The Darkest Song From 'The Lion King' Was Based On A 1935 Nazi Propaganda Film
When the film first debuted in 1994, the film's themes of death, betrayal, and rebirth made it a pretty adult Disney movie.
One of the film's most adult scenes is when the evil lion Scar sings about his plan to murder his brother and king of the pride, Mufasa, in the song, "Be Prepared."
Yet, what most people don't realize is that the film's animators based much of the scene on a 1935 Nazi propaganda film titled "Triumph of the Will" that documents 1934 Nazi Germany.
According to an Entertainment Weekly article back in 1994, the song "grew out of one sketch by story staffer Jorgen Klubien that pictured Scar as Hitler. The directors ran with the concept and worked up a 'Triumph of the Will'-style mock-Nuremberg rally."
For example, the goose-stepping soldiers in "Triumph of the Will" march in formation through Nazi Germany.
During "Be Prepared," the hyenas that Scar wants to use in his plan to kill Mufasa are grouped in a similar formation, goose-stepping almost the same exact way.
When "The Lion King" was released in 1994 it was a box-office smash grossing $987 million worldwide. This made it the highest-grossing animated film in history at the time. It has since been surpassed by "Shrek 2."
Watch the entire "Be Prepared" sequence below: