In Swahili, 'Simba' means lion, 'Rafiki' means friend, and 'Shenzi' means uncivilized. There are many Swahili references throughout the film, and we can assume it takes place in Tanzania or Kenya, since Mt. Kilimanjaro is shown in several scenes.
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When Rafiki is showing Simba where his father is, Simba is following Rafiki through the trees and they arrive at a river/lake. Rafiki says 'shh' and pulls the grass apart. The thing is, he pulls away one side of the grass and the other side parts as well without him moving it. See more...
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The Lion King (1994) - 15 trivia entries
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In Swahili, 'Simba' means lion, 'Rafiki' means friend, and 'Shenzi' means uncivilized. There are many Swahili references throughout the film, and we can assume it takes place in Tanzania or Kenya, since Mt. Kilimanjaro is shown in several scenes.
Disney wanted people to despise Scar, the film's villain, so, during Scar's big song 'Be prepared', they made references to Adolph Hitler. When Scar's army begins to march, they are goosestepping like Nazi soldiers and have their snouts raised like a Nazi salute (their snouts appear longer here than in any other part of the movie, and pointed to their right). Scar is on a large ledge, which resembles a balcony, much like that used by Hitler - on the side, the rock has a pattern resembling a giant Swastika. And finally, on the ground where the army marches, lines appear. These lines were on the streets of Germany, where the Nazis paraded.
The plot of the film is loosely based on Shakespeare's Hamlet. I know this sounds stupid... but king dies. His son discovers it was murder - the killer is the victim's brother, who is now in control. The son leaves the kingdom, only to return to challenge his uncle. Of course, Hamlet doesn't have quite such a happy ending, or as many songs.
In the movie Mufasa is voiced by James Earl Jones and the Lion Queen, Sarabi, is voiced by Madge Sinclair. Those same two actors also played the king and queen of Zamunda in the Eddie Murphy comedy "Coming to America".
When Mufasa tells Simba about the Great Kings of the Past if you look at the stars in the wide shot you can see a constellation in the shape of Mickey Mouse.
In the scene where Timon is pulling out bugs from a log, one of the bugs is actually wearing a tiny Mickey hat.
The film shares it's plot with Shakespeare's "Hamlet." In 2004, a spin-off was released entitled "The Lion King 1 1/2", which is similar in plot to Tom Stoppard's "Hamlet" spin-off, "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead."
After Timon and Pumbaa laugh at Simba for saying his father was watching him, Simba walks away and lies down. When he does, stuff flies everywhere and in the sky, many people think it says 'SFX', as a tribute to the special effects team, while others choose to believe it spells 'SEX'.
There is a scene where Nala asks Timon and Pumbaa where Simba is and neither of them know, then Rafiki says 'you won't find him here . . . the King has returned.' This scene is straight from the New Testament when Mary goes to Jesus' tomb and the angel tells her 'he is not here, for he is risen.' This explains why Rafiki is in a high place (the tree) above the others when he says his line and there is a bright light behind him to make him angelic looking.
Adult Simba's singing voice is that of Joe Williams, who is the lead singer of ToTo and son of John Williams, the Star Wars composer.
When Simba tells Scar, "You're so weird," Scar (voiced by Jeremy Irons) replies, "You have no idea." This is the exact same line Irons says in his Oscar-winning role as Claus von Bulow in "Reversal of Fortune" (1990) when told he's a strange man.
Pumbaa is the first Disney character to be flatulent in a Disney film.
Although Matthew Broderick is a singer, as well as an actor, he does not sing "Hakuna Matata" nor "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" in the film.
The film characters and scenes are very similar to those found in a 1960s Japanese animated program, "Kimba the White Lion." The company that produced Kimba, Toho Studio, was aware of the similarites and threatened to sue Disney but dropped legal action because it could not afford a legal battle against the company.
In the initial theatrical release of the film, you heard a distinct "crunch" sound as the very last wildebeest leapt and landed over Simba's head and onto where Musafa is immediately after the stampede scene, implying the breaking of bones. It is not evident in any other versions.
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