History Trivia / TheLionKing

For trivia related to the original film, go [[Trivia/TheLionKing1994 here]]. For trivia related to the 2019 remake, go [[Trivia/TheLionKing2019 here]]

!The Musical
* CutSong: "The Morning Report" was cut from the show in 2010, and subsequent stagings now have Zazu go straight into warning Mufasa about the hyena threat. "The Madness of King Scar" has been cut down over the years as well.
* ThrowItIn: Zazu is given quite a few moments to improvise. He'll often comment on the curtains used in "I Just Can't Wait to be King" (usually comparing them to shower curtains from branded stores like IKEA), and the song he sings to annoy Scar is different for every performance.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** In early writing phases, Creator/JulieTaymor devised a much stranger Act II, where Simba stumbled upon a Vegas-like City of Lights home to a population of FunnyAnimals in the desert, ran by the villainous Papa Croc. Papa Croc made a deal with Scar to divert the water to provide hydroelectric power to run the city and Simba is forced into a fighting ring at his Pussycat Club, where he gains the title "The Lion King" in the tournaments there. Nala finds him there and after being forced to fight Timon and Pumbaa in the ring, all four make their escape back to the Pride Lands.
** Concept art for Zazu's costume originally had a mask for the character. Following the 1996 August workshop, where it was described by Taymor as seeming "awkward and too big", the decision was made to have the puppet version of the character, where it remains in the final version.
** Creator/KeithDavid [[https://twitter.com/imkeithdavid/status/1747454927176356065?s=46&t=qafvhd_bRrC1ayC2BqM_Mw revealed]] in 2024 that he read for the role of Mufasa during previews.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen:

** In early writing phases, Creator/JulieTaymor devised a much stranger Act II, where Simba stumbled upon a Vegas-like City of Lights home to a population of FunnyAnimals in the desert, ran by the villainous Papa Croc. Boss Croc made a deal with Scar to divert the water to provide hydroelectric power to run the city and Simba is forced into a fighting ring at his Pussycat Club, where he gains the title "The Lion King" in the tournaments there. Nala finds him there and after being forced to fight Timon and Pumbaa in the ring, all four make their escape back to the Pride Lands.

** Concept art for Zazu's costume originally had a mask for the character. Following the 1996 August workshop, where it was described by Taymor as seeming "awkward and too big", the decision was made to have the puppet version of the character, where it remains in the final production.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: In early writing phases, Creator/JulieTaymor devised a much stranger Act II, where Simba stumbled upon a Vegas-like City of Lights home to a population of FunnyAnimals in the desert, ran by the villainous Boss Croc. Boss Croc made a deal with Scar to divert the water to provide hydroelectric power to run the city and Simba is forced into a fighting ring at his Pussycat Club, where he gains the title "The Lion King" in the tournaments there. Nala finds him there and after being forced to fight Timon and Pumbaa in the ring, all four make their escape back to the Pride Lands.

For tropes related to the original film, go [[Trivia/TheLionKing1994 here]]. For tropes related to the 2019 remake, go [[Trivia/TheLionKing2019 here]]