The Great Disney Reel Rumble Retrospective reaches a grand moment as we continue through the Renaissance Era! We cover more of Disney’s classic films, with one a critical and commercial darling and the other having more mixed reception. Does The Lion King still live up to reputation, or can Pocahontas sneak in a victory?
If you’re expecting yet another recount of how the original impetus for The Lion King somehow lay with Walt himself, then you’d finally, for basically the first time, be wrong. But the origin of The Lion King is the subject of some controversy. There are conflicting takes about who came up with what ideas and when. Charlie Fink (Disney’s Vice President for Creative Affairs at the time) credits himself with developing the idea of a Bambi based around African lions, and then approaching Jeffrey Katzenberg, Peter Schneider, and Roy E. Disney. Katzenberg later said he first discussed it with the other two on a flight, with Katzenberg relishing the concept of an Africa-set Disney film.
Regardless of who originated it, development continued when the author of The Brave Little Toaster, Thomas Disch, met with Fink and Roy E. Disney and drafted the first treatment. Throughout 1989, many writers wrote varying draft scripts. Jenny Tripp can be credited with naming Simba and for some story elements such as Simba being separated by his pride and being raised by other animals. Writer J.T. Allen was the first to write a script titled The Lion King, finishing in 1990.
The Disney power trio still felt the film needed more. Oscar-winning screenwriter Ronald Bass (Rain Man) supervised further rewrites, and Linda Woolverton (Beauty and the Beast) also became involved. These versions included elements such as Rafiki being a cheetah and the plot centering on a battle between lions and baboons. Simba would become lazy and slovenly due to Scar manipulating him, setting him up to be deposed. More and more folks at Disney became involved as they heard about the film and offered their own varying ideas.
George Scribner (Oliver & Company) was initially tapped to direct. Roger Allers joined after finishing work on Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin. The initial team took a trip to Kenya to observe nature, but Scribner would leave the project soon thereafter. Scribner wanted more of a serious, nature-focused approach, while Allers and other producers wanted to repeat their success with the Broadway musical stylings of Disney’s recent hit films. Rob Minkoff replaced Scribner for his first outing as a director, after animating on prior Disney works.
The carousel of creatives didn’t stop there. Don Hahn, a producer from Beauty and the Beast, became the lead producer and asked reworked the film to focus on growing up and facing the realities of the world. Allers, Minkoff, Chapman, and Hahn spent two weeks working together, and ideas were developed including Mufasa’s return as a ghost, Rafiki becoming more of a wacky character, Scar becoming Mufasa’s brother, and ultimately changing the title from King of the Jungle to The Lion King, as in Allen’s early script. Seeing the Shakespearean elements, Katzenberg reportedly told the team to double down on the Hamlet influences. Ultimately, the team pivoted and drew further inspiration from the Bible characters of Joseph and Moses.
By summer of 1992, lyricist Tim Rice was hired and started flying to California every week to work his songs into the film’s continuity. Even after production began, rewriting continued as scenes would be developed and then redone as dialogue changed. Rice was responsible for bringing Elton John on board, since Rice’s usual partner, Alan Menken, was unavailable. Rice initially wanted ABBA, but they too were unavailable. Rice and John ended up writing five songs together. To complement their work, Hans Zimmer was hired for the score due to his earlier success with two other Africa-set films. Lebo M was also hired to supplement the score with traditional African music and choral elements.
Animation was occurring simultaneously with Pocahontas. Ironically, most wanted to work on Pocahontas, as they believed it would be the more prestigious and successful film. Hahn commented later that the pitch — a lion cub gets framed for murder set to the music of Elton John — had most looking sideways and thinking it was doomed for failure. As a result, many of those who did work on The Lion King were doing their first major work animating a character. Work continued to be split with the newer Florida MGM location animating nearly minutes, including the “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” sequence. Pulling from the Bambi book, the animators studied real-life animals and were visited multiple times by a wildlife expert, who brought live animals for observation.
The Pride Lands themselves were modeled after the Kenyan National Park. Aiming to escape the typical documentary portrayal of Africa, the team modeled their work after painters such as Maxfield Parrish and Charles Marion Russell, and also aimed to emulate the grand sweep of Lawrence of Arabia. The team watched several John Ford films for inspiration as well.
As with several of Disney’s recent efforts, CGI was used in spare scenes. The wildebeest stampede was primarily CGI animation. For over two years, five specially-trained animators worked on the sequence, creating five distinct wildebeests, multiplying them, cel-shading them to make them look more hand-drawn, and then giving them randomized paths to simulate a herd’s real movement.
Disney cast voice actors to try to match each character’s unique personality. James Earl Jones was hired due to his voice reminding them of a lion’s roar. Matthew Broderick was hired early in production and ended up recording with only one other actor. He didn’t even learn who voiced Simba’s love interest until the film’s premiere. Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella originally auditioned for Zazu and a hyena, respectively, but the directors found them so funny together that they were given Timon and Pumbaa. The directors also wanted to recruit Cheech and Chong to play hyenas, but as Tommy Chong was unavailable, his character turned into the female hyena Shenzi and Whoopi Goldberg was cast; she was insistent on being part of the film. Oppositely, Rowan Atkinson absolutely resisted auditioning for the film, feeling he was not right for voice acting, but Robin Driscoll convinced him to do the part of Zazu.
A bevy of actors were considered for Scar including Tim Curry, Alan Rickman, Patrick Stewart, and Ian McKellan. Jeremy Irons ultimately landed the part, despite initially turning it down, as he wanted to pursue further dramatic acting in the vein of his role in Reversal of Fortune. Disney met Irons in the middle, incorporating mannerisms from that character into Scar, including the line “You have no idea.”‘
The result of this maelstrom of competing ideas and influences is a film that can be counted as Disney Animation’s first truly original feature-length story. While others such as Fantasia and the Wartime-era films can technically make that claim, they were all either collections of shorts, or frankly light on story. The Lion King‘s messy production gave birth to a story that is not a direct adaptation of anything else.
Disney decided to directly highlight the film in the marketing, using the opening “Circle of Life” sequence as the first main trailer. Despite the film only being a third complete, the trailer started screening in late 1993 to rave audience reactions. An extensive marketing campaign followed, one of its most successful to date, earning Disney around one billion dollars in merchandising.
The film itself opened in June 1994. To call it successful would be an understatement. It became the highest-grossing animated film of all time by the end of its initial run, earning $763.5 million. In an unprecedented move, the film was dubbed into 28 different languages, including Zulu, a Disney first. The aggressive marketing paid off as it became a cultural sensation in the summer of 1994 and opened to \rave reviews, though Gene Siskel was notably lukewarm. The soundtrack was its own cultural force, selling many copies and earning the film two Academy Awards, one for Hans Zimmer’s score and another for Best Original Song for “Can You Feel the Love Tonight.”
It’s legacy has solidified as one of the most popular films in Disney canon. It has received several direct-to-video sequels, prominent placement in the Disney parks, spin-off TV shows, many video games, and a feature in the Kingdom Hearts series. Most prominently, The Lion King was adapted into a major Broadway musical, perhaps the most successful and notable Disney adaptation to Broadway, as that musical earned six Tony Awards and still runs to this day.
It also received a CGI remake in 2019, which itself became one of the highest grossing films of all-time, though had a far more mixed critical reception. That CGI film then received its own prequel film, centered around Mufasa. There hasn’t been a lack of controversy since its release, with a prominent accusation being that the movie stole ideas and images from the Japanese anime TV series Kimba the White Lion. The jury is out on how much anyone at Disney knew or drew from Kimba in making The Lion King, though plenty of viable alternate sources of inspiration have been given. Regardless of these controversies, The Lion King remains king of the Disney pantheon, or at least in the top 5, as it is one of the studio’s most beloved works.
Unlike the unclear origin for The Lion King, Pocahontas clearly began as the brain child of Mike Gabriel. Gabriel was fresh off of The Rescuers Down Under and wanted to direct something vastly different. He conceived the idea in Thanksgiving 1990 after reading a book on Pocahontas’s life. He pitched the idea to executives including Eisner, Katzenberg, and Roy E. Disney, among others. Using an image of Tiger Lily from Peter Pan, he described the story as that of a woman caught between love for the English enemy and love for her father and her people. This struck a chord with Animation President Peter Schneider, who saw it as akin to Romeo and Juliet, resulting in quick approval and the fastest turnaround in Disney history.
Following Beauty and the Beast‘s unexpected Academy Award success, Katzenberg saw the romance of Pocahontas as a chance for more Oscar glory and executives began to push for the characters to be older, more reserved, and aimed toward a mature audience. To this end, animals did not talk in this film but instead pantomimed. Eric Goldberg was asked to co-direct after his animation successes on Aladdin and The Lion King. Racial riots in Los Angeles in 1992 convinced Goldberg to join in the more mature approach, and he hoped for the film to comment on racial themes. However, Goldberg would not last, as executive interference became so constant that he ended up leaving Disney entirely.
Glen Keane was selected to animate Pocahontas following his acclaimed work on Ariel. He and other filmmakers visited Jamestown to research for the film, including meeting with descendants of the Native Americans depicted in the film and to speak with historians at Old Dominion. Keane would base Pocahontas on several of the women he met during the trip, including Shirley ‘Little Dove’ Custalow-McGowan and Devi White Dove. He also looked at models such as Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell, and a 1620 portrait of Pocahontas. Due to the growing complexity of the character’s design and color, 55 different animators ended up working on her.
Some Native American consultants later expressed dismay for working on the film after they realized the push for historical accuracy stopped at the doors of commercial appeal. Story supervisor Tom Sito may have began seeking historical fidelity, but he comprised accuracy throughout. He focused the romance on John Smith, as he felt Pocahontas’s real-world marriage to John Rolfe was too violent for young audiences. He also took liberties with Smith himself, considering the massive age gap and that Smith was not a likable person. This became a constant theme, with many of Pocahontas’s life events getting excised due to not fitting the narrative. John Ratcliffe was made the villain mostly because his name sounded most villainous. Eisner initially pushed for Pocahontas to have a mother, feeling flack for Disney films never having mothers, but writers pointed to the polygamous practices of Powhatans as a reason to keep the focus on the father.
Grandmother Willow was developed after a male spiritual ancestor was discarded. Gregory Peck had already been cast, but he backed out as he felt a maternal figure was more appropriate. Katzenberg outright opposed the Grandmother Willow character, as the writers deliberately wrote in in a bunch of silly tree puns. Ironically, the inclusion of these puns turned the tide of the executives’ opinion, resulting in them pushing for more of the Willow character. It was around this time that Katzenberg expressed his view that this would be Disney’s next hit and that The Lion King would prove too experimental for wide audiences. This statement directed many animators to shift to working on Pocahontas, hoping for the prestige to rub off.
For casting, Disney set out to cast Native Americans in as many roles as possible. Yet Judy Kuhn was first hired to be the singing voice of Pocahontas, continuing the new theme at Disney of having Broadway involved in their productions; consultants from Broadway shows were being attached to every project. Irene Bedard, a Native American, was then cast for Pocahontas’s dialogue as she was a close match for Kuhn’s voice. Mel Gibson was cast as John Smith, following Gibson’s desire to do a role for his children, and he broke a trend by being one of the few non-Broadway lead voice performers to do his own singing. Russel Means was cast as Chief Powhatan, though he did not appreciate the script having Native Americans address each other by name rather than in terms such as “my father” or “my friend.”
Howard Ashman and Alan Menken were originally on tap to do the music, but following Ashman’s death, Menken was asked to work with Tim Rice again. Due to Rice’s proclivity for running around the world, Menken was dismayed at the idea, resulting in Disney hiring Stephen Schwartz. Their pairing was not as rosy as the Menken-Ashman partnership, as both stepped over each other’s work on occasion. Schwartz became more vocal about having story influence due to his passionate feelings on the themes of racial tolerance and cooperation. He visited Jamestown himself and started with “Colors of the Wind” to make it the aural heart of the film.
Regardless of their acrimony, the soundtrack was a hit, reaching triple platinum certification. As for the film itself, it somewhat replicated The Lion King‘s success. It too was promoted with a song sequence as a trailer, had the largest opening in film history at the time when it opened in Central Park, and timed its wide release to Pocahontas’s 400th birthday. However, while Pocahontas had a successful box office run, cumulatively grossing $346.1 million, it was considered a disappointment compared to The Lion King. All the same, Eisner felt it matched the success of Beauty and the Beast. Critics were far more mixed on it, with many criticizing the storytelling choices and muddled plotting. The animation received plenty of praise, as did the music, but it seemed that the push for a mature film resulted more in a bland one, as critics noted the lack of humor, and some recycled elements. The historical accuracy and handling of racial themes also received mixed commentary, with some feeling it did a good job of highlighting the history of violence against Native Americans, and others feeling it provided a whitewashed take on history.
Regardless of initial reception, Pocahontas has had a decent legacy. It continued a trend of Oscar gold for its score and for Best Original Song (“Colors of the Wind”). It received its share of video games, direct-to-video sequels, and has shown up occasionally in Disney crossovers such as Ralph Breaks the Internet. Many feel that the film is responsible for an increased trend of stronger female protagonists in Disney, stating that it influenced the later appearances of Mulan, Elsa, and Rapunzel. While few would argue that it doesn’t quite stand as tall as the titans of the early 90s, it still is firmly considered part of the Renaissance.
While The Lion King does bear strong resemblances to the beats of Hamlet, it carves its own path and world. With its lion monarchy, the film deftly tells a story of coming-of-age, positioning Simba’s arrogance as a source of downfall, resulting in extreme guilt after he loses his father. Though bratty, Jonathan Taylor-Thomas and later Matthew Broderick humanize Simba’s character and make him one of Disney’s best protagonists. The hilarity of Timon and Pumbaa’s dynamic, the growling evil of Jeremy Iron’s Scar, and the romance Simba and Nala share are all big beats that the film pulls off with bombast. It is efficient storytelling, with the script not wasting a minute. The world feels lived in, and James Earl Jones’s performance leaves such an impression that Mufasa serves as a thematic underpinning of the whole work. It is one of Disney’s best stories.
By comparison, story is probably the weakest aspect of Pocahontas. Focusing more on its romance, the characters of John Smith and Pocahontas are decently developed, and the idea of their characters learning from each other and trying to bridge their two different worlds is a decent one. As executed, the film can be a bit plodding in its pacing, with more screentime than ideas to fill it. The film aims for a more mature examination of the world, but it backs down from the ideas and violence that would truly give it that depth. The result is a film that feels like a shell of what its trying to be. Governor Ratcliffe is also a rather bland villain, perhaps the weakest one of the Renaissance films. His dog leaves more of an impression.
As a result, The Lion King easily knocks it out of the (national) park here and takes this category.
Winner: The Lion King
Pairing Elton John’s songwriting with the acumen of Tim Rice and the score of Hans Zimmer and Lebo M was one of Disney’s most masterful moves. The music of The Lion King may be its best aspect, which is saying something with a film this great. Rarely can you say that every single song from a film is memorable, but such is the case here. The opening number “Circle of Life” is a thunderous and momentous piece, explaining to the audience in four minutes the scope of the film. The blasting opening lines in Zulu are instantly memorable, with the choral chanting bringing in the wonderful hybrid of traditional African sounds with the showtune style of Broadway. Hans Zimmer’s themes weave in and out from all of the songs, emphasizing the big moments of the film. The clever and hilarious lyricism of “Hakuna Matata” and “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” are a testament to Elton John and Tim Rice’s skills, and both will forever be fun sing-alongs. Scar has one of the best villain songs in “Be Prepared’,” sung mostly by Irons himself, with its own snarling lyrics turning into ear-worms. And even after all of these fantastic songs, there remains the Oscar-winning “Can You Feel the Love Tonight.” One of Disney’s most passionate romance themes, the song position Simba and Nala’s romance and advances Simba’s coming-of-age story, with Simba internally wrestling with his guilt and Nala determined to see Simba become the person she knows he can be. That it is all rendered in a gorgeous melody, exploding in a final chorus with Zimmer’s themes and melodies woven via choral singing. It is simply one of Disney’s best musical compositions, and this may be the best soundtrack in Disney history.
Pocahontas is no slouch in the music department. The highlights of the film are Judy Kuhn’s two numbers as the titular character. “Just Around the Riverbend” is a prototypical Disney princess song about the hero facing a decision of tradition versus finding a new path. Despite the familiar material, the lyrics work well in tandem with the film’s natural focus, and Kuhn’s voice really carries the choruses in conjunction with flighty strings. The best track is “Colors of the Wind,” as Pocahontas tries to show John Smith that his prejudices are off-base and to appreciate the North American beauty, both in nature as well as people. This song is the one that best captures everything this film tries to say, even where the plot lets the promise of the song down. The animation in this sequence is gorgeous, and were this whole film as great as this song, it might present more of a challenge to The Lion King. Songs like “Savages” and “The Virginia Company” are competent if not particular memorable or exciting.
Again, The Lion King wins out through simple mass. The consistency across its soundtrack is nearly unmatched in all of Disney canon, whereas Pocahontas offers only one true titan in the Disney music repertoire.
Winner: The Lion King
The beauty of The Lion King is on display from the opening frame. The African sun peeking out to the opening words of “Circle of Life” is a powerful moment. There’s a reason Disney had confidence in using this for a trailer. The realism of the imagery, combined with just enough artistic embellishment, signals what this film’s style will be. Not that it is afraid of getting a little more stylized, with “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” throwing together lots of bright colors and more extravagant visuals. But fidelity to natural beauty keeps this film shining. The ethereal wonder of Mufasa’s ghost, the dried out husk of the Pride Lands in the end, and that amazing wildebeest sequence are all among the visual highlights of the film. The character design is also excellent, giving the characters plenty of personality and expression while still maintaining authenticity to real-life animals. The hyenas look great, Zazu looks great, and even Scar, among the more stylized of the characters, still looks like a real lion even with his black mane and scar. It’s the animation that helps make The Lion King the full package.
Though Pocahontas fell short in the other categories, this is where Pocahontas fights on even ground. The hand-drawn Renaissance era of animation is nearly across-the-board excellent throughout these films, and this one is no different. The rendering of North American landscapes and animals benefits from the research done and efforts to maintain fidelity to real life. Like The Lion King, just enough touch of artistic creativity spruces it up, with Grandmother Willow being a really neat character design. The colors of “Colors of the Wind” really bring the song to life and make for the film’s best sequence. And while the music in “Savages” could be more memorable, you can’t fault the animation. It really is lovely and builds up the tension of the moment. There is a huge leap forward here from the depiction of Native Americans in Peter Pan, with the all of the research paying off to help the film more accurately depict other cultures.
Despite Pocahontas being a beautifully animated work, The Lion King must win again. It simply has too many powerful and notable visuals, from Pride Rock to the Elephant Graveyard and Simba’s journey back to The Pride Lands, and more. But this is easily the closest category, and Pocahontas barely misses out on winning.
Winner: The Lion King
This is no surprise. The Lion King wins with ease. It absolutely dominates Pocahontas on most fronts, with a much better story, overall soundtrack, and notable characters. While the animation of both films is lovely and nearly head to head, it isn’t enough to defeat The Lion King. The Lion King is the crown jewel in Disney’s canon (no pun intended), blending together all of the various elements from its history into one of the best animated films of all time. It holds up even thirty years later as a pinnacle of Western animation. One of the greatest scenes in Disney canon, where Mufasa teaches Simba about the inevitability of death and loss but that Simba will always carry those that came before with in him in the stars and his heart, never fails to make me tear up.
The Lion King
- Ranked #132 globally
- Wins 60% of matchups
- 108,660 users have ranked it 995,650 times
- 1381 have it as their #1 film
- Ranked 1/65 in the Walt Disney Animation Studios filter
Pocahontas
- Ranked #3925 globally
- Wins 31% of matchups
- 24,292 users have ranked it 191,665 times
- 26 have it as their #1 film
- Ranked 41/65 in the Walt Disney Animation Studios filter
- The Lion King (1994)
- Bambi (1942)
- Beauty and the Beast (1991)
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
- Aladdin (1992)
- Cinderella (1950)
- The Little Mermaid (1989)
- Fantasia (1940)
- Peter Pan (1953)
- The Fox and the Hound (1981)
- The Jungle Book (1967)
- Robin Hood (1973)
- Alice in Wonderland (1951)
- Pinocchio (1940)
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)
- One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)
- Lady and the Tramp (1955)
- Oliver & Company (1988)
- Pocahontas (1995)
- The Rescuers (1977)
- The Aristocats (1970)
- The Black Cauldron (1985)
- Dumbo (1941)
- Sleeping Beauty (1959)
- The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)
- The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
- The Three Caballeros (1944)
- The Rescuers Down Under (1990)
- The Sword in the Stone (1963)
- Melody Time (1948)
- Saludos Amigos (1942)
- Fun and Fancy Free (1947)
- Make Mine Music (1946)
