The Lion King (1994 film/My Version)

The Lion King is a 1994 American animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation as the 32nd film in the Disney Animated Canon and the fifth entry in the Disney Renaissance era with a co-production of Caravan Pictures (first animated film produced) and Amblin Entertainment and released by Walt Disney Pictures on June 24, 1994. The film is directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff (in their directorial debuts), from a screenplay written by Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts and Linda Woolverton and produced by Don Hahn, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Gerald R. Molen, Roger Birnbaum and Joe Roth. It stars Matthew Broderick, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Moira Kelly, Niketa Calame-Harris, Jeremy Irons, Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin, Jim Cummings, Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, Robert Guillaume, Rowan Atkinson, with Madge Sinclair, and James Earl Jones.

Containing elements of Hamlet and Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the story centers a lion prince named Simba, who must overcome the loss of his father and his villainous uncle, Scar, in order to take his rightful place as the king of the Pride Lands.

The Lion King received universal acclaim from critics, who praised the film for its music, animation, story, and the performances of the voice cast (particularly Broderick, Taylor Thomas, Kelly, Calame-Harris, Earl Jones, Irons, Goldberg, Marin, Lane, Sabella, Atkinson and Guillaume). During its release in 1994, the film grossed more than $763 million worldwide, making it the most successful film released that year, beating Forrest Gump, True Lies, The Mask, and Speed. Today, The Lion King holds the record as the highest-grossing traditionally animated film in history. Its success solidified what was regarded as the Disney Renaissance. It also became the highest-grossing animated film after Aladdin.

The Lion King was followed by two movies: a sequel, The Lion King II: Simba's Pride; and a part prequel-part parallel, The Lion King 1½. Additional spin-offs include the television series Timon & Pumbaa and The Lion Guard. In 2019, a theatrical remake of the film was released using photo-realistic computer animation to portray the characters and environments.

In 2016, the film was chosen for preservation by the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".