1. The movie very nearly not called The Lion King
In perhaps the most hilarious tidbit of information to come about since the movie’s release is that the movie was originally not going to be called The Lion King as was instead to be called The King of the Jungle.
However, this idea was scrapped when Disney realised that lions do not live in the jungle.
Seriously.
At least they have the excuse that Wikipedia didn’t exist in the early 90s…
The story was also going to be different with the original idea being about a war between lions and baboons. However the pitch of “Bambi in Africa meets Hamlet” got the green light for the movie we know today.
Originally published June 25, 2014. Updated April 15, 2018.
