2011 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

©2011 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Songs by. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TIM RICE
and ELTON JOHN
Artistic Supervisors
Story. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BRENDA CHAPMAN
Layout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DAN ST. PIERRE
Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DOUG BALL
Clean-Up. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VERA LANPHER
Visual Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SCOTT SANTORO
Computer Graphics Imagery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SCOTT F. JOHNSTON
Story
BURNY MATTINSON
BARRY JOHNSON
LORNA COOK
THOM ENRIQUEZ
ANDY GASKILL
GARY TROUSDALE
JIM CAPOBIANCO
KEVIN HARKEY
JORGEN KLUBEIN
CHRIS SANDERS
TOM SITO
LARRY LEKER
JOE RANFT
RICK MAKI
ED GOMBERT
FRANCIS GLEBAS
MARK KAUSLER
Original Score Composed and Arranged by. . . . . . . . . . . HANS ZIMMER
Additional Story Material
WALT DISNEY PICTURES
Presents
“THE LION KING”
Directed by. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ROGER ALLERS
and ROB MINKOFF
Produced by. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DON HAHN
Screenplay by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IRENE MECCHI
and JONATHAN ROBERTS
and LINDA WOOLVERTON
J.T. ALLEN
MIGUEL TEJADA-FLORES
BOB TZUDIKER
KIRK WISE
Executive Producers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . THOMAS SCHUMACHER
and SARAH McARTHUR
GEORGE SCRIBNER
MIGUEL TEJADA-FLORES
BOB TZUDIKER
KIRK WISE
“Can You Feel the Love Tonight” Performed by . . . . . . . . . . ELTON JOHN
CAST
(in alphabetical order)
Zazu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ROWAN ATKINSON
Simba. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MATTHEW BRODERICK
Young Nala. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NIKETA CALAME
Ed . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JIM CUMMINGS
Shenzi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WHOOPI GOLDBERG
Rafiki. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ROBERT GUILLAUME
Scar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JEREMY IRONS
Mufasa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JAMES EARL JONES
Nala. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MOIRA KELLY
Timon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NATHAN LANE
Banzai. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHEECH MARIN
Pumbaa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ERNIE SABELLA
Sarabi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MADGE SINCLAIR
Young Simba. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JONATHAN TAYLOR THOMAS
Produced by. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHRIS THOMAS
Associate Producer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ALICE DEWEY
Art Direction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ANDY GASKILL
Production Design. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHRIS SANDERS
Artistic Coordinator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RANDY FULLMER
Supervising Editors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TOM FINAN
and JOHN CARNOCHAN
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CINEMATIC HISTORY
“The Lion King” Leaps Off the Charts
When “The Lion King” first roared into theaters in 1994, the
story of Simba and his father touched the hearts of an entire
generation—its pioneering soundtrack, unexpected humor and
compelling characters captivated audiences worldwide. The
film, which followed “The Little Mermaid” and “Beauty and the
Beast,” propelled The Walt Disney Studios’ animation renaissance,
becoming the highest-grossing animated film of all time. (In
the U.S., it continues to be the highest-grossing hand-drawn
animated film ever.) “The Lion King” won the Oscar® for Best
Original Score (Hans Zimmer) and Best Original Song (Elton
John/Tim Rice, “Can You Feel the Love Tonight”) and earned
Golden Globes® in both categories as well as for Best Motion Picture—Comedy or Musical. It is the best-selling home entertainment release
of all time and inspired a Tony Award®-winning Broadway musical that became the seventh-longest-running musical in Broadway history in
January 2011.
And now, the popular classic is in 3D for the first time ever.
A special two-week theatrical extravaganza kicks off Sept. 16, 2011,
showcasing the film on the big screen in Disney Digital 3D™. Its highly
anticipated home-entertainment debut kicks off October 4, celebrating
the Diamond Edition release of the epic movie “The Lion King” in highdefinition Blu-ray™ and Blu-ray 3D™.
Nearly a decade since “The Lion King” last appeared on the big screen, the
upcoming theatrical release invites new generations into the Circle of Life.
The two-week, 3D presentation is a planned wide domestic release—the
biggest since the film’s 1994 debut—and the film’s first-ever 3D release.
The Blu-ray debut marks the first time “The Lion King” has been available in any form since 2004. Featuring pristine high-definition picture and
sound, the Blu-ray creates an incredible at-home experience with a host of picture and sound enhancements, interactive features and bonus
content, including a new set of hilarious animated bloopers.
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“The Lion King”: Diamond Edition home-entertainment release will be available from the Disney Vault for a limited time only beginning
October 4, as follows:
• 4-Disc Blu-ray Combo Pack (for the suggested retail price of $49.99 U.S./$56.99 Canada)
o “The Lion King” = Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy™
• 2-Disc Blu-ray Combo Pack (for the suggested retail price of
$39.99 U.S./$46.99 Canada)
o “The Lion King” = Blu-ray + DVD
• 8-Disc Trilogy (for the suggested retail price of $100.00
U.S./$115.00 Canada)
o “The Lion King” = Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy
o “The Lion King 1 ½” = Blu-ray + DVD
o “The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride” = Blu-ray + DVD
The one-disc DVD edition will be available on November 15.
CAN YOU FEEL THE LOVE?
“‘The Lion King’ is essentially a love story between a father and son,” says producer Don Hahn, whose recent projects include Tim Burton’s
“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
his wisdom and knowledge. The Circle of Life. Someday we all become adults. The baton will be passed on to us and we’re going to have to
grow up.”
An original story, breathtaking animation, beloved characters and award-winning music set the stage for “The Lion King,” a Disney classic that
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
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
Timon and his warmhearted warthog pal, Pumbaa. Adopting their carefree lifestyle of “Hakuna Matata,” Simba ignores his real responsibilities
until he realizes his destiny and returns to the Pride Lands to claim his place in the Circle of Life. The all-star vocal talents—including Matthew
Broderick, Nathan Lane, Whoopi Goldberg, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, Ernie Sabella, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Robert Guillaume, Cheech
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.
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Produced by Hahn and directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff from
a script by Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts and Linda Woolverton, “The
Lion King” features five popular songs by legendary singer/songwriter
Elton John and Academy Award®-winning lyricist Tim Rice, plus composer
Hans Zimmer’s evocative score and musical supervision. Set against
the breathtaking natural beauty, mysticism and diversity of the African
landscape, captured and stylized by a team of top artistic talents, Disney’s
32nd full-length animated film is a uniquely entertaining coming-of-age
allegory based on an original story that has since joined the ranks of classic
fairy tales and literary favorites. “The Lion King” is rated G by the MPAA.
According to Allers, who went on to direct the short “The Little Matchgirl”
and Sony Pictures Animation’s “Open Season,” “The real heart and
emotional underpinning of the whole story is the father-son relationship.
At one point in the film, Simba steps into his father’s paw print and we
see this image of his little paw in an enormous print. It is very symbolic.
When his father is taken away from him too soon, he feels unworthy and
inadequate. My favorite part of the film is when his father returns in ghost
form and tells him that his spirit lives on in his son.”
Minkoff, who later directed “The Forbidden Kingdom” and “Flypaper,” adds: “We set out to do something very different from the things that had
been done before. ‘Aladdin,’ ‘Beauty’ and ‘Mermaid’ were all basically love stories, and this one is more about the relationship between a father
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 Disney films.”
Recalls Lane, who later reteamed with Broderick on Broadway in “The Producers,” “They showed us two clips from the movie and I thought to
myself, ‘Well, not only is this good, there’s something very special about this.’ Obviously, there’s something in [the film] that touches people—
it’s why it was hugely successful and why it stays with people. [The
filmmakers] worked for a long time to get the story right and that’s why
these films work and why they’re considered classics.”
Broderick remembers the first time he saw the film with an audience.
“There’s nothing like sitting with a real audience,” he says. “I thought, ‘Wow,
these children will take their children [someday].’ I could tell I was part of
‘Snow White.’ It felt like we were part of those movies that seem to live
years and years through generations.”
“THE LION KING” LIKE NEVER BEFORE
Filmmakers Add All-New Dimension to Classic Film
“The Lion King” is one of Disney’s first hand-drawn 2D animated classic to be revamped with the latest 3D technology. Filmmakers decided
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.
“The 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
to score a film, having it echo the emotional content of the story. Getting the chance to add 3D to ‘The Lion King’ and to work with the original
filmmakers to ensure the use of depth reflected their vision and enhanced their story was an incredible opportunity.”
Producer Don Hahn, along with the original directors, Rob Minkoff and Roger Allers, viewed every single image of the film during the 3D
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conversion process, providing direction
on depth queues as well as final
approval on the shots during dailies.
Additionally, a handful of artists who
worked on the 3D conversion process
also worked on the original release of
“The Lion King.”
The conversion required a team of
more than 60 3D artists from multiple
disciplines, including lighting, layout,
effects and software engineering.
Together, they defined a new dimension
for “The Lion King,” returning to the
original CAPS files (the compositing software program) and painstakingly working to establish the perception of depth necessary to establish
the third dimensionality to the imagery. Overseeing each step, Neuman created the 3D Script for the film, which involved mapping out the
depth levels of each layer given to establish the 3D effects. With some scenes holding more than 100 composited layers of elements and
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.
One of the more challenging characters to convert to 3D was Zazu—
Mufasa’s chief of protocol—with his wings and beak requiring several
layers of 3D depth. The most difficult sequence to convert within the
film was Scar’s villainous song “Be Prepared,” because it contained several
effects shots and a multitude of characters, including hoards of his hyena
henchmen.
From start to finish, the entire conversion project took four months—a
remarkably quick turnaround, given the complexity of imagery and the
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
the beauty and charm of traditional animation with the immersive quality
of 3D cinema and see an entirely new art form emerge,” says Neuman. “In
this way, no matter how many times they had enjoyed ‘The Lion King’ in
the past, we could give audiences the thrill of seeing it once again…for
the first time!”
“With this new 3D release, audiences will experience ‘The Lion King’ as
they have never before,” says Sara Duran Singer, senior vice president of
post production for The Walt Disney Studios. “They will be immersed in
the savanna and surrounded by the exciting images and incredible new
7.1/3D Disney mix by Academy Award® nominee Terry Porter (“Beauty
and the Beast”). It’s not to be missed!”
NEW ANIMATION FOR BLU-RAY BONUS FEATURES
Recalling the Hijinks
To create one of the many new bonus features accompanying “The Lion King” on its Blu-ray® Diamond Edition debut, Producer Don Hahn
reassembled many of the supervising character animators from the 1994 production to animate all-new sequences for an exclusive “Lion King”
5
blooper reel. Featuring never-before-seen outtakes of recording sessions with the film’s voice
talent, these hilarious new moments add to the fun and enjoyment of this classic film.
Says Hahn: “When we were making the movie, there was always fun and hijinks behind the scenes,
and it’s stuff you never share, because it’s your dirty laundry. When it came time to put together
the Blu-ray for ‘The Lion King,’ we thought it would be fun to dust off some of the old recording
sessions and find those little gems from Matthew Broderick, James Earl Jones and Nathan Lane
that were the flubs and outtakes, things that didn’t make it to the screen. And we did. Our poor
editor went through what had to be 200 hours’ worth of recording sessions that spanned a threeyear period. She came up with bucketfuls of stuff and we went back to the original animators.
We wanted to get down to the best of the best, the three minutes that is the essence of these
characters.”
UNFORGETTABLE
Original Story, Stellar Soundtrack and Cool Characters Come Together
“The Lion King” follows the epic adventures of young Simba (voiced by Jonathan Taylor Thomas), a lion cub who struggles to accept the
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
frolicking with his pal Nala (voiced by Niketa Calame). His father, King
Mufasa (voiced by James Earl Jones), the revered ruler of the Pride Lands
and the lands that surround it, teaches him about the Circle of Life—the
delicate balance of nature which bonds all animals together—and helps
him prepare for the day when he will be called upon to lead. Mufasa’s evil
brother, Scar (voiced by Jeremy Irons), hopes that day will never arrive and
schemes to do away with the king and Simba so that he can assume the
throne for his own tyrannical purposes. He and his hyena henchmen—
Shenzi (voiced by Whoopi Goldberg), Banzai (voiced by Cheech Marin)
and Ed (voiced by Jim Cummings)—lure Simba into the path of a
wildebeest stampede in which Mufasa perishes trying to save his son. Scar then convinces Simba that he is responsible for his father’s death
and urges him to run far away from the Pride Lands and never return.
A frightened and guilt-ridden Simba flees into exile, where he is befriended by a wacky but warmhearted warthog named Pumbaa (voiced
by Ernie Sabella) and his freewheeling meerkat companion, Timon (voiced by Nathan Lane). Simba adopts their “Hakuna Matata” (no worries)
attitude toward life, living on a diet of bugs and taking things one day at a
time. The cub matures into a young adult (voiced by Matthew Broderick)
and is able to put his past behind him until Nala, now a beautiful young
lioness (voiced by Moira Kelly), arrives on the scene and tells him of the
hard times and suffering that have come to the Pride Lands under Scar’s
reign. With the help of Rafiki (voiced by Robert Guillaume), a wise shaman
baboon, Simba realizes that his father’s spirit lives on in him and that he
must accept the responsibility of his destined role as king. But first, he
must take on his uncle and his army of hyenas.
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.
Actress Madge Sinclair provided the maternal voice of Simba’s mother, Queen Sarabi.
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DOING THEIR HOMEWORK
For the more than 600 artists, animators and technicians who contributed to “The Lion King” over its lengthy production schedule, the film
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
backgrounds and 119,058 individually colored frames of film.
To prepare the filmmakers for the daunting task of capturing the vast
natural beauty of Africa in animation, six members of the creative team
visited Eastern Africa during the early stages of production. For each
of them, the trip had a profound impact and helped them create and
design the exciting visuals that make this film so special and unique.
Close encounters with real lions and other jungle animals helped shape
and define the roles the characters would play in the film. The numerous
sketches, photos and videos they brought back with them enabled art
director Andy Gaskill and production designer Chris Sanders to add
authentic flavor to the reality-based “fantasy Africa” they were creating for the film. The unforgettable images of fiery sunrises, velvety-blue
nights, dusty gorges, lush green jungles and earth-tone colors of the Serengeti were all inspired by this trip and the natural beauty that
abounds here.
FINDING THE CIRCLE OF LIFE
The idea for an African-based coming-of-age story originated in the story
department of Walt Disney Animation Studios in 1990. The project was
initially called “King of the Jungle” and, like most animated features, its
development was evolutionary, taking years to create and refine.
According to producer Hahn, “The strength of our process here at Disney
is the ability and willingness to throw things out, move things around or
try something completely different. For example, the song ‘Can You Feel
the Love Tonight’ was in different places and sung by different characters
during the course of the production and finally became the beautiful love
ballad that is in the final film.”
For story head Brenda Chapman, who went on to direct “The Prince of Egypt” at DreamWorks and now calls Pixar Animation Studios home, the
process was very rewarding but not without its share of frustrations. “Writing an original story is definitely more challenging,” says Chapman,
“because there is nothing to fall back on. There is no structure to begin
with. Sometimes we found ourselves in left field and didn’t know it until
we were way out there. The story changed quite a bit from the initial
idea that Simba would stay with the pride after his father’s death. It was
our job to make the main character likable and sympathetic. It was also
challenging to make the environment and characters interesting. In real
life, lions basically sleep, eat and have no props.”
Chapman credits her trip to Kenya in 1991 as being a real turning point on
this project. “It made me very passionate about this film and helped me
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
popular expression over there. Rafiki’s nonsense rhyme—‘asante sana, squash banana…we we negu, mi mi apana’—also came out of that trip.
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
because it was so amusing and it worked perfectly when we needed it for the scene with Rafiki and Simba.”
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In April 1992, when Minkoff joined the directing team, a brainstorming
session was held to revamp the story. For two days, producer Hahn presided
over the intensive discussion that included the two directors and Chapman.
Also attending were Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale, the directing and storysavvy duo responsible for “Beauty and the Beast.” What emerged was a
character makeover for Simba and a radically revised second half of the
film. Screenwriters Irene Mecchi and Jonathan Roberts later added comic
situations with foils Pumbaa and Timon, as well as the hyenas.
Mecchi enjoyed the process of writing an animated feature and describes it
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
period of time, there are always opportunities to improve and re-address issues and to contribute to the growth of the characters.”
Roberts adds, “As a writer, working on an animated film is very satisfying because the storyboard process lets you instantly visualize what you
have written and see your work immediately in picture form. The recording sessions are kind of like out-of-town tryouts for a play. You’re able
to hear the actors speaking your lines, and then you have the luxury of being able to go back and adjust the dialogue. The whole process is
very collaborative and it is a big satisfaction to hear moviegoers of all ages reacting to your lines.”
ART DIRECTION
Disney’s Artists Capture the Essence of Africa
At the same time that the story was beginning to take shape, the artistic
team was searching for the best ways to visualize and stylize the African
settings so that they would serve the needs of the story and still be realistic
enough to be believable. The trip to Africa had given Allers, Chapman
and production designer Chris Sanders a profound new appreciation for
the natural environments and inspired them to find ways to incorporate
these elements into the design of the film.
Art director Andy Gaskill played a key role in defining the film’s aesthetics
with his color sketches, numerous workbook drawings and suggestions
for everything from character design to layout and effects. His interpretation of the opening musical sequence, “Circle of Life,” in terms of
composition, staging and design set the tone for the stylized realism that was to influence much of the film. “Africa is the unspoken character
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
of Arabia’ and to have that same element of drama played against a huge canvas with nature and weather. We wanted audiences to sense
the vastness of the savanna and to feel the dust and the breeze swaying
through the grass. In other words, to get a real sense of nature and to feel
as if they were there. It’s very difficult to capture something as subtle as
a sunrise or rain falling on a pond, but those are the kinds of images that
we tried to get.”
Adds Hahn: “The look of the film celebrates the cyclical nature of jungle life
and the seasons in Africa. There are droughts and fires within the context
of the story and finally rain, which represents life and rejuvenation. In
terms of the locales, we ended up creating a ‘fantasy Africa,’ using real
elements and heightening their reality. We grabbed places from all over the continent—Kenya, the Ivory Coast, even Casablanca—and put
them into one film. N.C. Wyeth’s paintings inspired us with their powerful composition, bold dramatic strokes, dynamic light sources and
8
simple color palettes. Maxfield Parrish’s work was another great source for us, and J.C. Leyendecker’s strong designs and approach to illustrated
characters were very similar to what we were trying to achieve.”
According to Minkoff, “When I first came onto the project, it
occurred to me that the film had a lot of the same themes
and imagery of classic American western paintings and films.
We had the epic landscapes, the evocative lighting and the
protagonist’s internal struggle of responsibility. Studying
the dramatic styles of such classic painters and Frederic
Remington and Charles Marion Russell and seeing how they
depicted tremendous scope and beautiful lighting was a
tremendous inspiration. Watching some of the epic Western
films of John Ford and other great directors also had an
impact on our final approach and design.”
Gaskill credits the use of subliminal elements like wind and lighting with helping to make the film seem real and alive. “There are a lot of scenes
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
implies an atmosphere and a weather condition that you can’t get any other way. In other scenes, we have moving clouds casting shadows
and changing light patterns onto the ground below. Without these things, the scene wouldn’t be nearly as special.”
Background supervisor Doug Ball and his team of 20 artists get much
of the credit for adding depth and realism to the settings. Ball’s keen
instincts for color styling and ability to capture subtle gradations of light
in a landscape helped to make the film consistently interesting and
believable. The extraordinary work of effects supervisor Scott Santoro and
his team also added an extra variety of natural elements. In his role as
artistic coordinator, Randy Fullmer worked closely with all the different
departments and made sure the overall look of the film was consistent
and true to the integrity of the artistic vision.
Dealing with the sprawling, horizontal African landscapes proved to be another challenge for Gaskill and Dan St. Pierre, the film’s layout
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
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.”
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
more fanciful sequences and stylistic departures.
His distinctly graphic approach is evident in two of
the musical numbers “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King”
and “Hakuna Matata,” as well as in the climactic fight
sequence between Scar and Simba.
Sanders, who cites the wacky, abstract title song
sequence from Disney’s animated “The Three
Caballeros” as being a major influence on his desire
to become an animator, wanted to experiment
with the visuals for “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King.”
“During this particular song, the animals behave
much differently than they do in the rest of the film,”
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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
other, so I suggested that we diverge completely, visually, and make it a fantasy so we wouldn’t be changing the rules.
“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
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
whole landscape dissolves from one world to another. We used brighter colors, bolder shapes and a whole different design approach to make it look
different.”
SOUNDS OF THE SAVANNA
Groundbreaking Soundtrack Takes “The Lion King” to New Levels
Music has long been used to bring stories to life at The Walt Disney Studios. For “The Lion King,” filmmakers brought together a trio of musical
talents to create one of the most integral, sophisticated and delightful collaborations in the studio’s history.
Lyricist Tim Rice was the first member of the music team to join the project. “The studio asked me if I had any suggestions as to who could
write the music,” says Rice. “They said, ‘Choose anybody in the world and choose the best.’ I said, ‘Well, Elton John would be fantastic, but you
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.’ They asked him and, to
my amazement, Elton said ‘Yes.’”
Executive producer Tom Schumacher was dispatched to London to
present the story to John. “We found him to be a very interested and
insightful collaborator who was a big champion of turning this story
into a musical,” says Schumacher. “We showed him drafts of the script
and screened the rough cut of the film for him on several occasions. He
provided numerous comments and notes which we incorporated into
the film and which benefited the overall production. With Tim as our
main creative liaison, Elton became an important part of the filmmaking
process and really seemed to enjoy himself along the way.”
Says John, who recently executive produced and provided the music for the animated “Gnomeo & Juliet,” “I actually jumped at the chance
because I knew that Disney was a class act and I liked the storyline and the people immediately.
The Disney films last forever, and children watch them and adults watch them and get just as
much fun out of them. For me, this project was exciting and challenging because I had to write
differently from what I would write for myself. I was pleased that the story was about animals,
because ‘The Jungle Book’ is one of my favorite Disney films. I think that ‘The Lion King’ is the
funniest movie Disney made since ‘Jungle Book.’ In fact, I probably think it’s the funniest movie
they’ve ever made.”
Rice says that he was accustomed to writing lyrics to a tune—but “The Lion King” was different.
“Elton is one of those rare examples of a composer who actually likes to get the words first,” says
Rice. “In the case of a film like ‘The Lion King,’ that proved to be quite useful, because the key thing
with a Disney animated feature is to get the storyline dead right. Everything flows from the story.”
Rice became an integral part of the story team, with his lyrics becoming just as important to
the film as any other element of the script. He spent a great deal of time in meetings with the
producer, directors and writers during the production. Once the lyrics and placement of the
songs were agreed upon, Rice would serve as the “go-between” with Elton. “I was staggered
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by 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
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
afternoon. He didn’t want it before. By half past three, he’d finished writing and recording a stunning demo.”
John and Rice later collaborated on the Broadway musical “Aida” and DreamWorks’ “The Road to El Dorado.”
Of the five songs the duo wrote for “The Lion King,” “Circle of Life” stands apart as being perhaps the most meaningful to the theme of the
film. The 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
film without any establishing dialogue. The main vocal is delivered in an impressive and powerful gospel style by Carmen Twillie, a talented
performer with numerous film and recording credits.
“‘Circle of Life’ points out that everything is interrelated and that everybody has some sort of responsibility to somebody else,” says Rice. “We
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
very dramatic opening to the movie.”
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
the music team, composer/arranger Hans Zimmer. His genius for conceptualizing music and experimentation helped to transform John’s
essentially western pop/rock/gospel tunes into fully realized African-flavored melodies complete with authentic Zulu chanting, extensive
choral arrangements and rhythms and instrumentation associated with Africa. African-born singer/arranger Lebo M. helped Zimmer recruit
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
of Life” and throughout the film.
“The 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
turn them into what they are in the film,” says producer Don Hahn. “Elton’s gift is writing memorable, unforgettable melodies that move you.
He puts his emotions into his music, which is beautiful and stunning. Hans brings an added dimension to those songs through percussion and
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
sense, he is the final storyteller, with his ability to underline the emotions of the piece through his score and music supervision.”
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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
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
and then I start filling in the colors as I go along.”
The decision to use extensive choir vocals was Zimmer’s. “Musicians playing an instrument are basically just trying to get as close to the
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. The voice
speaks to you emotionally and more directly than going through the process of translating it into an instrument.”
Zimmer and Lebo M. built the perfect choral sound, and in April 1994,
Lebo traveled to BOP Recording Studios in Mmabatho (160 miles from
Johannesburg) to work with Mbongeni Ngema (“Sarafina”) in recording a
choir of 30 local singers for the final tracks.
The Zimmer-arranged version of “Circle of Life” was like a revelation to the
filmmakers and won the approval of composer Elton John. “It was written
as a straight song and it was his idea to give it an African slant and make
it like a chant,” says John. “His arrangement really made a difference to the
song and the movie’s opening. It fits in beautifully. I have tremendous respect for his talent as a writer/composer.”
Zimmer contributed in many ways to the overall emotional impact of the movie with his song arrangements and evocative score. “I think
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
the universal language.”
Perhaps the most difficult song in the film to write was the love ballad “Can
You Feel the Love Tonight.” Although chronologically it was the first to be
written, this song went through many modifications as this critical part
of the story evolved and was reworked time and again. By Rice’s count,
he wrote 15 sets of lyrics for that song over a period of several years. At
one point in the restructuring, the song was to be sung by Pumbaa and
Timon. Feeling quite strongly about the role of the “love song” in a Disney
film, John lobbied the directors to allow Simba and Nala to sing it as
intended. Joseph Williams and Sally Dworsky provide the singing voices
for the two lovers, with Kristle Edwards lending support. The original lyrics to “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” can be heard over the end credits
in John’s distinct version of the song.
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”
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
song. Jason Weaver is heard as Simba, while the multitalented 15-year-old Laura Williams, a classically trained pianist and a member of the
contemporary gospel recording group All God’s Children, chimes in as
Nala. Rowan Atkinson, as Zazu, also offers a few musical meanderings.
Jeremy Irons made his screen singing debut on “Be Prepared” as the
villainous Scar bares his teeth and ambitions to an army of hideous
hyenas. With just the right balance of menace and humor, the song itself
grows bigger and bigger as Scar gets carried away with himself and his
own oratory. Producer Hahn sees it as “a classic villain’s song where Scar
gets to twirl his mustache and hatch his plot. It launches into a kind of
bacchanal conga-line moment where the audience discovers what his
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real motivation is.”
The final song written for the film was “Hakuna Matata,” a delightful zydeco-flavored tune based on the Swahili expression for “no worries.”
Delivered with great fervor and panache by Broadway veterans Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella in their respective roles as Timon and Pumbaa,
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
like with his new companions. Jason Weaver and Joseph Williams take turns singing as Simba as he matures from a carefree cub to adulthood.
BRINGING THE CHARACTERS TO LIFE
Filmmakers Call on Nature Experts to Ensure Authenticity
Just as Walt Disney called upon the leading experts of the day to help his artists prepare for the task of realistically animating animals for the
1942 nature-based drama “Bambi,” Producer Don Hahn enlisted the expertise of top specialists to teach his crew some of the fine points of
animal behavior and anatomy.
Jim Fowler, renowned wildlife expert, adventurer and veteran of
television’s long-running “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom,” visited the
studio on several occasions with an assortment of lions and other jungle
inhabitants to discuss behavior and give the animators an authentic feel
for their subjects. He taught them how lions greet one another by gently
butting heads and show affection by placing one’s head under the other’s
chin. He talked about how they protect themselves by lying on their
backs and using their claws to ward off attackers and how they fight rivals
by rising on their hind legs like a clash of the titans.
Anatomy consultant Stuart Sumida, a biology professor at Cal State San
Bernardino, also helped the animators get a better understanding for
their characters’ movements through his informative lectures at the studio on comparative anatomy, skeletal structure and action analysis.
During those early experimental stages, animators also made frequent trips to the zoo—the Los Angeles Zoo, the San Diego Zoo and Wild
Animal Park, the Metro Zoo in Miami and the Living Desert Wildlife and Botanical Park in Palm Springs—to study everything from wildebeests
to meerkats. Animal trainer David McMillan and his 700-pound lion, Poncho, became regulars at the animation department while Nick Toth of
Cougar Hill Ranch corralled some of his large cat “pets” to help the cause.
According to producer Don Hahn, “Animators go through essentially all
the same processes that any actor does, except somehow they have to
distill those thoughts through the end of their fingers, onto a piece of
paper. And so the directors cast animators just like a director on a liveaction film would cast an actor.”
The biggest challenge on this film for the animators was to realistically
draw four-legged characters. Ruben Aquino, the supervising animator
responsible for adult Simba, who most recently worked on this year’s
“Winnie the Pooh,” had the distinction of being the first artist assigned to
“The Lion King.” His initial job was to research different forms of animal locomotion and to lay the groundwork for his colleagues who would
soon be joining the production. He watched every wildlife documentary he could get his hands on, made numerous sketches and workbooks
and analyzed different forms of locomotion, from the rocking, prancing moves of the wildebeests and the loping gait of the hyenas to the
trot-like run of the warthog.
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“Animal locomotion is one of the hardest things to do in animation,” says Aquino. “With
quadrupeds, you’ve got twice as many legs to worry about as you do with human characters.
Animating their movements from certain angles can be very difficult, and transitioning between
a run and a walk cycle is particularly hard. It was important that the audience believe that these
characters were real, and the more we understood their anatomy, the easier it was to animate.”
Also helpful to Aquino during his research phase was watching some of the Disney animated
classics. “‘Lady and the Tramp’ was a great inspiration in terms of the acting. No other film has
done better as far as creating personality in four-legged animals goes. I really liked the way Tramp
delivers his lines while he’s walking. ‘The Jungle Book’ and ‘Bambi’ were also useful for reference
purposes.”
Aquino also drew major inspiration from Matthew Broderick, who provides the voice for his
character. “He’s got a very warm and appealing voice,” says the animator. “There’s also a lot of
humor and vulnerability in his delivery, which really gave me something to go on and made it
easier for me to flesh out my performance.”
Director Minkoff added, “Matthew was able to humanize the hero character for us with his performance and give Simba a lot of depth.
Sometimes heroes end up becoming two-dimensional because they are very difficult roles to approach. Matthew brought a great deal of
sensitivity and thoughtfulness to the role, along with sincerity and a sense of humor.”
Working primarily with four-legged animals also proved challenging to the animators in terms of gesturing and attitudes. According to
Andreas Deja, Scar’s supervising animator, whose recent credits include “Winnie the Pooh”
and “The Princess and the Frog,” “When I first began to animate this character, I remember
thinking, ‘How am I going to get all this humanized personality into this character without
hands?’ Hands are so important to expressing a character’s emotions. Finally, I learned to
concentrate on the overall body attitude—the angle of the head and the facial expressions.
Sometimes, very subtle things like raising an eyebrow let you show what the character is
thinking. You have fewer things to work with, but I think it can be as powerful in the end if
you really understand the scene and get the acting right.”
In the case of Scar, Deja used the character’s walk to express personality. “His walk is totally
different from other lions’. He’s usually lower to the ground because he’s sneakier. He has
more of a gliding walk, kind of slick and elegant, while the others are much more powerful
and heavy.”
The primary inspiration for Deja’s performance and Scar’s ultimate design came directly
from actor Jeremy Irons. “As a voice talent and actor, he was able to do so much with the
dialogue and was a great springboard for the character,” says Deja. “He had a way of playing
with the words and twisting them so that they would come out very sarcastic and always
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
animation.”
Adds director Allers: “Jeremy’s recording sessions produced an embarrassment of riches. He would give us so many different interpretations
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.
He brings to the character an air of incredible intelligence, yet sort of twisted and dark. He was absolutely brilliant.”
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
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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
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
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.”
Some of Iron’s physical traits also had an influence on Deja’s design for
the character. “There was a darkness around his eyes that fascinated me
and gave him an eerie look in his films. I wanted to keep that quality, so I
gave Scar dark circles around his eyes and combed his mane as if it were
slicked back.
“You don’t really turn down the part of a villain whether you’re an actor or
an animator,” continues Deja, “because they’re very juicy. Villains tend to
be really expressive and usually motivate the story. They’re also a lot more
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
playing with his victims, and there are many different levels to his personality.”
The 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
talents Nathan Lane (Timon) and Ernie Sabella (Pumbaa) proved to have the right comedic combination for the roles.
“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
two characters, we were able to go much broader and concentrate mainly
on their personalities. Nathan was great to work with, and just watching
him at the recording sessions provided some wonderful material. He has
these really distinct eyebrows and facial expressions that I was able to
incorporate into the character of Timon.”
Adds Bancroft, “I would typically start the animation on most scenes
because Pumbaa is almost like a moving stage for Timon. In fact, Timon
is usually on Pumbaa’s head or his nose or climbing all over him. Before I
did any actual drawing, I’d talk the scene over with Mike to make sure that
what I was doing would work with what he had in mind for Timon. There’s a lot of interplay between the two characters, and we both had a
lot of fun working on them.”
The animated antics of King Mufasa’s dedicated secretary bird, a hornbill named Zazu, were guided by supervising animator Ellen Woodbury.
In addition to studying endless footage of birds, her research included a firsthand encounter with Jim Fowler’s visiting hornbill, analyzing
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,”
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
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
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
me so much to work with.”
For supervising animator Mark Henn, a 28-year Disney veteran who recently worked on “Winnie the Pooh” and “The Princess and the Frog,”
overseeing young Simba was one of his best assignments. “The thing that really excited me about this film was its emotional content,” says
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. The
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,
the audience has to really like Simba and be willing to cheer for him and cry with him at times.”
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TECHNOLOGICAL FEATS
Building the Perfect Wildebeests
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
something with the same visual impact as the dramatic events that were unfolding. The script called for thousands of stampeding wildebeests
to pour over the hilltop into the gorge below. Walt Disney Animation Studios’ CGI (computer-generated imagery) department was called upon
to help pull off this amazing feat and to enhance the emotional impact of the scene. Five specially trained animators and technicians in this
department spent more than two years creating the impressive 2½-minute sequence, which represented a new level of sophistication for the
art form and a dramatic highlight for the film.
“A stampede of thousands of wildebeests would be too laborious to create
by hand,” says CGI supervisor Scott Johnston, “but animators working with
computers can figure out what the behavior of the animal is and replicate
it. We can also create all the camera angles that the scene requires and
match them to the landscape of the environment.”
Starting with a two-dimensional model sheet and some conventional
hand-drawn rough animation created by supervising animator Ruben
Aquino, Johnston and his CGI team were able to generate three-dimensional representations of a wildebeest inside the computer. Once this
digitized computer version existed, the camera could be placed anywhere to allow different angles during the course of a scene.
“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
without having them bump into each other,” says Johnston. “We developed a simulation program that would allow us to designate leaders and
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
random quality. Effectively they could all be doing different things with the library of behavior, including slow and fast gallops, various head
tosses and even a few different kinds of leaps.”
The hand-drawn animation of Simba and Mufasa was composited with the CGI wildebeest stampede and the film’s other hand-drawn
elements, including backgrounds and effects.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
ROGER ALLERS (Director) made his feature-film directing debut on “The Lion King” following a prolific two-decade career in the medium that
has included everything from character design and animation to story supervision. He was instrumental in shaping the structure and dialogue
for many Disney animated features, serving as official head of story on “Oliver & Company” and “Beauty and the Beast” and contributing to “The
Little Mermaid,” “The Prince and the Pauper,” “The Rescuers Down Under,” “Aladdin” and “The Emperor’s New Groove” in a senior story capacity.
Following “The Lion King,” Allers continued contributing his story talents
to subsequent projects, including “The Emperor’s New Groove,” “The Lion
King 1 ½” and the short film “The Little Matchgirl” in 2006. He directed
“Open Season” for Sony Pictures Animation.
Born in Rye, NY, and raised mainly in Scottsdale, Ariz., Allers became
hooked on animation when he saw Disney’s classic “Peter Pan” at the
impressionable age of 5. A few years later he decided that he would
become a Disney artist and sent off to Disneyland for a do-it-yourself
animation kit. In no time at all, he was drawing basic poses with Donald
Duck and other assorted characters and reading books on the art of animation. In high school, he gave up his goal of animation, discouraged
by the death of Walt Disney.
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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
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
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.
Armed with a 15-second film and his college portfolio, Allers applied for a job with Lisberger Studios, headed by Steven Lisberger, who would
go on to direct “Tron” and produce “Tron: Legacy” for Disney, and was hired to animate for such diverse programs as “Sesame Street,” “The
Electric Company,” “Make a Wish,” intros to the Boston Pops telecasts and various commercials for the local market.
Allers relocated to Los Angeles in 1978 with Lisberger Studios to work on a feature project called “Animalympics.” Serving as the director’s
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
storyboard team creating the innovative Disney live-action fantasy “Tron.”
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.”
This two-year assignment was followed by a return to Los Angeles, where he provided character design, preliminary animation and story
development for the Japanese-produced feature “Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland.” He went on to live in Tokyo for the next two years
in his role as one of the animation directors overseeing the Japanese artists.
Returning to Los Angeles again, in 1985, Allers heard that Disney was looking for a storyboard person on “Olivery & Company” and immediately
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.
He eventually went on to become the head of story on that film. Following “Oliver,” he went to work on “The Little Mermaid.”
Story assignments on “The Prince and the Pauper” and “The Rescuers Down Under” followed before Allers was tapped to head the story team
for “Beauty and the Beast.” His story talents and sensibilities were called upon again during the formative stages of “Aladdin,” which he worked
on for six months before commencing his work on “The Lion King.”
ROB MINKOFF (Director) has a uniquely eclectic career as a filmmaker, including the animated masterpiece “The Lion King,” the blockbuster
action picture “The Forbidden Kingdom,” starring Jackie Chan and Jet Li, and the recent Sundance Film Festival event “Flypaper,” starring Patrick
Dempsey, Tim Blake Nelson and Ashley Judd. Having traveled to China initially in 1997, Minkoff continued to develop a deep interest in Asian
history and culture. He is currently developing several China-related projects, including the upcoming action fantasy “Chinese Odyssey.”
Minkoff began his directorial career at Disney with two Roger Rabbit shorts, “Tummy Trouble” and “Rollercoaster Rabbit.” After a 12-year career at
Disney, Minkoff left to direct the combination live-action/animation “Stuart Little” and “Stuart Little 2” for Sony’s Columbia Pictures. In addition
to supervising the creation of “The Lion King” and “Stuart Little,” he’s worked with an incredible array of award-winning talent, including Steven
Spielberg, Robert Zemeckis, Hugh Laurie, Eddie Murphy and Michael J. Fox.
Minkoff is one of only a few filmmakers to have directed both live-action and animated features and innovated the use of the combined
mediums with the photo-realistic CGI for “Stuart Little” and “Stuart Little 2.” His work has been exemplified by both commercial success and
artistic innovation, his films having grossed more than $1.5 billion worldwide.
He owns a home in Beijing and recently married the 76th generational descendant of Confucius.
DON HAHN (Producer) began his professional career at Disney in 1976 and has gone on to become one of the most influential and successful
animation producers working in the industry today. He is currently developing the stop-motion animated feature “Frankenweenie” with
director Tim Burton and directing and producing several documentary projects. Hahn has also authored three books on the art of animation,
including the 2008 book “The Alchemy of Animation,” which provides the definitive account of how animated films are created in the modern
age. His newest book, “Brain Storm — Unleashing Your Creative Self,” was released this year.
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Hahn produced the Disney classic “Beauty and the Beast,” the first animated film to receive a Best Picture Oscar® nomination from the Academy
of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and to win a Golden Globe® for Best Picture. His next film, “The Lion King,” broke box-office records all over
the world to become the top-grossing traditionally animated film in Disney history and a long-running blockbuster Broadway musical. Hahn
also served as associate producer on the landmark motion picture “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” (with Amblin’ Entertainment). His other films
include “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” “Atlantis: The Lost Empire” and the 2006 short “The Little Matchgirl,” which earned Hahn his second
Oscar® nomination.
Hahn made his directorial debut on “Waking Sleeping Beauty,” a documentary that chronicles the perfect storm of people and circumstances
that led to Disney’s animation renaissance in the 1980s and ’90s. The film played to rave reviews at film festivals in Telluride, Toronto, and the
Hamptons, where it won the audience award for best documentary. It was released theatrically in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San
Francisco in March 2010.
Hahn’s second documentary, “Hand Held,” was a personal undertaking and was in the making for several years. The feature-length documentary
chronicles the story of Boston Globe photographer Mike Carroll, from his horrific discovery of pediatric AIDS in Romanian orphanages to his
subsequent 20-year odyssey fighting against stultifying bureaucracy to bring aid to forgotten children halfway around the world.
Hahn was born in Chicago and studied as a music and art major at Cal State Northridge.
IRENE MECCHI (Screenwriter) brought emotion and humor to the story and characters of “The Lion King” through her collaborative efforts
with Jonathan Roberts and the film’s story team. In addition to animation, her career encompasses writing for live-action film, television and
stage. Recently, she was tapped for Disney•Pixar’s upcoming animated adventure “Brave,” scheduled for release in 2012.
A third-generation San Franciscan, Mecchi studied theater and literature at UC Berkeley. Her aspirations to direct theater led her to the
renowned American Conservatory Theater (ACT), where her instructor, Second City alum Joy Carlin, was impressed with her writing and
encouraged her to pursue it on a full-time basis. Mecchi’s first network writing assignment was on the Emmy® Award-winning Lily Tomlin
special, “Lily: Sold Out.” Prior to that, she wrote a series of children’s programs for Nickelodeon.
Mecchi’s television sitcom credits also include “Valerie,” “The Popcorn Kid” and a season as staff writer on “My Sister Sam.” Mecchi’s screenplay
credits include “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,”“The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride,” the television movie “Annie,” host sequences for “Fantasia 2000.”
JONATHAN ROBERTS (Screenwriter) made his feature-animation writing debut following a successful career in film, television and
journalism. As one of the collaborators on “The Lion King” screenplay, he helped to create and define personalities for the characters and
heighten the comedic and dramatic story and dialogue.
Born in Boston, Roberts studied English literature at Brown University and enrolled in a summer graduate program on book and magazine
publishing at Harvard before launching his professional career in New York. Starting as a publicist with Workman Publishing, he left to write
projects of his own. His first break came as a contributor to the popular satirical publication “The ’80s: A Look Back,” published in 1979. He went
on to even greater success with his next book, “The Official Preppy Handbook,” which he conceived of and co-authored for Workman. That
book went on to become a New York Times best-seller and remained on the charts for over a year.
An assignment to write a social satire on Southern California lifestyles brought the native East Coaster to Los Angeles in 1981 and resulted in
the book “How to California.” While there, he stayed with his old college roommate Steven L. Bloom and collaborated with him on a screenplay
about college life called “The Sure Thing.” Hollywood responded to the idea even before a script was completed. Rob Reiner directed their
finished screenplay, and Roberts decided to stay in California.
Other screenwriting and script-doctoring assignments followed. He also created and wrote a television pilot called “Fast Times,” based on the
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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’
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
on “Beverly Hills 90210.”
As a journalist, Roberts has written for The New York Times, The Village Voice, Harpers and Vanity Fair and served as a contributing editor for
Interview.
Roberts supplied some snappy dialogue for two dogs and a cat in Disney’s 1993 live-action hit “Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey,”
which brought him to the attention of the studio’s animation department. Subsequent animation writing credits include “James and the
Giant Peach,”“The Hunchback of Notre Dame”“The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride,” and additional screenplay material contributed to Disney•Pixar’s
“Monsters, Inc.”
LINDA WOOLVERTON (Screenwriter) is the acclaimed writer behind Disney’s animated and Broadway adaptations of “Beauty and the
Beast.” She recently wrote the screenplay for Tim Burton’s 3D spectacle “Alice in Wonderland.”
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
for children at Cal State Fullerton. Following graduation, she started her own children’s theater, for which she performed, wrote and directed
productions that traveled around to schools, shopping malls, churches and local theaters. She also spent time as a creative dramatic instructor,
a substitute teacher at the junior high school and high school levels, and wrote two young-adult novels, “Starwind” and “Running Before the
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
was involved in developing late-night programming.
Turning her attention to writing full-time, Woolverton began getting assignments on Saturday-morning and syndicated animated programs
and wrote episodes for such shows as “Teen Wolf,” “The Berenstein Bears” and “Chip n’ Dale’s Rescue Rangers.” When one of her novels came to
the attention of a Disney animation executive, her ambitions to write an animated feature were realized, and she was hired to work on “Beauty
and the Beast,” which went on to become a multi-Golden Globe® Award winner and Academy Award® Best Picture nominee.
Following that success, Woolverton went on to write the screenplay (with Caroline Thompson) for “Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey”
and several early drafts of a script for “The Lion King” before turning her attentions to the Broadway adaptation of “Beauty and the Beast,” which
opened in April 1994. She also contributed story material to “Mulan.”
ROBERT NEUMAN (2011 release, Stereoscopic Supervisor) recently completed supervising the 3D conversion of Disney’s hand drawn
animated classic “The Lion King.”
Neuman’s work on Disney’s 50th animated feature, “Tangled,” garnered the 3D Creative Arts Award for Best 3D Scene of the Year. His 3D
expertise is complemented by his cinematography experience as a layout artist and supervisor and his technical background as an electrical
engineer. Neuman’s achievements with Disney’s stereoscopic pipeline were honored last October with a Lumiere Award for 3D technology.
His recent filmography includes the stereography of “Beauty and the Beast” and “Bolt.”
Born in New York City and raised in Florida, Neuman holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Miami
and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Florida International University. He resides in the Santa Clarita Valley with his wife and
three daughters.
Oscar® and Academy Award® are the registered trademarks and service marks of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Screen Actors Guild Award® and SAG Award® are the registered trademarks and service marks of Screen Actors Guild™.
Emmy® is the trademark property of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
Golden Globe® is the registered trademark and service mark of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
Tony® Award is a registered trademark and service mark of The American Theatre Wing.
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