Disney’s 1994 animated film is considered to be one of the studio’s best. However, it’s no secret that Disney’s.

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After all, we’re talking about the studio that killed Bambi’s mother and disposed of many of its villains in gruesome manners. So it doesn’t exactly come as a shock that the original ending to The Lion King was a little less than family-friendly. Kiara and Simba Disney Junior via Getty Images How did ‘The Lion King’ end?The theatrical ending of The Lion King is considerably less gruesome than its alternate counterpart. In case you need a recap before we delve into just how messed up the alternate ending is, here’s a quick summary of how the original film ends.Simba rushes back to Pride Rock to face both his uncle Scar and all of his fears surrounding returning home after living in exile for so long. Simba offers Scar peace at first, but the prideful lion refuses the offer and throws red hot coals into his nephew’s face. Scar and Simba fight as Pride Rock erupts into flames around them.Simba, at last, clears his name by forcing Scar to confess he killed Mufasa. The two battle while the rest of the pride fights off Scar’s band of hyenas.

Simba spares Scar’s life and leaves his fate up to the hyenas, who aren’t exactly merciful. In a stroke of poetic irony, Scar is eaten alive by his own gang of cackling, four-legged followers.As the chaos dies down, a healing rain sweeps across the valley and restores Pride Rock to its glorious former self with Simba as the rightful king. Chain chronicle gameplay. The alternate ending was a bit too Shakespearean — not to mention gruesomeStoryboards reveal to The Lion King we know and love.During the battle of Pride Rock, Simba gains the upper hand and throws Scar over the edge. A moment later, Simba hears a cry for help. Scar survived the fall, having grabbed on to the side of Pride Rock. Simba is conflicted for a moment, knowing fully well Scar murdered his father and just moments ago would have murdered him.Still, Simba upholds his moral compass and helps his uncle to safety.

Then, Scar whispers to Simba, “Goodnight, sweet prince,” in a very Hamlet fashion and throws his nephew into the burning abyss below.Simba survived the fall, unbeknownst to Scar, who is gloating over his victory by laughing maniacally on top of Pride Rock. His hubris distracts him from the rising flames surrounding him, which eventually consume him.Disney producers ultimately decided to scrap this ending on account of it being far too terrifying for children and figured that having Scar confront the hyenas one final time would be poetic enough, albeit still disturbing.

The film’s sequel ‘The Lion King II’ had a similar dark alternate endingAs if The Lion King’s alternate ending wasn’t upsetting enough, The Lion King II also has a dark villain death in yet another alternate scene.The Lion King II welcomes a new league of antagonists known as The Outsiders, a group of lions who still follow Scar as fanatics and loathe Simba for his part in their leader’s demise. Their leader, Zira, attempts to use her son, Kovu, to get close to Simba and kill him.

However, things don’t exactly go as planned when Kovu falls in love with Simba’s daughter, Kiara.Like the first film, the climax of The Lion King II is a second vicious battle pitting lions against lions. Zira attempts to kill Simba, but Kiara saves him before Zira falls into a flooding river and drowns.But, Zira’s death isn’t as much of an accident. Kiara attempts to reach Zira and save her life. But instead, the lioness smiles evilly at Kiara, saying, “No! Never!” before letting go of the rocks and falling to her death. Yikes.For a franchise so centered on the circle of life, it’s amazing just how much of The Lion King’s story is cloaked with death.

For the sake of all our childhoods, we’re glad the animators decided to stick with the theatrical endings of both films. Hakuna matata.Read more.

The film is the latest in a series of annual media events from Disney, which with 'The Little Mermaid,' 'Beauty and the Beast' and 'Aladdin' reinvented its franchise of animated feature films. The inspiration for these recent films comes from the earliest feature cartoons created by Walt Disney himself, who in movies like 'Dumbo,' with the chaining of Mrs. Jumbo, and 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,' with its wicked stepmother, tapped into primal fears and desires. Later Disney films drifted off into the neverland of innocuous 'children's movies,' which were harmless but not very exciting. These most recent four animated features are once again true 'family films,' in that they entertain adults as well as children.

'The Lion King' is the first Disney animated feature not based on an existing story. In another sense, it is based on half the stories in classical mythology. It tells the tale of the birth, childhood and eventual manhood of Simba, a lion cub. The cub's birth is announced in the opening sequence of the movie, called 'The Circle of Life,' which is an evocative collaboration of music and animation to show all of the animals of the African veld gathering to hail their future king. The cute little cub is held aloft from a dramatic spur of rock, and all his future minions below hail him, in a staging that looks like the jungle equivalent of a political rally.

Class of heroes psp game. Of course this coming together of zebra and gazelle, monkey and wildebeest, fudges on the uncomfortable fact that many of these animals survive by eating one another. And all through 'The Lion King' the filmmakers perform a balancing act between the fantasy of their story and the reality of the jungle. Early scenes show Simba as a cute, trusting little tike who believes everyone loves him. He is wrong. He has an enemy - his uncle Scar, the king's jealous brother, who wants to be king himself one day.