Zimmer and the directors told the composer what they wanted to do with the opening scene, and, during one session, Lebo began to riff on ideas. Hans Zimmer ( pictured above), who had been brought on to compose the score, tapped Lebo M., a then-exiled South African composer living in the U.S., to help with the music. The Zulu section – including the famous “Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba!” – came about in similarly inspired fashion. “By half-past three, he’d finished writing and recording a stunning demo.” “I gave him the lyrics at the beginning of the session at about two in the afternoon,” Rice says in The New Illustrated Treasury of Disney Songs.
Lyricist Tim Rice has said that the main melody was dreamed up by Elton John in less than two hours. Both of the song’s key elements – the memorable Zulu chant that opens the film, as well as the sung English verses and chorus – were created in moments of sudden inspiration. It’s hard to believe that a song as powerful as “The Circle of Life” – which opens the film, stage show, and presumably also the upcoming live-action film – came together so quickly. The Song Was Written in Two Major Flurries of Inspiration Ultimately, the filmmakers went in a different direction, opting for zero dialogue, and move history was made. Also, in one early incarnation of the scene we were to meet The Lion King’s villain, Scar, who was to be shown angrily watching over the proceedings until being noticed and slinking away. For starters, rather than simply show the animals wordlessly moving towards Pride Rock, the scene was to feature dialogue one early iteration would have them sing a prayer in Swahili.
THE LION KING CIRCLE OF LIFE SONG MOVIE
Originally, the scene – now widely regarded as one of the most awe-inspiring movie openings ever – was going to be quite different. Twenty-five years on, it has lost none of its ability to drop your jaw. The opening moments of The Lion King are some of the most powerful moments Disney animators have ever put to screen: from the second Lebo M.’s Zulu chant kicks in over a rising red sun, to the moment that same sun slices through the clouds to bless baby Simba, held skyward by Rafiki, the sequence holds the audience in its thrall. “The Circle of Life” Might Have Looked Very Different Here’s how it came together – and how it almost looked, and sounded, completely different. To celebrate the anniversary of the original game-changing animated classic, we’re looking back at its first few minutes, which make up one of the most spellbinding opening sequences in movie history. And it’s just less than a month before Disney’s new take on the story lands in cinemas across the country. It’s been 25 ears since The Lion King was released in theaters on June 24, 1994. (Photo by ©Walt Disney Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection)
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