Original Soundtrack - Lion King (CD)

All Music Guide

Walt Disney Pictures had its fourth straight massive hit with an animated movie musical in the summer of 1994 with its tale of the coming of age of a young lion. The movie studio changed composers, replacing Alan Menken, who wrote The Little Mermaid, Beauty And The Beast, and Aladdin, with Hans Zimmer (instrumental score) and Elton John (songs); lyricist Tim Rice, who took over on Aladdin after the death of Howard Ashman, remained in place. John took a leaf from the Paul Simon Graceland songbook and filled his music with references to South African mbaqanga. But there wasn't that much of it: we're only talking about five songs here, three of which are repeated at the end in versions by John (one of those, "Can You Feel The Love Tonight," became a hit single)...Plus, there are four excerpts from Zimmer's score...

- William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide