Book Review: “The Lion King: The Full Film Script”

Hi everyone!

I purchased “The Lion King: The Full Film Script” to review. The book was released last week along with “The Little Mermaid: The Full Film Script“. The books are by the editors of Canterbury Classics and are nicely bound, especially for the retail price of $19.99. “The Lion King: The Full Film Script” has about 160 pages.

What I wasn’t sure about when ordering the book is if the information and stories shared would be culled from various sources or if the authors would speak to the filmmakers. The acknowledgements page does state that producer Don Hahn and co-directors Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff took time to share stories and memories. Also, artwork came from the Walt Disney Research Animation Library and in particular with help from Fox Carney.

The Introduction includes some history of how the film came about, including mentioning that “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” was reworked over and over, including the possibility of it being sung by Timon and Pumbaa. It also explains that the book is “an annotated and illustrated” edition of the complete screenplay.

Throughout the book, there is a decent amount of concept art and pages with information about “The Lion King” as the script progresses. For example, when Simba meets Timon and Pumbaa, that is when we see concept art and stories about the two.

The creation of the “Be Prepared” scene and wildebeest stampede are among topics discussed. Producer Don Hahn said a lot of computer graphics dollars went to the stampede because of how difficult it would be to draw. A page about Timon and Pumbaa discusses the hiring of Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella, who were on Broadway together at the time and actually auditioned together for the hyenas.

The book also includes song lyrics.

If you are a fan of The Lion King, I do recommend “The Lion King: The Full Film Script” for your collection. It is a nicely written and put together book.

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