It might feature one of the most disturbing deaths in Disney, but The Lion King’s original ending was so traumatic that it had to be changed.
Gruesome deaths were fairly common in the Disney Renaissance, who remembers Ursula being impaled by a ship in The Little Mermaid or Frollo falling to his death off the walls of Notre Dame?
But while the actual ending of The Lion King isn’t exactly kid-friendly, the initial idea was far more graphic and producers soon decided that it was simply too much for the tiny tots watching at home.
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However, the storyboards for the alternative ending still exists and have been posted on social media for fans to, um, enjoy.
If you’ve not watched the beloved 1994 film, which would be pretty surprising, the alternative ending is pretty similar with Simba taking on his villainous uncle in a final showdown at Pride Rock.
As the original film comes to a climax, the pair battle against each other, and as the flames climb higher, it looks like Scar might come out victorious.
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However, in an ironic twist of fate, Scar falls and is mauled to death by the same hyenas who'd helped him murder his brother, Mufasa.
That's also pretty graphic.
However, the alternative ending appears to be much worse, as it looks like Simba might have been the one to lose instead.
Much like the actual ending, the gory scene takes place at Pride Rock, with the uncle and nephew fighting for the kingdom.
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Like the original, Scar seemingly gets the upper hand as he pins his nephew down, with Simba desperately trying to break free as the flames encircle them.
However, as he does so, Simba accidentally pushes his uncle off Pride Rock.
Knowing that leaving him to die will not make him any better than his murderous uncle, Simba decides to help Scar as he begs to be spared.
But Scar then grabs Simba’s mane and throws him from the cliff.
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Although his fall is revealed to have been broken by a tree, Scar begins to laugh manically after thinking he's successfully killed his nephew.
Believing he is now king; Scar continues to laugh before being burnt to death as the flames rise around him.
Though it would have been a dramatic end to the double-crossing lion, the concept was never completed and only exists as storyboards in the Disney archive.
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But, producers apparently decided against this ending in favour of Scar being eaten by the hyenas as they found it too 'horrific' and instead found the hyenas added some dramatic irony.
A similar concept was also reportedly planned for Gaston in Beauty and The Beast, who was supposed to survive his fall only to be killed by a pack of wolves.
Pretty grim when you think about it.
Featured Image Credit: DisneyTopics: Disney, TV and Film