Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Franchise / TheLionKing

Go To

1%%
2%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16884925130.83846800
3%% Please don't change or remove without starting a new thread.
4%%
5[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_lion_king_logo.png]]
6[[caption-width-right:300:''"We are all connected in the great Circle of Life."'']]
7
8''The Lion King'' is a [[CashCowFranchise popular]] Creator/{{Disney}} franchise that began in [[TheNineties 1994]] with the Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 film of the same name]]. It mainly revolves around a pride of lions who are the royalty overseeing a vast swath of African savannah called the Pride Lands, with the pride's leader seen as king by the other animals. The franchise's first three films famously feature many [[Creator/WilliamShakespeare Shakespearean]] themes in their plots.
9----
10!!Works with pages on TV Tropes:
11[[index]]
12!!!Comic Books
13* ''ComicBook/TheLionKing'': A series of mostly unrelated comics based on the original film.
14* ''ComicBook/TheLionKingWildSchemesAndCatastrophes'' (2019): An anthology with four stories set before the 2019 remake, focusing on Simba as a cub.
15* ''ComicBook/DisneyStoriedPlaces'' (2019): An anthology featuring stories based around location of Disney films.
16* ''ComicBook/{{Scar}}'' (2023): A series starring the villain Scar as part of the ''Franchise/DisneyVillains'' line.
17!!!Films
18* ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}}'' (1994): The highest-grossing traditionally animated film of all time. A young lion cub prince gets tricked by his uncle, the king's brother, into thinking he killed his father. After the cub grows up, he later learns of his uncle's tyranny and goes to face him to reclaim his throne. Part of the [[MediaNotes/TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation Disney Renaissance]], it is very inspired by ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}''.
19* ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingIISimbasPride''[[note]]later retitled ''The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride'' (notice the Arabic numeral replacing the Roman numeral)[[/note]] (1998): The first DirectToVideo sequel. The king's lioness daughter bonds with a lion from a banished pride who still sees the king's uncle as the "rightful" king. Inspired by ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' and ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}''.
20* ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingOneAndAHalf''[[note]]''The Lion King 3: Hakuna Matata'' [[MarketBasedTitle outside of North America]][[/note]] (2004): The second DirectToVideo sequel, although it's more of a {{prequel}}/{{interquel}} of the first film from [[PerspectiveFlip the perspective of]] ThoseTwoGuys. A meerkat wants to get away from his monotonous life digging tunnels and goes out to find a better life, befriending a warthog along the way. Has similarities to the modern ''Theatre/RosencrantzAndGuildensternAreDead''.
21* ''Wild About Safety'' (2008-2013): A series of short educational films starring Timon and Pumbaa, teaching children how to stay "safety smart" in various aspects of life.
22* ''Recap/TheLionGuardReturnOfTheRoar'' (2015): The PilotMovie to the franchise's second TV series (see below).
23* ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|2019}}'' (2019): The highest-grossing animated film of all time[[note]]Though Disney doesn't officially consider it as such, instead claiming ''WesternAnimation/FrozenII'' to hold that spot[[/note]]. A photorealistic reimagining of the first film directed by Creator/JonFavreau, following Disney's trend of live-action remakes of their animated films.[[/index]]
24** ''Black Is King'' (2020): A visual album film released on Creator/DisneyPlus and primarily made by Music/{{Beyonce}} (who voiced Nala in the remake) and based on the tie-in album she curated for the remake, ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lion_King:_The_Gift The Lion King: The Gift]]'', made up of several segments forming into a narrative that parallels the plot of the original film. [[index]]
25* ''WesternAnimation/MufasaTheLionKing'' (2024): A [[MeanwhileInTheFuture sequel/prequel]] to the 2019 film, directed by Barry Jenkins. The backstory of Simba's father Mufasa and how he went [[FromZeroToHero from an orphaned cub to becoming king of the Pride Lands]], told to Simba's children by his friends. [[/index]]
26!!!Music
27[[index]]
28* ''[[Music/TheLionKing1994 The Lion King: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]]'' (1994): The soundtrack album of the 1994 film, featuring songs by Music/EltonJohn, lyrics by Creator/TimRice, and a score by Music/HansZimmer.
29!!!Television series
30* ''[[WesternAnimation/TimonAndPumbaa The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa]]'' (1995–1999): The first spinoff, set between the first and second film, focusing on that meerkat and warthog duo mentioned above as they have adventures in the jungle they call home and [[WalkingTheEarth elsewhere.]] [[ReverseCerebusSyndrome Very different from the first film.]]
31* ''WesternAnimation/TheLionGuard'' (2015–2019): Made for young audiences, this series is an interquel set within the timeline of the second film. The king's son leads a diverse group of animals in defending the Pride Lands.
32!!!Literature
33* ''Literature/TheLionKingSixNewAdventures'' (1994): A series of short picture books set sometime after the original film. The king's son (not the same one as ''The Lion Guard'' above) is told about events that happened in the past. [[CanonDiscontinuity This series is considered semi-canon.]]
34* ''Literature/HakunaMatataMagazineStories'' (1994–1997): A series of multi-part stories published in ''The Lion King: A Nature Fun and Learn Series'' magazine, featuring Simba, Timon and Pumbaa.
35!!!Theatre
36* ''Theatre/{{The Lion King|1997}}'' (1997): The {{Spectacle}}-loaded ScreenToStageAdaptation of the original film, the third-longest running show on Broadway, and the highest-grossing Broadway production of all time.
37!!!Theme park attractions
38* ''Ride/TheEnchantedTikiRoom (Under New Management)'' (1998–2011): Zazu the hornbill made an appearance in this Walt Disney World update to the classic attraction as one of the hosts of the show, alongside ''Franchise/{{Aladdin}}''[='=]s Iago.
39* ''Festival of the Lion King'' (1998-): A stage show at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Walt Disney World, featuring a cast of original characters singing the songs of the original film alongside animatronics of Simba and Pumbaa, and a costumed actor playing Timon. One of the original characters also fills in as Scar for "Be Prepared."
40!!!Video games
41* ''VideoGame/TheLionKing'' (1994): A PlatformGame for Platform/SegaGenesis and Platform/{{Super Nintendo|Entertainment System}} among others that loosely follows the plot of the original film.
42* ''VideoGame/DisneysAnimatedStorybook: The Lion King'' (1994): A [[PointAndClickGame point-and-click]] {{edutainment game}} for [[Platform/MicrosoftWindows Windows]] and [[Platform/AppleMacintosh Macintosh]] computers serving as the first entry in that series. Basically, an interactive abridged retelling of the original film.
43* ''VideoGame/TimonAndPumbaasJungleGames'' (1995): A MinigameGame of five games.
44* ''The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride'' (1998): Four arcade-style minigames for Windows themed after the namesake film.
45* ''VideoGame/TheLionKingSimbasMightyAdventure'' (2000): A PlatformGame for Platform/GameBoyColor and Platform/PlayStation that follows the plots of the first two films.
46* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' (2002--present): The video game series developed by Disney and Creator/SquareEnix features characters and settings from the franchise.
47** ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI Kingdom Hearts]]'' (2002), ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories'' (2004), and ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'' (2019): [[TheHero Simba]] is featured as an ally the player can summon to aid them in battle.
48** ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' (2005) adapts the plot of the latter parts of the original film with the series' original characters taking part in the action, and then includes an original story set during the final TimeSkip of the film.
49*** ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsMelodyOfMemory'' (2020) features two stages based on the film's world from ''II'' with Simba as a guest party member, as well as an unlockable stage set to "Circle of Life".
50* ''VideoGame/DisneysExtremeSkateAdventure'' (2003): Simba, Timon & Pumbaa, Rafiki and Nala appear as playable skaters, with Pride Rock, the Elephant Graveyard and Scar's Canyon (aka the gorge that the wildebeest stampede took place in) being available as skatable levels. Zazu and Scar appear as NPC's, the latter being the boss of the three levels.
51* ''VideoGame/TimonAndPumbaasVirtualSafari'' (2003-2004): A bonus feature featured in the Platinum Edition DVD of the original film that carried on to the DVD releases for the midquel and sequel the following year, starring Timon and Pumbaa as they take the players on guided safari tours through the Pride Lands and other interesting locales.
52* ''VideoGame/DisneyFriends'' (2007): Simba appears as an interactive friend, with Timon and Pumbaa appearing in adventures.
53[[/index]]
54----
55%%!!Tropes found throughout the franchise include:

Top