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- Lion King: Definitive Edition, The
Lion King: Definitive Edition, The
Updated
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie/Show Title:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
1994
Original Running Time:
88 minutes
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
90 minutes
Time Added:
2 minutes
Subtitles Available:
Available in HD:
Additional Links:
Synopsis:
The Lion King has be released on home media several times over, with changes being made along the way. Many of these changes were for the better, but some of them were for the worse. This fanedit of the film serves to take some of the better changes from earlier releases of the film and add them back into a more high quality, later edition copy of the film. Also included are more songs!
Intention:
I've always loved The Lion King, so I set out to utilize the different home media releases of the film to make the best version possible in my eyes. There were certain shots and edits that I felt had been better composed in previous home media releases (such as the reanimated crocodiles and waterfalls), while there were others that didn't quite sit right with me (like the final shot of the opening "Circle of Life" sequence. I went through the different releases and chose which versions of each change I preferred, and combined it all into one film. While I was at it, I felt that it'd be fun to include any more songs or deleted scenes that I could, too.
Other Sources:
- The Lion King VHS release
- The Lion King Platinum Edition
- The Lion King: Diamond Edition
- The Lion King: Signature Collection
- Eduardo Quintana's fan-animation of the stage version of the cut song "The Madness of King Scar"
- The Lion King Platinum Edition
- The Lion King: Diamond Edition
- The Lion King: Signature Collection
- Eduardo Quintana's fan-animation of the stage version of the cut song "The Madness of King Scar"
Special Thanks:
Special thanks to @MusicEd921 for running the VHS scenes through Topaz for me to help clean them up! The VHS scenes look much better, and it's all thanks to him!
Release Information:
Digital
Cuts and Additions:
- The Frank Wells tribute was moved to the beginning of the film, like how it was in the VHS release.
- I replaced the modern Disney logo with the orange-and-black logo that was used in the Platinum edition.
- The redone shot of Rafiki holding up baby Simba at the end of the Circle of Life sequence was swapped out for the original version of the shot from the VHS release.
- The Morning Report sequence was added back in instead of the original pouncing lesson scene.
- Eduardo Quintana's animation of the stage version of the cut song "The Madness of King Scar" was added in after the scene where the hyena's confront Scar about not having enough food.
- The version of the scene where Simba is lying on the cliff ledge and the dust forms the letters "SFX" was added back in.
- The scene where Simba runs towards the clouds after speaking to Mufasa was restored (after the clouds were mistakenly removed in the Diamond Edition).
- The end credits from the VHS release where the credits scroll down in one column instead of two were added back in.
- I replaced the modern Disney logo with the orange-and-black logo that was used in the Platinum edition.
- The redone shot of Rafiki holding up baby Simba at the end of the Circle of Life sequence was swapped out for the original version of the shot from the VHS release.
- The Morning Report sequence was added back in instead of the original pouncing lesson scene.
- Eduardo Quintana's animation of the stage version of the cut song "The Madness of King Scar" was added in after the scene where the hyena's confront Scar about not having enough food.
- The version of the scene where Simba is lying on the cliff ledge and the dust forms the letters "SFX" was added back in.
- The scene where Simba runs towards the clouds after speaking to Mufasa was restored (after the clouds were mistakenly removed in the Diamond Edition).
- The end credits from the VHS release where the credits scroll down in one column instead of two were added back in.
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie/Show Title:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
1994
Original Running Time:
88 minutes
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
90 minutes
Time Added:
2 minutes
Subtitles Available:
Available in HD:
Additional Links:
Synopsis:
The Lion King has be released on home media several times over, with changes being made along the way. Many of these changes were for the better, but some of them were for the worse. This fanedit of the film serves to take some of the better changes from earlier releases of the film and add them back into a more high quality, later edition copy of the film. Also included are more songs!
Intention:
I've always loved The Lion King, so I set out to utilize the different home media releases of the film to make the best version possible in my eyes. There were certain shots and edits that I felt had been better composed in previous home media releases (such as the reanimated crocodiles and waterfalls), while there were others that didn't quite sit right with me (like the final shot of the opening "Circle of Life" sequence. I went through the different releases and chose which versions of each change I preferred, and combined it all into one film. While I was at it, I felt that it'd be fun to include any more songs or deleted scenes that I could, too.
Other Sources:
- The Lion King VHS release
- The Lion King Platinum Edition
- The Lion King: Diamond Edition
- The Lion King: Signature Collection
- Eduardo Quintana's fan-animation of the stage version of the cut song "The Madness of King Scar"
- The Lion King Platinum Edition
- The Lion King: Diamond Edition
- The Lion King: Signature Collection
- Eduardo Quintana's fan-animation of the stage version of the cut song "The Madness of King Scar"
Special Thanks:
Special thanks to @MusicEd921 for running the VHS scenes through Topaz for me to help clean them up! The VHS scenes look much better, and it's all thanks to him!
Release Information:
Digital
Cuts and Additions:
- The Frank Wells tribute was moved to the beginning of the film, like how it was in the VHS release.
- I replaced the modern Disney logo with the orange-and-black logo that was used in the Platinum edition.
- The redone shot of Rafiki holding up baby Simba at the end of the Circle of Life sequence was swapped out for the original version of the shot from the VHS release.
- The Morning Report sequence was added back in instead of the original pouncing lesson scene.
- Eduardo Quintana's animation of the stage version of the cut song "The Madness of King Scar" was added in after the scene where the hyena's confront Scar about not having enough food.
- The version of the scene where Simba is lying on the cliff ledge and the dust forms the letters "SFX" was added back in.
- The scene where Simba runs towards the clouds after speaking to Mufasa was restored (after the clouds were mistakenly removed in the Diamond Edition).
- The end credits from the VHS release where the credits scroll down in one column instead of two were added back in.
- I replaced the modern Disney logo with the orange-and-black logo that was used in the Platinum edition.
- The redone shot of Rafiki holding up baby Simba at the end of the Circle of Life sequence was swapped out for the original version of the shot from the VHS release.
- The Morning Report sequence was added back in instead of the original pouncing lesson scene.
- Eduardo Quintana's animation of the stage version of the cut song "The Madness of King Scar" was added in after the scene where the hyena's confront Scar about not having enough food.
- The version of the scene where Simba is lying on the cliff ledge and the dust forms the letters "SFX" was added back in.
- The scene where Simba runs towards the clouds after speaking to Mufasa was restored (after the clouds were mistakenly removed in the Diamond Edition).
- The end credits from the VHS release where the credits scroll down in one column instead of two were added back in.
Trusted Reviewer review
1 review
Overall rating
8.5
Audio/Video Quality
8.0
Audio Editing
9.0
Visual Editing
9.0
Narrative
8.0
Enjoyment
8.0
I haven’t seen this film for a good few years, while it may be Disney’s most successful traditionally animated feature I still find Bambi to be my favourite. This edit is a very interesting proposition, enough for me to get the Blu-ray, but I think the theatrical version is still the one I’d turn to. I must admit though that the redone animation on the pan out from Pride Rock at the start does look strange, so going back to the original is a nice touch.
I’m not too fond of the “Morning Report” song (feels like a comparatively weak musical debut for Simba) and the fan-animated scene, while very impressive and visually harmonious with the rest of the film, feels superfluous (I also prefer the original introduction of the adult Nala, Scar is suddenly giving Claude Frollo vibes here but there is no dramatic payoff).
The AV quality is alright, but there is a noticeable amount of banding on parts of the image with subtle colour variation and there’s also sometimes muddiness even in the native HD footage, might be worth experimenting with different encoding settings. The editing itself is great except for a flash frame at 0:09:59, the audio transitions were all smooth and unnoticeable barring the drop in quality with the fan-made scene (the missing ambient sound could probably be added back though).
I can’t imagine the two restored sections of VHS-sourced animation looking any better short of a 35-mm scan turning up (it has happened before!). I think dedications work better at the start of a film, (if they’re stuck at the end people are less likely to see them), but the one here (as well as the credits) could easily (if tediously) be made to look better by turning them into stills, extracting the text, removing the flecks, applying sharpening and animating (have done it myself). The use of the original credits means that the two additional songs are not included.
While I don’t think I could personally call this “definitive” it was nice to revisit the film in a different way, thanks strangecalendars for putting this together!
I’m not too fond of the “Morning Report” song (feels like a comparatively weak musical debut for Simba) and the fan-animated scene, while very impressive and visually harmonious with the rest of the film, feels superfluous (I also prefer the original introduction of the adult Nala, Scar is suddenly giving Claude Frollo vibes here but there is no dramatic payoff).
The AV quality is alright, but there is a noticeable amount of banding on parts of the image with subtle colour variation and there’s also sometimes muddiness even in the native HD footage, might be worth experimenting with different encoding settings. The editing itself is great except for a flash frame at 0:09:59, the audio transitions were all smooth and unnoticeable barring the drop in quality with the fan-made scene (the missing ambient sound could probably be added back though).
I can’t imagine the two restored sections of VHS-sourced animation looking any better short of a 35-mm scan turning up (it has happened before!). I think dedications work better at the start of a film, (if they’re stuck at the end people are less likely to see them), but the one here (as well as the credits) could easily (if tediously) be made to look better by turning them into stills, extracting the text, removing the flecks, applying sharpening and animating (have done it myself). The use of the original credits means that the two additional songs are not included.
While I don’t think I could personally call this “definitive” it was nice to revisit the film in a different way, thanks strangecalendars for putting this together!
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
User reviews
2 reviews
Overall rating
9.5
Audio/Video Quality
9.0(2)
Audio Editing
10.0(2)
Visual Editing
9.5(2)
Narrative
9.5(2)
Enjoyment
9.0(2)
Overall rating
9.2
Audio/Video Quality
9.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
9.0
Narrative
9.0
Enjoyment
9.0
This was a fun watch. Yes, you can tell when the VHS source was used. But, it's been wonderfully cleaned up and looks great. And the VHS source wasn't used often, and when it was, it was brief. So, I personally didn't find it distracting. The only time I didn't think the editing was seamless was when The Morning Report song happened. But this is honestly a very minor nitpick and isn't distracting at all.
It was actually nice to see The Morning Report after so many years. I don't think I've seen it since getting The Lion King on blu ray. Including The Madness of King Scar song was also interesting. I don't think it really works for the movie, and is probably better for the stage version. However, I can't fault the actual editing of the scene. I think strangecalendars did the best they could with what they had.
I really liked seeing the part where Simba lies on the cliff with the SFX letters added back. I'm sure most know of the urban myth that (probably) resulted in it's removal in the first place. I loved seeing the orange and black logo at the start. I always thought it was a shame Disney put in the standard logo for future releases. It was unique and perfect for The Lion King. I also preferred this version's end credits to other versions.
Do I recommend this version? Yes. But I think this is more for die-hard fans of the movie. Simply because aside for the addition of the two songs, the other changes are fairly minor. If you never owned the movie on VHS and/or DVD, some of those changes might go unnoticed. But if you're someone who's always bought a copy whenever it's been released on a new format, then this is definitely a worthwhile watch..
I look forward to seeing what future edits strangecalendars may have planned.
It was actually nice to see The Morning Report after so many years. I don't think I've seen it since getting The Lion King on blu ray. Including The Madness of King Scar song was also interesting. I don't think it really works for the movie, and is probably better for the stage version. However, I can't fault the actual editing of the scene. I think strangecalendars did the best they could with what they had.
I really liked seeing the part where Simba lies on the cliff with the SFX letters added back. I'm sure most know of the urban myth that (probably) resulted in it's removal in the first place. I loved seeing the orange and black logo at the start. I always thought it was a shame Disney put in the standard logo for future releases. It was unique and perfect for The Lion King. I also preferred this version's end credits to other versions.
Do I recommend this version? Yes. But I think this is more for die-hard fans of the movie. Simply because aside for the addition of the two songs, the other changes are fairly minor. If you never owned the movie on VHS and/or DVD, some of those changes might go unnoticed. But if you're someone who's always bought a copy whenever it's been released on a new format, then this is definitely a worthwhile watch..
I look forward to seeing what future edits strangecalendars may have planned.
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
(Updated: February 11, 2024)
Overall rating
9.7
Audio/Video Quality
9.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
9.0
This was a very cool watch! The changes were smoothly done when incorporating the new clips, and the Morning Report song was unexpected and fun to hear. Call me an old man but I also appreciated seeing the original VHS version of Simba's Presentation clip on Pride Rock. Brought back a lot of fond memories.
The lowered score the AV Quality is purely based on the quality of the available source materials for the older VHS clips, but strangecalendars did a great job making them as seamless as possible. The only mild detract for Enjoyment was the new Scar song, which I personally didn't enjoy but I'm sure many others will.
This was a great watch, and felt like a fresh spin on an old classic! Great work, strangecalendars!
The lowered score the AV Quality is purely based on the quality of the available source materials for the older VHS clips, but strangecalendars did a great job making them as seamless as possible. The only mild detract for Enjoyment was the new Scar song, which I personally didn't enjoy but I'm sure many others will.
This was a great watch, and felt like a fresh spin on an old classic! Great work, strangecalendars!
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
