Author: Christopher Finch
Publication Date: 1994
Publisher: Hyperion
Pages: 196 pages
The Art of the Lion King was written by Christopher Finch, the bloke behind The Art of Walt Disney, to accompany the film of the same name. This was the first of what I like to call the “Big Seven” art books, a series of huge, lavish and glossy volumes published by Hyperion to celebrate the rebirth of Disney animation. To adorn the dustjacket, what better scene could they have chosen than that iconic shot from the opening, where Rafiki holds little Simba high above the citizens of the savannah?
The book opens almost as dramatically as the film, with single images from the first scene filling each page until you reach the contents. Then, before we get into it, there’s a foreword by James Earl Jones (Mufasa in the film) and Penelope Niven, in which he explains what appearing in the film meant to him. From there, the book is divided into three “acts,” followed by an afterword which details the production process.
Now, I hate to be negative after building the Hyperion editions up, but as far as the nineties art books go, this one actually isn’t the strongest start to the line. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot to like: it does look amazing, just as they all do, filled with high-quality artwork from the film (including concept art) and even featuring gatefolds for some of the best pieces. Christopher Finch’s writing is as top-notch as ever, too.
My problem with the book is to do with its structure; those three “acts” I mentioned above are essentially just a written version of the film’s story, with all of the interesting details on the conception, background and production of the film stuffed into the afterword section at the very end. It’s less like an art book and more like a storybook. To be fair, they hadn’t yet nailed down the best way to approach the format, since this was before every animated film got an accompanying art book as standard. It’s just a shame that we don’t get to explore the creation of one of Disney’s most successful productions in more detail.
I remember when I first ordered this back around 2013 – it was a nightmare. The book had long been out of print at that point and the only affordable copies were second-hand ones from America, so I bought one from an Amazon seller that I’d used before. Well, you’d think I’d have learned my lesson from back then, when the book I’d ordered took a full three weeks to arrive and just barely made it within the expected delivery window, but no. This time, it took somewhere around three months.
The first copy must have gotten lost in the post so I had to ask them to send another, which took as long as it possibly could to arrive. Naturally, after such a ridiculous wait I was a little disappointed to find the book so unsubstantial, but I’m just explaining this to make a point that I may be a tad biased – I really wasn’t in the best mood when I first read it! (I understand the delay was hardly the seller’s fault, but after I dared to leave a three-star review for the frustrating service they actually had the cheek to email me asking me to retract it! I tried to edit it to four stars like an idiot and ended up deleting it entirely… fail).
Anyway… If you’re a really hard-core fan of The Lion King, you should definitely get this. The artwork alone makes it a worthy addition to any collection. However, if you want more details on the behind-the-scenes aspects, you’re honestly better off just looking online – although this would make a fancy storybook to read with your kids, if they like the film too.
Next in our line-up is The Art of Pocahontas, the first of three Hyperion books to be authored by Stephen Rebello. See you again soon for more!
Buy it on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Lion-King-Christopher-Finch/dp/0786860286 – UK
https://www.amazon.com/Art-Lion-King-Christopher-Finch/dp/0786860286 – US
Feeling Animated 
I look forward to reading this book for the first time!
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