Did you know that after Simba's first encounter with the hyenas, the movie was supposed to feature a lullaby sung by Sarabi called "Lion in the Moon?" Or that The Lion King was originally going to be titled King of the Jungle? Find out more interesting facts here! 

1.     James Earl Jones and Madge Sinclair who voiced King Mufasa and Queen Sarabi in The Lion King, also plays the King and Queen in Coming to America!

2.     The Lion King was originally titled King of the Jungle until Disney eventually realized lions don’t live in the jungle.

3.     Rafiki is actually something of a cross between a mandrill and a baboon as true mandrills do not have tails.

4.     Disney originally wanted Sean Connery to voice Mufasa.

5.     Zazu: He’d make a very rug handsome throw rug.

6.     When The Lion King was released, it caused a huge uproar in Japan. People thought it was very similar to the incredibly popular anime series Kimba the White Lion.

Luckily for Disney, the creator of Kimba the White Lion, Osamu Tezuka, declined to sue.

7.     ‘Can you Feel the Love Tonight?’ was originally supposed to be a comic duet between Timon and Pumbaa. Composer Elton John said he had a feeling the song wouldn’t win an Oscar award if the song was sung by a warthog and meerkat.

8.     After The Lion King was released, a hyena biologist sued Disney for portraying hyenas as villains. 

9.     Hakuna Matata originally had an extra verse in it in which Timon explained his difficulty fitting in with the other meerkats. 

10.     Pumbaa was the first character to fart in a Disney movie.

11.     Jeremy Irons was reluctant to lend his voice as Scar, but when he saw the animation, he fell in love with the character.

12.     “Be Prepared” was originally going to be “Thanks to Me.” The song was actually going to come later in the movie after Scar took over the Pride Lands. As the story developed, it made more sense to have an evil plotting song.

13.     Mufasa was originally not supposed to appear after his death.

14.     Hakuna Matata originally wasn't going to be in the script at all; instead, there was a song about eating bugs called "He's Got It All Worked Out." According to Rob Minkoff, "We couldn't convince everybody making an entire song about eating bugs was a good idea. Soon after, the research team came back from their trip to Africa, with the phrase 'Hakuna Matata.' We talked about it in a meeting with Tim Rice - and that's when the idea struck. I remember Tim saying, 'Hmm...Hakuna Matata. It's a bit like Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo.' A song was born!

15.     The first script of The Lion King featured Scar as a rouge, unrelated to Simba, who was in charge of a pack of vicious baboons. In this version, Rafiki was written as a cheetah and Timon and Pumbaa were both friends with Simba from the beginning of the film.

Hope you enjoyed reading some facts you may not have known about The Lion King.