Can You Feel the Love for Our ‘Lion King’ Quiz?

In both the original and the 2019 reboot, the first species we see greeting the rising sun in the Pride Lands are rhinos. Why should they get all the glory? As 2019  Lion King director Jon Favreau pointed out, the Northern White Rhino went functionally extinct during filming, so he hoped kids seeing these majestic creatures for the first (and possibly only) time would give them a sense of responsibility to help protect endangered species.

“Loosely” being the operative word. It wasn’t a direct homage to Shakespeare’s classic tragedy, but there are more than a few similarities. Both Hamlet and Lion King feature a fatherless prince and a villainous uncle. And early Lion King storyboards even included Scar repeating Horatio’s famous quote: “Good night, sweet prince.”

It’s Timon and Pumbaa’s problem-free philosophy! And it’s not made up, either. It’s an actual phrase from East Africa, translated from Swahili as “no trouble” or “no problems.” Tim Rice, who wrote the lyrics, stumbled upon the term in a Swahili phrasebook.

Although Timon insists that grubs — a type of edible insect that’s popular in central Africa — “tastes like chicken,” many people insist that it actually tastes like beef bone marrow.

Sir Elton not only composed the music, he also provided the lead vocals. The initial plan was to have Timon and Pumbaa sing the future Oscar-winning song, but according to Nathan Lane, Elton loathed the idea of his Disney love ballad being sung “by the rat and the pig.” Years later, Beyoncé reprised the song (along with Donald Glover) for the 2019 reboot.

Famed voice actor Frank Welker — he’s provided the voice for several iconic cartoon characters,  including Scooby-Doo, Curious George and Garfield — created all the lion roars using only his voice and a metal trash can. Which isn’t to say that real lions weren’t used at all during the production. Disney animators were visited by actual lions at the studio so they could study how their bodies moved. 

It took two actors to play the future king of the Pride Lands. Jonathan Taylor Thomas created the voice for Simba as a cub, and Matthew Broderick took over for the adult Simba. Technically, however, there were four voices. Jason Weaver, who was just 13 when the film was made, sang the lead vocals for “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King.” And Joseph Williams, former lead singer of Toto, lent his voice to songs like "Hakuna Matata” and “Can You Feel the Love Tonight.”