This is the best Disney of all time and yet no one believed in the movie!

We are in the early 90s. After a relatively difficult decade for Disney artists, the sun is shining again for the studio, which is happily embarking on its most inspired period since Walt’s tragic disappearance (age 24). early).

After the two great successes of The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast (the first animated film in history to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars), the famous enchanted studios recorded their biggest box office score yet – The Office. History (minus inflation) with Aladdin in 1992.

• Everything you didn’t know about The Lion King…

500 million greenbacks in the world: a score worthy of the Cave of Wonders treasure. However, before they knew it, the managers of the big Gulf firm were preparing to double that figure… and not with the film they envisioned.

In the line of their upcoming major releases, it is Pocahontas, a large animated and musical mural centered on the arrival of the first English navigators in America, that takes the place of honor. Considered the flagship project of the studio, it is somewhat overshadowed by another smaller project that relies on a much smaller team and for which we do not have high hopes.

At first he was baptized King of the jungle, several years in the making, this animal film centered around savannah lions doesn’t have great odds when it comes to betting on Disney’s future triumphs. And yet, even if no one knows it, The Lion King just might be poised to become the biggest commercial success in the studio’s history (until Frozen dethroned it twenty years later).

“We always called The Lion King a B movie because it was a big risk.”– producer Don Han told the microphone Geek’s Denin 2010.

Making a film centered on Africa, a film without people. A film starring Elton John, who had never written a musical before. We saw it as an experiment, a way to expand into new territories. We knew we had to try. some things.”

Convinced that they would never achieve a score as high as Aladdin, the artists at the studio simply concentrated on their task and tried to make the best film possible.

“The studio was still trying to manage expectations”Don Han continues.

“They were like, ‘Look, guys, we shouldn’t be reaching these huge numbers. There will never be another movie that makes $200 million like Aladdin, so don’t try. Try to make a good quality movie”. Of course, The Lion King then reached 425 million (…) . Such success cannot be expected in one lifetime. All we can do is (…) I am trying to make a good film.”

Not content with breaking box office records, The Lion King also earned a special place in the hearts of fans and is still considered by AlloCiné viewers as the best Disney of all time.

(Re)discover our video dedicated to the film…