Disney's Animated Storybook: The Lion King

Disney's Animated Storybook: The Lion King
Publication information
Developers	Media Station
Publishers	Disney Software
Platforms	Windows, Macintosh

Disney's Animated Storybook: The Lion King is a video game and book inspired by The Lion King. It was published by Media Station Incorporated and Disney Interactive on November 18, 1994.

Information

Main Menu

During the beginning of the game, the song Circle of Life plays and the player sees the characters from left to right on the image (Rafiki, Mufasa, Sarabi, Simba (as a cub), Nala (as a cub), Zazu, Sarafina, Timon, Pumbaa, Shenzi, Banzai, Ed, and Scar. After the song, bass drum hit and black out to the title card reading, "Disney's Animated Storybook: The Lion King." After the title card cuts to black, the scene cuts to Timon in the jungle. Timon will greet the reader for being in his jungle by saying, "Hey there! Welcome to the jungle!" The reader can choose any feature from the table below.

Feature	Effect
Play	Lets the player go to a page.
Read	Lets the player read a page.
Page Instruction	Lets the player get instructions of the page menu from Timon
Language (Spanish version only)	Changes the language of the game.
Exit	Lets the player get an option to exit the game.

Book pages

If the player is on a book, there are characters the player can click on in the menu. It doesn't appear in pages such as The Gorge, Simba's Exile, Hakuna Matata: Part 2, Trouble in the Jungle, Mufasa's Spirit, Simba Confronts Scar, Restored Pride Lands, and King of Pride Rock. An arrow will take the player when clicked. Before the next scene, it will show a cutscene. Example: An elephant walks by and Scar pops up saying, "I was first in line until the little hairball was born." In addition, the player can click on characters (example: Clicking on Ed in the Be Prepared scene will make him play the "bone organ."

Below here is a table of characters and effects.

Character	Effect
Zazu	Makes the narrator reread the story.
Rafiki	Highlights vocabulary on the text. Clicking again will de-highlight the vocabulary.
Simba and Nala	Take the reader to play a mini-game.
Timon	Brings the players back to the main menu.

Mini-games

A Pouncing Lesson

The player's goal is to help Simba pounce at Zazu. The player moves his mouse to let Simba reach Zazu. If Zazu turns back, the player must let Simba hide by moving the mouse down so Zazu won't fly away.

Connect the Stars

This is a Connect the Dots game. The player clicks on a star to make a line and draw a picture of a character, such as monkeys, giraffes, etc.

Bug Catch

This is different than the one in the SNES and the Sega Genesis version of The Lion King. The player clicks on wandering grubs on the ground so Timon can fill his tray of grubs until he pours the grubs in his mouth.

Differences between the game and the film

• Flamingos are not seen at all until the Pride Lands are restored.
• There is one yellow hyena as a background animal as well as Banzai, Shenzi and Ed during the Elephant Graveyard page.

• The scenes when the lionesses mourn when Scar becomes king and Simba and Nala arguing in the oasis are omitted, possibly to make the game more appropriate for younger players.

• There is only one crocodile in the game, appearing in the "I Just Can't Wait to be King" page.

• During the final battle, the music where Simba fights Scar is the music from the Stampede scene.

• Nala makes very few appearances in the pages.

• Sarabi only appeared in the first page, but is then never seen again.

Trivia

• The storybook was narrated by the late James Avery.
• Neither of Simba's voice actors reprise their role. Rather, Simba is voiced by Ryan O'Donohue as a cub (the same is true in the Activity Center) and Cam Clarke as an adult.
  • Interestingly enough, Clarke would later do the voice altogether in the spinoff TV series Timon & Pumbaa and solely the singing voice in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride.

Videos

Full Storybook in English: Part 1

Full Storybook in English: Part 2