Foreword to The Art of The Lion King

[Moka]

I just thought I would share with everyone a foreword to my "Art of The Lion King" book. I typed this up last night so that everyone could enjoy it. The foreword was written by James Earl Jones. Transcribed by Moka.

Foreword to The Art of The Lion King
By James Earl Jones and Penelope Niven

The art of The Lion King is animated magic and mystery…the alchemy of imagination and technology. I have done voices for animated films before, but when I was asked to be the voice of Mufasa, the Lion King, I did not anticipate what an exciting adventure it would be.

We began with a beautifully written script about a child challenged by the death of his father, the king, and his eventual journey to assume the throne. This allegory takes place in the animal kingdom, where the animal creatures talk as people do. Even though the story is set in Africa, unfolding to the sounds of African-inspired music, rhythm, and instruments, a blend of Africa and non-Africa in style, once the voice-actors took up their roles, we stepped into a multicultural universe.

The Lion King very quickly evolved into a nonethnic drama. The cast included a talented array of actors…Robert Guillaume as Rafiki, King Mufasa's trusted friend; Jeremy Irons as Scar, Mufasa's avaricious brother; Jonathon Taylor Thomas as Simba, the young lion cub; Matthew Broderick as the adolescent Simba; Madge Sinclair as Sarabi, Simba's mother; and Cheech Marin as one of the rapscallions in the employ of the old king's brother. One of the advantages of animated art is that all sorts of actors can be used, without any allusions to how people look. What matters is how they sound, and how the voice fits the character.

Creating the voice of an animated character is a challenge akin to that facing actors in the anciet Greek theater, who wore masks, and used their voices to evoke the emotional energy of the personalities they played. For the voice-actor in an animated film, the animated character is the “mask.”

The Lion King made a swift transition to a stylized story of another culture not defined by “accent.” I was not asked to sound like Jeremy Irons's brother, nor was he asked to sound like my brother. We simply used English as it might be spoken anywhere in the Western world. It soon becomes comfortable for the viewer to hear familiar, homelike sounds coming out of the mouths of creatures from another continent.

To give an idea of the physical presence of my character, the directors showed me a panorama of storyboards, lined up against the walls of the recording studio. They also showed me a statuette of Mufasa, the old Lion King, used by the artists as they draw each individual animation drawing of the character.

Baboon or wildebeest, bird or lion, giraffe or elephant…every creature had his own animator, who become a specialist in that creature, and evoked character, as we know it in human terms, in animal shapes. Although most people would have a difficult time telling one lion from another in the wild, in this animation all the lions were clearly individual in their demeanor.

Our voices were recorded in the studios in Los Angeles, New York, and London; for the most part we worked individually, with an off-camera actor reading the lines of the other characters in our scenes. Jeremy Irons and I never actually worked together in the studio. While his lines were read to me, I tried to give Mufasa's words as much inflection and meaning as possible.

As I spoke the lines, a camera recorded my facial behavior and body gestures. The film was then given to the chief animator of Mufasa. Using the film “model,” the animators incorporated some of my physical persona into the drawings of Mufasa. If the lion grimaced, the artists drew my grimace, and so on.

Animation is art in layers: just as the animators refine the drawings, voice-actors heighten their characters and writers revise the script. There were many more fine-tuning sessions than I had ever experienced before in animated films. For several months after my initial recording of Mufasa's voice, I was called back often for short sessions to fine-tune certain lines, or to change dialogue.

My ten-year-old son Flynn, being an artist himself, was curious to see how the animation process works. One of the directors of The Lion King took us to the animation studio to observe how the characters were developed. We viewed the early stages of animation for the film, some scenes in temporary sketches and rough line drawings, and others in full and final color. In the opening scene, the Lion King stands in majestic profile, with a thunderhead in the background. Before him is a panorama: the creatures of his kingdom traverse in African plains. This extraordinary fusion of visual art and vibrant music took my breath away.

Flynn found all of this immensely exciting, and it may have given him some light toward a possible journey into doing that kind of work himself.


The Lion King tells the story of the enduring bond forged between a father and a son…a bond so strong that it transcends even the father's death. When Mufasa dies, what remains for the young Lion Prince Simba is a legacy of memories and strong principles, as taught to him by his father, and those principles guide him toward his future.

I particularly admire one quality evoked in the old Lion King: he loves his wife and he loves his son. He is a doting dad, even a bit “dopey” about his cub, but the doting does not reduce his dignity or majesty.

From the first time I saw the evolving footage of the film, I was deeply moved by the voice of Jonathon Taylor Thomas, the young actor playing Simba, the new Lion King, who has not yet attained full growth, and who still desperately needs his father. We see in the allegory how every child is vulnerable…and reliant on his parents. The tragedy of the old king's death is hauntingly evoked in this child's voice. Out of his need for consultation with his father, Simba summons his father's spirit, and his father appears as a ghost, to give him counsel.

This is a universal story. Mufasa tells his son, “Look inside yourself, Simba. You are more than what you have become. You must take your place in the Circle of Life.”

The magical art of The Lion king invites each of us into that circle.

[KiarasMate]

Gotta love good old JEJ. ^^ Thanks for sharing that excerpt with us Moka. It was a fun read. lol. ^^

[Mike]

Awwww, that was absolutely beautiful ^.^ I actually read it in JEJ's voice so I could get the full effect XD What a sweetheart =)

[KiarasMate]

You would, wouldn't you Michael Freeman. ^^

[Panda-chan]

Wow... that was beautifully written. Simply took my breath away. o.0 Thanks for sharing this with us Moka! ^^ *wishes she had a copy of this book*

[Gerada]

I've read through this in James Earl Jones voice, as if I were actually him talking. It was an incredible read through and his son, wanting to become a artist and hoping he can get an understanding of how the concept artists work so he can begin his work, marvelous! Thanks for sharing this with us, Moka, greatly appreciated.

[PrincessKiara]

Wonderful, and so true. Thanks for sharing, Moka!

[Simbaholikov]

A very good and interesting read, thanks for sharing that Moka