My Lion King Forum

Hi Everyone!

My name is Mike and like all of you, I am a huge fan of The Lion King.
I remember being 8 years old and utterly blown away by the scale and power of the film when it debuted in 1994. Fast forward and I'm ashamed to admit that I lost complete sight of the film. It was only a few months ago that I "rediscovered" TLK and once again fell head over heels.

Seeing as I do random creative things (ie music boxes, 1/35 scale modelling, etc) I figured it was time to honor The Lion King with a project of my own. That has become what I affectionately call "Project TLK94".

What is Project TLK94?
I have the original movie release poster and a wooden frame to cover its 3x2ft outside surface. I'm laying 4 inch wide basswood on top of the frame that will be engraved with characters and scenes from the film. I want everything to weave and blend together so you can aways find something new. I will also be adding a musical movement that with the flick of a switch will play "Can you feel the love tonight" (my favorite!). I am currently working on a template and sketching out my ideas...

This thread will log my progress and I will supplement it with pictures and videos!

More importantly, I would love the input from all you creative artists out there as I'm stuck on a few areas and don't know what to do (video #2 will show you where).

Video 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIK7DTXSuMY

Video 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=301TojJPWT4

Video 3:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HX5w32XgCFI

Video 4:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20bHYay1GpQ

Teaser:





Enjoy the ride, offer input, and thanks for watching!!!

Am I to understand that you yourself made that CYFTLT music box? =0 That's beyond awesome! You're a wonderfully talented, creative, and ambitious person. I'm looking forward to following this project, and I know already that the end result will be breathtaking =)

As to the specifics of where you said you were unsure about where to go, I like your idea of the speach bubble for Timon, and I think that a shiny winged beetle would suit the empty space under his arm, as though it were taking flight with the words and song ^.^

Between Spirit Mufasa and the Time-Log scene, I think a good fit would to put an image of cubby simba =) That relates to both Mufasa, as the father, and the beginning of Simba's journey as he ages. I think that another good image to add to the frame, that would fit nicely with the tone of the project so far, is the "just can't wait to be king" animal tower.

Hope I helped, and I'm looking forward to what comes of this ^.^ Great work.

Wow, this is an amazing project!! I can't wait to see how this turns out =D

As for suggestions, I would first off advise against the speech bubble around the words. I know Timon's supposedly singing the whole thing, but the speech bubble makes me hear the words in Timon's voice, and to me that's just weird. lol. However I love the idea of the grubs in that empty space, and I think that would work really well =)

For the spaces at the top, I think images of young Simba with Timon and Pumbaa would be a good transition, since that iconic scene in the center at the top is sort of his coming out scene as an adult. And for the sides, above Scar, I think you of course need the hyenas, as well as perhaps the elephant graveyard? And again having young Simba (and Nala?) there would tie everything together. Another character I thought of was Zazu - perhaps he could go somewhere between Scar and the image of Mufasa and Simba? Or maybe further down by Pride Rock. Either way, I think he should be incorporated somewhere. =)

You've done a fantastic job so far! You are a really talented artist! I'm so excited to follow this project and see how it ends up. =)

[quote="Mike"]I like your idea of the speach bubble for Timon[/quote]

I dunno about that, Mike; Timon didn't sing that part of the song in the movie or the musical (Even though in early production they had Timon & Pumbaa singing the entire song, lol)

Anyway, I believe I made my suggestions in the email I sent you, but I'm definitely gonna subscribe to this topic and your videos and follow your progress as you work on this wonderful creative project ^^

Cheers for the comments everybody, I shall keep them all in mind! The neat thing about brainstorming is you can throw anything out on the table and nothing is wrong.

@Mike: The metal musical movement itself is made in Switzerland but I did design and build music boxes (about 10 of them) to fit each song's theme. If you check my other youtube videos, one of them focuses on my music boxes. I actually show a finished box that has "under the sea" with a 3-D Little Mermaid drawing.


Let's go in order:

I've gotten quite a few comments both here and from people in person saying grubs are the way to go. Consider it done. They'll fill the space nicely under Timon's arm. The blue beetle is a must, great suggestion!

The lyrics are a bit tricky. Timon does provide a good segue into the song/love sequence but as Moka pointed out, he did not sing them. What if I continued with the leaves that I have above the lyrics and run them around the entire paragraph? It puts detail on the outside but the inside remains clean so that the words are the main focus. Maybe someone has a screenshot with a particular leaf style in mind? More to ponder I think

To the right of the Mufasa spirit... what about bringing in Rafiki again where he's knocking some sense into Simba? Perhaps the reflection pool?

Between the time log and the adult Simba/Nala I was thinking of a young Simba/ Nala...

I do have a sketch of Zazu as well as a full body shot of young Simba that I want to include. Just don't know what to use as transitions (like the leaves or clouds)


Project TLK94 continues...

Okay, did some more work on the left side. I added in the grubs and do like the way they came out. I did want to add the blue beetle but does he look out of place over Timon? Because of that bug, it seems like the CYFTLT section is a bit squished (no pun inteded).

I really couldn't figure out what to do with the CYFTLT section but I just had to put something down so I can work from there. I lined both sides with flowers and leaves. The dark sections would be cut away completely.
I'm not sure at all about this part though

So: what to do between Simba/Nala and Timon?

Left Side:

I think you might shrink the text of CYFTLT slightly =) that'll make the bug less squished, and same with the flower designs on the side ^.^

Video 3 is now up for viewing so you can see the side in more detail as well as a few other additions and my first attempts at sample engravings: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HX5w32XgCFI

Right side has been finished! I raided the IJCWTBK sequence for ideas and it seemed to work out. Mike, from this very forum, suggested the animal tower and it was done!



I worked my way from "Under the Stars" to this Scar and then Simba and Nala with some of the background patterns.

Thanks for watching!

The top finally has some sketches. I still need to work on the details and backgrounds but I like the selection.

I have also added 2 hidden mickeys. Can you find them?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20bHYay1GpQ

This project has really interested me I can't believe you went into all that effort! I like the idea of the little turny thing to wind up the music box inside the 'O' of THE LION KING. That's a good idea.