The Lion King turned 30 last month, and I have been speaking frequently to people who had questions about what it was like to work on the film.
As some of you might know, I had already animated two Disney villains, Gaston and Jafar. By the time the Lion King came around, I thought there would be little or no chance for me to do the villain again. Certainly it was time for someone else to handle the bad guy.
But let me back up a little bit. We were still in the process of finishing the movie Aladdin when a group of us had an important conversation in the hallway of the studio. As much as we loved working on Disney animated films (and it was really an honor), things had gotten a little dicey for the whole animation team.
I need to point out that at that time there was only ONE animation team, the one that had produced The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast as well as the almost finished Aladdin. For each of those films we had been given 12 months to finish the animation. That was a very tight schedule to say the least. In order to meet the weekly deadlines, a ton of overtime was needed. Dinners were catered to the studio. Many artists took their work home over weekends, I know I did.
Don't get me wrong, it was loads of fun to work on these films, and we were elated to see their boxoffice results. But people were getting exhausted, and some relationships suffered because we spent so many hours at the studio and very little at home.
It was time to have a talk with management to discuss these issues. We ended up having a company retreat on the Queen Mary, an old ocean liner turned onto a hotel, located in Long Beach.
Those talks were difficult and straining, but Disney management took notice. The result:
After Aladdin our one animation team would be split into two. Each small unit would be enlarged by hiring additional artists to the studio. And the time to animate a new feature would now be around 18 months.
The first two animated titles that went into production almost simultaneously were Pocahontas and King of the Jungle (which would go through a name change...).
In order to present pre-production work for both projects to the animators, a wine and cheese party was held. I remember gorgeous vis dev Illustrations by Mike Gabriel telling the story of Pocahontas and her unusual love interest. In essence this was a Romeo and Juliet concept. Everyone understood it and loved it.
King of the Jungle was supposed to be about a lion cub growing up, as he learns about what it takes to become...king of the jungle.
Mel shaw had produced a few atmospheric pastel sketches showing African wildlife, but there wasn't much of a story at this point.
Disney gave us a choice regarding which film we would like to be a part of. I still find this stunning after all these years. They could have seriously suggested which animator they saw fit for any of the two titles, but they didn't. We really had a choice.
As much as I loved the visuals for Pocahontas, it was clear to me that I had to be a part of the "lion project". Perhaps because of my love for the Jungle Book and my general passion for wildlife.
All the way hoping that a good story for the film might emerge.
So I started looking at early storyboards to figure out which of the "non villain" characters I might lean toward. Simba, Mufasa, Rafiki etc.
Then word got around the studio that actor Jeremy Irons had just read a few lines for Scar. I listened to these early recordings, and...my mind was blown. What a voice, what a concept, what a character!!
It might not have been my turn to animate another villain, but I just had to ask.
I got lucky!