The Lion King
Summary
Hans Zimmer , the celebrated composer of Disney’sThe Lion King , recently let out some interesting information about what fail into makingThe Lion King’sfamous opening song , “ The Circle of Life . ” WhenThe Lion Kingpremiered in 1994 , it was an instant winner , anda gravid part of that success is thanks to its memorable honor - winning soundtrack . Zimmer scored the animated plastic film with a handful of original song written by composer Elton John and lyrist Tim Rice , who had previously work with Disney on theAladdinsoundtrack . Along with composing the songs , John was also a featured vocalist on multiple track .
The Disney Renaissance moving picture soundtrackearned two Academy Awards , one for John and Rice for Best Original Song and one for Zimmer forBest Original Score , marking his first of two wins . The soundtrack was so successful that it had three nominations in the Best Original Song family – “ Can You Feel The Love Tonight , ” “ Circle of Life , ” and “ Hakuna Matata ” – with “ Can You Feel The Love Tonight ” being the ultimate success . The Lion Kingtakes inspiration fromHamletand is set in the Pride Lands of Africa , leading to a singular score with African sounds , lyrics , and voices .
Hans Zimmer’s Process & Inspiration For The Lion King’s “Circle Of Life” Explained
Hans Zimmer Was Inspired By African Sounds
Since his motion-picture show grievance entry in 1982’sMoonlighting , German composer Hans Zimmer has score over 150 film , includingThe Lion King . Disney grudge have spanned a variety of soundsbased on its characters and where the storey takes place . For example , the Caribbean sound of calypso and Jamaican reggae can be listen inThe Little Mermaidsoundtrack , most notably in the songs sung by the Trinidadian - accentuate crab Sebastian , “ Kiss The Girl ” and “ Under The Sea . ” TheMoanasoundtrack also features Polynesian lyric to honour the refinement search in the film .
ForThe Lion King , Zimmer was inspire by African strait andincluded various African instruments in the scoreto fetch the speech sound to biography on the big screen . This included a mix of traditional African tympan and other percussion instrument to bring a more modern African sound . For “ Circle of Life , ” Zimmer work with South African composer Lebo M , who sings the song ’s opening lyric . In the Netflix documentaryHollywood Rebel , Zimmer also share his unique cognitive process of create synthesized demos for directors , something that was n’t uncouth practice at the time .
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Why The Lion King’s “Circle Of Life” Ends The Way It Does
The Lion King’s “Circle Of Life” Has A Unique Ending
The Lion King’s“Circle of Life ” is memorable for many things : the African chant , “ Nants ingonyama bagithi baba , ” that afford the song ; the scene it keep company of the animals coming together at Pride Rock to see the newborn prince Simba , and its dramatic ending . There are many dissimilar ways to end a song , one of which is known as a musical button . A melodic button is the opposite of a slicing - out , providinga solid gibbosity at the ending of a call . Buttons are popular in musical field , as they have an consultation know when to spat .
Zimmer ’s “ Circle of Life ” ends on a melodic button , with an emphatic rub-a-dub that caps everything off perfectly . However , this was n’t intentional on Zimmer ’s part , as evidence inHollywood Rebel . Zimmer shared that whenThe Lion King’sdirectors and manufacturer derive in to hear the Sung dynasty , he had n’t finish up it yet . To distract from this , Zimmer tot up the rub-a-dub at the end , by the bye creating one of Disney ’s most iconic song ending .
Disney’s Original Plan For The Lion King’s Score Was Very Different
“Circle Of Life” Was Meant To Be Much Shorter
Just like the conclusion of “ Circle of Life,”the Sung itself was n’t supposed to dally out the way it did . When it come clock time for Zimmer to write “ Circle of Life,”The Lion Kingdirector and producers had a design for it due to pre - write dialogue and an already animated sequence . “ Circle of Life ” clocks in at just under 4 minutes , but Disney had originally expect Zimmer to arrange just 20 seconds of what Elton John had already composed before the call was meant to switch into duologue .
Fortunately , in his excitement about work with Lebo M , Zimmer forgot all about these instructions , creating the much longer demo that was then used in the film . When it come time to show the birdcall to the theatre director and producer , Zimmer worried they ’d make him redo it to meet their original design . Instead , Disney decide to recreate the entire curtain raising and take away the dialogue out completely . In doing so , “ Circle of Life ” was capable to utter for itself , and Zimmer created one of Disney ’s most iconic songs that perfectly set the timbre forThe Lion King .
Where To Watch The Lion King
Custom image by Yeider Chacon
