied as a music and art major at Cal State Northridge .<br />
IRENE MECCHI (Screenwriter) brought emotion and humor to the story and characters of “<strong>The</strong> Lion King” through her collaborative efforts<br />
with Jonathan Roberts and the film’s story team . In addition to animation, her career encompasses writing for live-action film, television and<br />
stage. Recently, she was tapped for <strong>Disney</strong>•Pixar’s upcoming animated adventure “Brave,”scheduled for release in 2012.<br />
A third-generation San Franciscan, Mecchi studied theater and literature at UC Berkeley . Her aspirations to direct theater led her to the<br />
renowned American Conservatory <strong>The</strong>ater (ACT), where her instructor, Second City alum Joy Carlin, was impressed with her writing and<br />
encouraged her to pursue it on a full-time basis . Mecchi’s first network writing assignment was on the Emmy® Award-winning Lily Tomlin<br />
special, “Lily: Sold Out .” Prior to that, she wrote a series of children’s programs for Nickelodeon .<br />
Mecchi’s television sitcom credits also include “Valerie,” “<strong>The</strong> Popcorn Kid” and a season as staff writer on “My Sister Sam .” Mecchi’s screenplay<br />
credits include “<strong>The</strong> Hunchback of Notre Dame,” “<strong>The</strong> Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride,” the television movie “Annie,” host sequences for “Fantasia 2000 .”<br />
JONATHAN ROBERTS (Screenwriter) made his feature-animation writing debut following a successful career in film, television and<br />
journalism . As one of the collaborators on “<strong>The</strong> Lion King” screenplay, he helped to create and define personalities for the characters and<br />
heighten the comedic and dramatic story and dialogue .<br />
Born in Boston, Roberts studied English literature at Brown University and enrolled in a summer graduate program on book and magazine<br />
publishing at Harvard before launching his professional career in New York . Starting as a publicist with Workman Publishing, he left to write<br />
projects of his own. His first break came as a contributor to the popular satirical publication“<strong>The</strong> ’80s: A Look Back,”published in 1979. He went<br />
on to even greater success with his next book, “<strong>The</strong> Official Preppy Handbook,” which he conceived of and co-authored for Workman . That<br />
book went on to become a New York Times best-seller and remained on the charts for over a year .<br />
An assignment to write a social satire on Southern California lifestyles brought the native East Coaster to Los Angeles in 1981 and resulted in<br />
the book “How to California .” While there, he stayed with his old college roommate Steven L . Bloom and collaborated with him on a screenplay<br />
about college life called “<strong>The</strong> Sure Thing .” Hollywood responded to the idea even before a script was completed . Rob Reiner directed their<br />
finished screenplay, and Roberts decided to stay in California .<br />
Other screenwriting and script-doctoring assignments followed . He also created and wrote a television pilot called “Fast Times,” based on the<br />
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feature “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” and produced the critically acclaimed but short-lived series which subsequently aired on CBS . Roberts’<br />
other TV credits include a two-year stint on “Head of the Class” as a co-producer and creative consultant as well as a season as writer/producer<br />
on “Beverly Hills 90210 .”<br />
As a journalist, Roberts has written for <strong>The</strong> New York Times, <strong>The</strong> Village Voice, Harpers and Vanity Fair and served as a contributing editor for<br />
Interview .<br />
Roberts supplied some snappy dialogue for two dogs and a cat in <strong>Disney</strong>’s 1993 live-action hit “Homeward Bound: <strong>The</strong> Incredible Journey,”<br />
which brought him to the attention of the studio’s animation department . Subsequent animation writing credits include “James and the<br />
Giant Peach,”“<strong>The</strong> Hunchback of Notre Dame”“<strong>The</strong> Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride,”and additional screenplay material contributed to <strong>Disney</strong>•Pixar’s<br />
“Monsters, Inc .”<br />
LINDA WOOLVERTON (Screenwriter) is the acclaimed writer behind <strong>Disney</strong>’s animated and Broadway adaptations of “Beauty and the<br />
Beast .” She recently wrote the screenplay for Tim Burton’s 3D spectacle “Alice in Wonderland .”<br />
A native of Long Beach, Calif ., Woolverton attended college at Cal State Long Beach and went on to receive her master’s degree in theater<br />
for children at Cal State Fullerton . Following graduation, she started her own children’s theater, for which she performed, wrote and directed<br />
productions that traveled around to schools, shopping malls, churches and local theaters . She also spent time as a creative dramatic instructor,<br />
a substitute teacher at the junior high school and high school levels, and wrote two young-adult novels, “Starwind” and “Running Before the<br />
Wind,” before moving into the area of film and television. In 1980, she began a four-year stint as an executive with CBS Television, where she<br />
was involved in developing late-night programming .<br />
Turning her attention to writing full-time, Woolverton began getting assignments on Saturday-morning and syndicated animated programs<br />
and wrote episodes for such shows as “Teen Wolf,” “<strong>The</strong> Berenstein Bears” and “Chip n’ Dale’s Rescue Rangers .” When one of her novels came to<br />
the attention of a <strong>Disney</strong> animation executive, her ambitions to write an animated feature were realized, and she was hired to work on “Beauty<br />
and the Beast,” which went on to become a multi-Golden Globe® Award winner and Academy Award® Best Picture nominee .<br />
Following that success, Woolverton went on to write the screenplay (with Caroline Thompson) for “Homeward Bound: <strong>The</strong> Incredible Journey”<br />
and several early drafts of a script for “<strong>The</strong> Lion King” before turning her attentions to the Broadway adaptation of “Beauty and the Beast,” which<br />
opened in April 1994 . She also contributed story material to “Mulan .”<br />
ROBERT NEUMAN (2011 release, Stereoscopic Supervisor) recently completed supervising the 3D conversion of <strong>Disney</strong>’s hand drawn<br />
animated classic “<strong>The</strong> Lion King .”<br />
Neuman’s work on <strong>Disney</strong>’s 50th animated feature, “Tangled,” garnered the 3D Creative Arts Award for Best 3D Scene of the Year. His 3D<br />
expertise is complemented by his cinematography experience as a layout artist and supervisor and his technical background as an electrical<br />
engineer . Neuman’s achievements with <strong>Disney</strong>’s stereoscopic pipeline were honored last October with a Lumiere Award for 3D technology .<br />
His recent filmography includes the stereography of “Beauty and the Beast” and “Bolt .”<br />
Born in New York City and raised in Florida, Neuman holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Miami<br />
and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Florida International University . He resides in the Santa Clarita Valley with his wife and<br />
three daughters .<br />
Oscar ® and Academy Award ® are the registered trademarks and service marks of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.<br />
Screen Actors Guild Award ® and SAG Award ® are the registered trademarks and service marks of Screen Actors Guild .<br />
Emmy ® is the trademark property of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.<br />
Golden Globe ® is the registered trademark and service mark of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.<br />
Tony ® Award is a registered trademark and service mark of <strong>The</strong> American <strong>The</strong>atre Wing.<br />
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