Roger Allers & Rob Minkoff look back on the making of Disney’s “The Lion King”

Jim Hill

13 years ago

You did hear the big news yesterday, right? That — on the
heels of the phenomenal success of “The Lion King 3D” (which blew through the $80
million barrier at the domestic box office yesterday afternoon) — Walt Disney Studios is now planning limited
theatrical engagements for four other animated features. What’s more, these
movies — for the first time ever – will be screened in 3D.

The quartet of classics which have been tapped for 3D treatment are:

“Beauty and the Beast” (which will be released to theaters on January 13, 2012)
Disney Pixar’s “Finding Nemo” (September
14, 2012)
Disney Pixar’s
“Monsters, Inc.” (January 18, 2013)
“The Little Mermaid” (September 13, 2013)

Mind you, none of this would have been possible if the 3D
version of “The Lion King” hadn’t turned into a box office phenomenon once it
was released to theaters back on September 16^th.

“I originally heard (that the Studio was) estimating
something in the range of 12 million. When (the 3D version) topped 30 million (over
its first weekend in theaters), I was shocked and amazed but also very pleased,”
said “The Lion King” co-director Rob Minkoff. “It’s nice that audiences still
love the movie.”

Of course, what’s kind of ironic about all this is that –
when this Academy Award-winner first went into production back in October of
1991 – there wasn’t a whole lot of love at the Mouse House when it came to this
particular production. As Minkoff recently recalled at a virtual roundtable
(which was held last month to help promote the Diamond Edition of “The Lion King,” which was released on Blu-ray & DVD yesterday), this animated
feature – which was originally called “King of the Jungle” – was not well
regarded around the Studio.

“When Jeffery Katzenberg announced that the studio would be split
in two to make two films simultaneously, many of the top animators wanted to
work on ‘Pocahontas‘ instead of ‘The Lion King,’ ” Rob explained. ” Jefferey
had deemed ‘Pocahontas’ the home run and ‘The Lion King’ the risk.”

Which – to Roger Allers (i.e. Minkoff’s co-director on “The
Lion King”)’s point of view – actually turned out to be a good thing. Given it
that it then gave a lot of newer animators at the Studio a chance to step up to
leadership roles on their film.

“(This production gave) some really deserving young
animators their chance to lead a character. Tony Bancroft (Pumbaa), Mike Surrey
(Timon), James Baxter (Rafiki) are all brilliant guys,” Roger said “We lucked
out!”

Mike Surrey and Tony Bancroft on the cover of “Storyboard:
The Art of Laughter” magazine

The lucky breaks continued when folks at the Studio
suggested Allers & Minkoff approach lyricist Tim Rice (who was just coming
off working on “Aladdin” at that time) and see if he’d be interested in writing
some songs for “The Lion King.” Tim not only sparked to the idea of working
with Roger & Rob, he also had a very interesting suggestion when it came to
who should be handling the music on this animated feature.

“It was Tim who suggested Elton (John) for the job,” Minkoff
continued. “(Then we landed Hans Zimmer to handle the ‘Lion King’ ‘s score.
And) Hans really brought the movie to life via the music. It was his ability to
combine authentic African flavor that really made (“The Lion King”) come to life
musically. It was a terrific collaboration.”

Now where this gets interesting is – when “The Lion King”
first went into production – it wasn’t supposed to be the sort of movie that would
feature spiritual songs like “The Circle of Life” and love ballads like “Can
You Feel the Love Tonight.”

Elton John and Tim Rice at the time of their “Lion King” collaboration.
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

“Originally it was thought of as a Bambi
in Africa. More
true life adventure than mythical epic,” Rob remembered. “But when Roger and I
finally got together on it we imbued it with the more spiritual elements that
are a hallmark of the film.”

Allers backed up Minkoff’s memory of the early, early versions of “The Lion
King.”

“We wanted to do an animal picture based in a more natural
setting. A story that dealt with the issue of taking on the responsibility of
adulthood,” Roger said. ” (‘The Lion King’ ‘s) similarity to Hamlet was noticed
only after we had come up with the story structure and had been working on it
for a while.”

Rob Minkoff (L) and Roger Allers at the premiere of Walt Disney
Studios’ “The Lion King 3D” at the El
Capitan Theater on
August 27, 2011. Photo by Kevin Winter / Getty Images
North America. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc.
All rights reserved

Which – I know – sounds kind of weird. But Rob insisted that
this particular behind-the-scenes story is true.

“When we first pitched the revised outline of the movie to
Michael Eisner, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Peter Schneider and Tom Schumacher, someone
in the room announced that Hamlet was similar in its themes and relationships,”
Minkoff stated. “Everyone responded favorably to the idea that we were doing
something Shakespearean. So we continued to look for ways to model our film on
that all-time classic.”

Which turned out to be a somewhat problematic production
model. Since “Hamlet” is one of those Shakespeare tragedies where virtually
every character dies in the end. Which obviously wasn’t going to work when it
came to the storyline of this family-friendly animated feature.

“(Which is why Roger and I) found ourselves constantly
re-balancing (“The Lion King”) to make sure there were enough comic elements to
lighten the mood after the tragedy of Mufasa’s death,” Minkoff said. “Timon and
Pumbaa really came along at the right time to give the film a lift and make it
a more satisfying whole.”

The end result is an animated feature that not only wowed
crowds back in 1994 but has now been winning over audiences once again in 2011
thanks to “The Lion King” ‘s new 3D version.

And if you’d like to learn more about how this acclaimed
animated feature originally came together, then you should definitely consider
picking up a copy of the Diamond Edition of “The Lion King.” Which features delightful
special features like “Pride of the Lion King,” this 36 minute-long visit with
the crew of this animated feature. Not to mention “The Lion King: A Memoir,”
where producer Don Hahn looks back on the often tumultuous production of this
feature-length animated film.

Getting back to yesterday’s news (i.e. that – on the back of
“The Lion King” ‘s recent box office success – Walt Disney Studios will soon be
releasing 3D versions of several classic Disney & Pixar animated features),
what was the secret behind the “Lion King” ‘s super-popular translation from 2D
to 3D?

“We screened the movie without sound, watching for the
scenes of greatest potential, and called them out to someone who was furiously
taking notes,” Roger admitted. “Rob, Don Hahn and I also watched the 2D version
to determine which scenes could be pushed in 3D to enhance the storytelling and
emotional content.”

Well, here’s hoping that the folks who are handling the 3D
translations of Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” and Pixar’s “Finding Nemo” & “Monsters,
Inc.” actually follow Allers & Minkoff’s playbook. So that the Studio can
then enjoy even more “Lion King”-sized box office returns when it comes to
these upcoming 3D releases.

Your thoughts?