12/18
Walt Disney Productions/Album/Entertainment Pictures via ZUMA Press
34. The first Disney animated feature not to be based on a book or fairytale, it went into production at the same time as Pocahontas, the 1995 film very loosely borrowing from the biography of the real-life Native American woman. Many of the studio's top animators chose to work on the latter, feeling it'd be more successful, only to see Simba and his pride blow it out of the water with a nearly $1 billion gross.
35. Perhaps give some credit to Pumba? The warthog was the first Disney character to fart onscreen.
36. As to be expected, there were many edits to the original script. But perhaps one of the most notable is their decision to make the villainous Scar Mufasa's brother rather than just a random rebel. The switch, occurring after the animated character had been developed, accounts for the notable differences in their appearance.
37. That popular urban legend about a puff of dust spelling out the very un-Disney "sex"? Not quite. Producers later admitted they'd spelled out SFX, a tribute to the special effects team. Whoops.