The Lion King: Special Edition (1994)

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General		Extras
Category	Animation	Main Menu Introduction Menu Animation & Audio THX Optimizer THX Trailer Alternative Version-Original Theatrical Release Audio Commentary-Filmmakers (Original Version Only) Featurette-The Making Of "The Morning Report" Game-The Lion King Personality Profile Game Deleted Scenes-3 Music Video-Circle Of Life Performed by Disney Channel 'Circle Of Stars' Song Lyrics-Sing Along Track Game-Timon's Grab-A-Grub, Pumbaa's Sound Sensations Trailer-Disc 2 Preview Booklet Featurette-Story (3), Film (5), Stage (6) Featurette-Music (7), Animals (6) Featurette-Virtual Safari Music Video-Can You Feel The Love Tonight?, Circle Of Life by Elton John Featurette-Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe,North America, South America Trailer-The Lion King 3
Rating
Year Of Production	1994
Running Time	85:16
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Roger Allers Rob Minkoff
Studio Distributor	Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.	Starring	Jonathan Taylor Thomas Matthew Broderick Jason Weaver Joseph Williams Jeremy Irons James Earl Jones Moira Kelly Sally Dworsky Niketa Calame Laura Williams Nathan Lane Ernie Sabella Robert Guillaume
Case	Amaray-Transparent-S/C-Dual
RPI	$39.95	Music	Elton John Lebo M. Joseph Williams

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English dts 5.1 (768Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) Hebrew Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 1.0 (96Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.70:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English English for the Hearing Impaired Hebrew English Song Lyrics Hebrew Song Lyrics Hebrew Audio Commentary	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    When you think about it, the story behind The Lion King is simple, and has been told in other contexts before. Stories with themes about death, murder, redemption, and responsibility are common. So all that I can think of that makes The Lion King stand out among these is the incredible combination of great animation, perfect voice casting, and inspirational music and song.

    For those of you that aren't aware of the story, it effectively tells the coming-of-age tale of Simba (voiced by Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Matthew Broderick), the heir to the kingdom ruled by his brave and wise father Mufasa (voiced by James Earl Jones). When Simba's father dies in an incident that I will not spoil for new viewers, Simba takes flight and forms an unlikely friendship with Timon the meerkat (voiced by Nathan Lane) and Pumbaa the warthog (voiced by Ernie Sabella). As one would expect from a movie that follows mythical themes and those described above, Simba's past comes back to lead him to his destiny as the rightful king.

    As I said, such a simple story that works so well. The animation is indeed incredible, with excellent use of both traditional hand-painted cel animation and modern computer animation. The music and songs are the stand-out though, with the opening sequence a highlight in animation history. With the likes of Elton John, Tim Rice and Hans Zimmer collaborating to produce the music, songs, and score, how could you go wrong?

    This DVD presents the film to its full potential in this format, with stunning video and audio transfers. I am sure this will be played numerous times in many households upon its release. I still recall watching it at home on the original VHS release. At last we can throw away the old, worn tapes and replace it with the DVD that presents the movie the way the creators always intended. There is slight disappointment in the extras department (not quantity wise, just the content), but of course the main feature is why we buy the DVD in the first place. For Disney animation fans, this is a must-have.

Video

    The movie is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.66:1, which is slightly squarer than its theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. It is not clear what drove the decision to present it at this ratio, but this should not be noticeable on widescreen display devices. The transfer is of course 16x9 enhanced.

    The transfer throughout is beautifully sharp and clear. The usual dark outline around the 2-D character animation may seem a little large at times, but this is not a fault of the transfer. To my eyes, grain is undetectable in this transfer, and black levels are rock solid. Shadow detail is as one would expect, and I would assume is as the animators intended. There is not a hint of low level noise.

    Colours are of course essential in an animated film, and the colours are rendered faultlessly in this transfer. They are vibrant, deep, and clear with no trace of colour bleed or over-saturation. Edge enhancement is also absent from this great transfer. Film artefacts were not detectable. With the high sharpness of the transfer, I was expecting to find instances of aliasing, but could not detect any.

    This is a RSDL-formatted disc, with a layer change that is indiscernible.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

Accompanying the incredible video transfer are two sensational audio soundtracks. An English DTS 5.1 track (768 Kb/s) and Dolby Digital 5.1 track (448 Kb/s) are provided. The DTS track is the new Disney Enhanced Home Theatre Mix of the original soundtrack, whereas the Dolby Digital track is the original 5.1 theatrical mix. I can with confidence say that most will find the DTS track to be far superior to its Dolby Digital counterpart.

    Dialogue throughout the movie is crystal clear in both normal and singing sequences. Audio synchronisation is usually a problem with animation, but scrubs up amazingly well with The Lion King due to the great animation. Voice acting is excellent and is on par with the fantastic feature films from Pixar.

    The musical score by Hans Zimmer is again sensational, capturing the emotion of each scene perfectly when required. It is both subtle and grand as called for. Of course, the stand-out is the music and songs by Elton John and Tim Rice, and these really do make The Lion King stand out from the bunch. There are so many memorable melodies in this movie it is no wonder they adapted this for the stage musical.

    Surround activity is certainly aggressive, and promised by the Disney Enhanced Home Theatre Mix. All speakers are active throughout the duration of the movie, with the listener placed firmly in the middle of the action right from the opening scene with insect sounds coming alive all around. The first cry from Lebo M as the sun rises is truly a great moment in animation history, and is enhanced by the African singers chanting from all speakers. There are numerous other instances in the movie that provide demonstration material for immersive 5.1 channel usage. Stereo separation is also excellent, with a good example at 8:04.

    The subwoofer also has its work cut out for it, and is used extremely well, with both subtle and in-your-face uses. For instance, the bass used in the opening sequence for the waterfall and elephant footsteps is subtle and refined, while the deep clap at the conclusion of the sequence is most definitely in-your-face.

    I listened to both the DTS and Dolby Digital tracks in full. The DTS Disney Enhanced Home Theatre track wins hands-down, and I am sure there will be no arguments here. The DTS track is definitely recorded at a much higher level (I'm not sure why this is the norm for DTS tracks). But even taking into account the decibel level, the DTS track exhibits greater clarity in its soundstage and immersiveness. This is to be expected considering that they deliberately created this enhanced mix to be more agressive in every respect. The DTS tracks steps all over the Dolby Digital track when it comes to the low-end of things. Bass is so much more prominent, but not to the extent that it becomes over-powering or obtrusive. It is refined and powerful. Just simply compare the opening sequence between the DTS and Dolby Digital tracks. This sequence alone will demonstrate clearly why the DTS track is superior.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    Extra material is provided on both discs. I have mixed feelings about the extras presented here, which appears to be a sentiment felt across the regional releases of this DVD. Disc 1 is definite for the kids, while Disc 2 is more for the adults. The extras are numerous, but are not so much about the movie itself as they are about The Lion King phenomenon across the world from stage to music to theme parks. I also very much dislike the way in which the extras on Disc 2 are presented, with many repeated links to the same featurette. I am not sure why they couldn't simply present these in an index form without splitting them into the categories that they did. In any case, the details of all the extras are as follows:

Disc 1:

The extras are broken up into the sub-menus below, or can be found together in an Index menu.

Audio Commentary - Don Hahn, Roger Allers, Rob Minkoff

    This is a fairly interesting commentary presented by Producer Don Hahn and Directors Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, with all of them obviously very enthusiastic. They have clear affection for the movie, and of the cast and crew that brought the movie to life. Their enthusiasm sometimes results in interruptions to what each other is saying. This is an audio commentary in which it would have been really helpful to have the name of the speaker displayed on the screen in a similar way to the Lord of the Rings commentaries. In any case, they discuss all aspects of the development process of the movie, making a particular point of paying tribute to each animator of the main characters. Candid stories about the cast and "back-stage" activities is interspersed with interesting technical aspects of animating such a movie. I quite enjoyed this commentary.

Grasslands

• The Making of 'The Morning Report' - 3:09 - Discusses the inclusion of the new song and animation sequence for 'The Morning Report' that was taken from the stage adaptation. To me this sequence seems a little out of place, but perhaps this is simply because I am used to the theatrical version. I still prefer the original after seeing this.
• The Lion King Personality Profile Game - A fake Rowan Atkinson voice introduces this game. Effectively a bunch of questions are asked in which your responses will determine which character from the movie you most resemble. Strictly for kids.

Elephant Graveyard

• Bug Football - 0:55 - A deleted scene shown in storyboard format with Timon and Pumbaa playing American football with bugs. I'm glad they shelved this concept.
• Hakuna Matata - 2:26 - The missing Timon verse to this song is presented here accompanied with base animation. They rightly did not include this sequence, as it would have dramatically slowed the sequence in the theatrical release.
• Can You Feel The Love Tonight - 1:45 - A discussion with Tim Rice about the song and the way it evolved. It was interesting to hear the song being sung by Timon and Pumbaa as the first concept.

Tree of Life

• Circle of Life Music Video Performed by Disney Channel "Circle of Stars" - 4:19 - The song as sung by a group of young American artists. It is presented with nice looking video and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound with all speakers firing. It is a pity the song is marred by the artists trying to outdo each other with their singing.
• Sing-Along Track - Plays the movie with lyrics that appear during the musical sequences.

Jungle

• Timon's Grab-A-Grub - A game in which you use the arrow keys to indicate which direction to grab the insects that appear on the screen. Very repetitive (I was actually starting to wonder if it ever ended!), and again strictly for kids.
• Pumbaa's Sound Sensations - A game in which you match the animal sound to the icons on the screen. Nice use of 5.1 discrete sound. Pity the game isn't very interesting, and the icons do not look like some of the animals they are supposed to represent.

Disc 2 Preview - 0:55

    Gives a brief introduction to the extras presented on Disc 2 that tempts you with images of the Virtual Safari and footage of stage production. I'm not sure why they needed to include this at all.

Disc 2:

    The extras on this disc are presented in the menus indicated below, with numerous links that are repeated. I will list all menu options, but will indicate where the repeated links appear if I have already described it. For a DVD release, there seem to be a lot of extras related to the phenomenon of The Lion King (eg. stage musical, theme parks, animal documentaries, soundtrack albums) rather than just the movie itself. Still, it looks like a lot of effort has gone into the collection of extras, and they will certainly keep you busy.

Asia

• Leaps of Fantasy - 3:36 - Describes the dance choreography of the stage adaptation, the amazing puppetry, and costumes. Also shows footage of the Broadway cast during rehearsals and performances.
• Multi-Language Reel - 4:11 - Shows the "Hakuna Matata" sequence in different languages in which the movie was dubbed. When the name of the language is displayed, it is then possible to select Enter and view a separate sequence in that particular language. It is quite amazing how the casting process was able to find voice actors that made each character sound very similar no matter what language was used.
• International Release - 3:34 - A short featurette describing the process of the translation into the many different languages, and the casting effort to keep the voice of all characters similar.
• Galleries
  • Stage Musical Publicity - 11 images of posters advertising the stage show.
  • International Soundtrack Covers - 16 album covers from around the world of the movie soundtrack.
  • International Large Format Release - 11 images of posters promoting the re-release of the movie into IMAX theatres.

Africa

• Music: African Influence - 3:49 - Shows singer Lebo M and his contribution to the opening sequence - the now famous voice that cries out as the sun rises. Also shows the other African singers involved in the choir.
• Audio Sequel - 4:21 - Describes the album Rhythm of the Pridelands that collects the music and sounds of concepts not used in the movie.
• Lions - 2:56 - Short documentary on lions interspersed with footage from the movie.
• Meerkats - 2:44 - Short documentary on meerkats interspersed with footage from the movie.
• Warthogs - 2:56 - Short documentary on warthogs interspersed with footage from the movie.
• Hyenas - 2:25 - Short documentary on hyenas interspersed with footage from the movie.
• Production Research Trip - 2:22 - The crew describe their experiences and views on the trip to Africa that they took during pre-production. The rhetoric on how amazingly life-changing the trip was, and how it affected everyone on some deep, meaningful level is a little grating.
• Character Design - Each supervising animator for the characters below describes how they went about deriving inspiration for the characters, ranging from using actual animals in the studio and footage of the voice actors reading their lines to acting out the characters themselves.
  • Mufasa - 0:52
  • Simba - 1:54
  • Scar - 2:40
  • Rafiki - 1:10
  • Timon and Pumbaa - 1:51
  • Zazu - 1:16
  • The Hyenas - 1:21
• Art: African Influence - 4:03 - Shows how the African landscape and the many photos they took during their trip influenced the artwork and animation of the backgrounds used in the movie.
• Multi-Language Reel - As described above.
• "Hakuna Matata" Music Video - 3:58 - Music video performed by Jimmy Cliff and featuring Lebo M.
• International Release - As described above.
• Galleries
  • Film Character Design - shows numerous still images of the concept art for each character in the movie.
  • Stage Musical Publicity - As described above.
  • International Soundtrack Covers - As described above.
  • International Large Format Release - As described above.

Australia

• Lion King 3 Trailer - 1:46 - A fun trailer showing Timon and Pumbaa using the remote control to rewind and forward the main feature, and describing how their own story from the very beginning, before the The Lion King, will be told in this movie.
• Galleries
  • Stage Musical Publicity - As described above.
  • International Soundtrack Covers - As described above.
  • International Large Format Release - As described above.

Europe

• Landmark Songwriting - 3:14 - Tim Rice and Elton John discuss how they got involved in the movie, and their collaboration in writing the lyrics and melodies of the songs.
• Multi-Language Reel - As described above.
• International Release - As described above.
• Music Videos Performed By Elton John - as the title suggests, these are the music videos that Elton John made for the songs he wrote for The Lion King.
  • Can You Feel The Love Tonight? - 4:05
  • Circle of Life - 4:56
• Galleries
  • Stage Musical Publicity - As described above.
  • International Soundtrack Covers - As described above.
  • International Large Format Release - As described above.

North America

• Burbank
  • Disney & Animals - 5:47 - Discusses the use of animals in many of the previous Disney animation films, with that now famous short featuring a certain little mouse. Also describes some of Disney's live action features with animals, such as their "true life adventures" like Seal Island.
  • DVD Sound Design - 5:00 - Discusses the development of the Disney Enhanced Home Theatre remixing of the original theatrical soundtrack. It is very interesting to note that the original was deliberately conservative in regards to surround activity due to the new 5.1 format at that time. The track was effectively developed to be more frontal and resemble watching a stage musical. Of course with better technology now, a more aggressive soundtrack was required, and so this new mix was developed to be far more immersive. The DTS track presented in Region 4 is testament to this great remixing of the soundtrack. The original soundtrack provided here in Dolby Digital is strictly for purists.
  • Reflections - 6:22 - Takes a retrospective look at the impact the movie had on the public, and how uncertain Disney was on how successful the movie would be. No one thought it would be as huge as it was.
  • International Release - As described above.
• Orlando
  • Animal Kingdom Park - 4:02 - Shows footage of people walking around the associated theme park. For potential tourists only.
  • Animal Kingdom Lodge - 1:39 - An actual commercial advertising the Animal Kingdom Lodge resort/hotel. Again for potential tourists only.
  • Disney & Animals -  - As described above.
• New York
  • Musical Origins - 3:50 - With the opening of Beauty And The Beast on Broadway in 1994, this paved the way for The Lion King to be developed for the stage. Of course no one thought it would work, and of course they were again all wrong.
  • Screen to Stage - 3:30 - Describes the importance of adapting the story to be suitable for the stage, and how that was the emphasis from the very beginning. Music was also a focus, and these elements were developed well before the costumes and how the characters would be seen on stage.
  • Musical Texture - 3:15 - Again shows how the early emphasis was on the music to provide a better transition from the screen to the stage, and how they added new music from Lebo M.
  • Setting the Stage - 2:18 - Interesting look at how they designed the stage mechanics, the lighting, and the amazing puppets. Great footage of the stage show costumes and stage design.
  • Leaps of Fantasy - As described above.
  • Stage Musical Publicity - As described above.
• Glendale
  • Production Design - 1:55 - Shows how the creators had the alternatives of being realistic or more cartoon-like in the way they portrayed and animated the movie. They went with the epic David Lean style that would try to capture the cinematographic scope of his films.
  • Storyboard Introduction - 1:56 - Just gives a brief overview of the first development of the storyboards, and the script changes that resulted from analysing the storyboards.
  • Computer Animation - 4:27 - Shows the various uses of CGI in the movie, such as the stampede sequence. It still impresses me how they can take a 2-D painting and transform it into a 3-D model that can do so many things realistically.
  • Storyboard to Screen Comparison - 4:02 - Shows a split-screen of storyboards and actual movie clips. Not multi-angle.
  • Early Concept: Timon  and Pumbaa Find Simba - 3:01 - Shows early concept drawings and base animation of the scene when Simba is found.
  • Early Concept: Simba's Presentation - 4:04 - Looks at the genesis of the "Circle of Life" sequence, and its origins from the storyboard to the song.
  • Abandoned Scene: Warthog Rhapsody - 4:21 - Shows footage of the ancestor to the "Hakuna Matata" song. It is actually pretty good itself.
  • Early Presentation Reel - 1:32 - a series of still images to backing music shown to Disney partners before the production began on the movie. Really a presentation to generate a "warm-and-fuzzy" to all those that would potentially be financially involved.
  • Character Design - As described above.
  • Art Design Galleries - Numerous still image galleries and photos of different elements and concepts for the movie.
    • Art Design
    • Elephant Graveyard
    • Pride Rock
    • Pridelands
    • Jungle Flora
    • Rafiki's Tree
    • Rafiki Discovers Simba is Alive
    • "Circle of Life"
    • "Hakuna Matata"
    • Nala Appears
    • "Can You Feel The Love Tonight?"
    • Effects Animation: The Fight
    • Effects Animation: The Stampede
    • Effects Animation: Circle of Life
    • Stage Musical Publicity - As described above.
    • International Soundtrack Covers - As described above.
    • International Large Format Release - As described above.

South America

• Multi-Language Reel - As described above.
• International Release - As described above.
• Galleries
  • Stage Musical Publicity - As described above.
  • International Soundtrack Covers - As described above.
  • International Large Format Release - As described above.

Story

• Story Origins - 4:38 - Discusses the links The Lion King story has with mythical themes, human emotions, family, and community.
• Timeless Themes - 3:57 - Describes how the creators looked to identify certain themes for the movie, such as the traditional "coming-of-age", death, and responsibility themes.
• The Story Comes to Life - 3:15 - Describes the themes of the movie and how the artists brought their own life experiences and emotions to the development of the movie.

Film

• Origins - 5:55 - Shows the progression of Disney features from the likes of Beauty And The Beast, The Little Mermaid, and Aladdin to the making of The Lion King. It was interesting to hear that most of the crew did not want to work on The Lion King as it was believed Pocohontas was the better movie to be involved with.
• Production Research Trip - As described above.
• Art: African Influence - As described above.
• Reflections - As described above.
• Storyboard Introduction - As described above.
• Production Design - As described above.
• Character Design - As described above.
• Computer Animation - As described above.
• Film Character Galleries - As described above.

Stage

    This entire section is as per the New York selection.

Music

• Music Inspiration - 3:50 - Shows footage of Elton John playing his songs, the African singers performing their chants, and Hans Zimmer describing his contribution.
• Landmark Songwriting - As described above.
• Orchestral Color - 4:24 - Shows Hans Zimmer at work in writing the score and collaborating with the African singers.
• Scoring Emotion - 2:59 - Hans Zimmer describes how he was not used to writing music for animals since he had only dealt with human characters. He indicates how the very human emotions in the movie helped in the musical score he had to write, and how he endeavoured to bring these emotions to bear with his melodies.
• Music: African Influence - As described above.
• Audio Sequel - As described above.
• Full Circle - 1:43 - Elton John discusses how he was thrilled to with both a Tony Award and Oscar for his songs. Other crew discuss their feelings for the music, and how they all strived to make the music great.
• Music Videos - As described above.

Animals

• Introduction - 1:30 - Roy Disney gives a brief intro into the Animal Kingdom park, and how animals have always been a large factor in Disney animation.
• Lions - As described above.
• Meerkats - As described above.
• Warthogs - As described above.
• Hyenas - As described above.
• Disney & Animals - As described above.

Virtual Safari

• The first option takes you to a menu that simply allows you to view the Lion King 3 trailer.
• The second option allows you to take a trip in a boat down the river, with Timon and Pumbaa providing the comedy along the way. Strictly for kids, although it does make good use of Dolby Digital 5.1.
• The third option is similar to the the river trip, but this time you ride in a jeep with Timon and Pumbaa.

• Trailers for Brother Bear, Sleeping Beauty: SE, George of the Jungle 2, Finding Nemo, Santa Claus 2, and Mary Poppins: SE)
• Disney Enhanced Home Theatre Mix - Dolby Digital 5.1

    It also appears the Region 4 release misses out on some of the extras found on the laserdisc release including:

• The Making of The Lion King
• Storyboard pitches
• Early concept featurettes

    The Region 1 DVD release misses out on:

• Disney Enhanced Home Theater Mix - DTS 5.1 soundtrack

    Overall, I would recommend the Region 4 release purely based on the video and audio quality alone. I am a little disturbed that the making-of documentary on the laserdisc did not make it to this Special Edition DVD release, and would hope that it was not moved aside to make room for all the featurettes on The Lion King phenomenon.

    The Lion King is a simple story, made great by an incredible combination of stunning animation, perfect voice casting, and inspirational music and song. This DVD presents the movie perfectly, and would be a proud inclusion in anyone's DVD collection.

    The video quality is superb, and is faultless to my eyes.

    The audio quality is equally superb, with the DTS option being the soundtrack of choice.

    The extras are numerous, but their enjoyment is definitely tainted by the awful use of repeated links throughout the menu structure.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall