The Lion King on TV

Disney Classic animation film, The Lion King, which premieres on Disney Channel on May 22, was the highest worldwide grossing film of 1994. Here are a few fun facts about the all-time favourite:

n The Lion King is the first Disney animation movie to be dubbed into Portuguese in Portugal rather than Brazil.

n It is one of three Disney movies to win a Golden Globe for Best Picture. The other two are Beauty and the Beast (1991) and Toy Story 2 (1999).

n "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" won Elton John an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

n An alternate version of Can You Feel the Love Tonight, a comic version to be sung by Timon and Pumbaa was storyboarded and even recorded but never used.

n The Lion King is the best selling home video of all time, with more than 55 million copies sold to date.

n Several Disney animators went to Africa to study animal behaviour and interaction in the wild. A grown up lion and a cub were also brought into the animation studio as models for anatomy and musculature.

n One of the bugs that Timon pulls out of a knothole during Hakuna Matata is wearing Mickey Mouse ears.