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Red volcanic cliffs above dry grassland under a wide sky
Hell's Gate National Park, Kenya, August 2025. Superchilum · CC BY-SA 4.0

Walt Disney Feature Animation · 1994 · drawn on paper, laid on pegs

The Lion King

A hand-drawn film is a stack of sheets that must line up. This one was started on a field trip to Kenya in October 1991, drawn at desks in California and Florida, and opened in two theatres on 15 June 1994. Above: Hell’s Gate National Park, photographed in 2025.

Sources

The field sheet · October 1991

Five people and a park

In October 1991 several lead crew members visited Hell’s Gate National Park in Kenya: Roger Allers, George Scribner, Brenda Chapman, Chris Sanders and Lisa Keene.

The trip was meant to study and gain an appreciation of the environment for the film.

Wikipedia says the film’s Pride Lands setting is modelled on the Kenyan national park the crew visited.

National Geographic calls the park’s sweeping cliffs the real-life inspiration for Pride Rock.

Sources

National Geographic describes Fischer’s Tower as a 75-foot-high rock formation made from molten volcanic lava. It is one of two volcanic plugs in the red cliffs of Hell’s Gate Gorge, named after Gustav Fischer, a German explorer who reached the gorge in 1882.

Sources

National Geographic says the walls of Ol Njorowa Gorge tower so high they nearly block out the light of the sky, and that visitors can hike it with a guide.

Sources
A tall column of rock rising from scrub and grass
Fischer's Tower, a volcanic plug in Hell's Gate National Park, July 2020. Gachukia · CC BY-SA 4.0
Sheer reddish gorge walls with a path below
The gorge in Hell's Gate National Park, June 2016. Galkey · CC BY-SA 4.0

Lay the sheets

One film, three pegs

Each sheet is punched to fit the same pegs. Lay them in any order. Tap a laid sheet again to lift it.

The pegs are bare.

Four sheets, three pegs. Lay a sheet to see where it was drawn.

0 of 4 sheets laid

Nothing on the pegs yet.

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Hell’s Gate National Park tours from Nairobi

Naivasha, Kenya

Live marketplace results for day trips to the park the crew visited in October 1991. Check each route and what it includes.

Live marketplace results · itineraries change

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Madison Square Garden Entertainment

Radio City Music Hall Tour

Sixth Avenue, Manhattan

The hall’s own behind-the-scenes tour, where the film opened on 15 June 1994. Check the schedule for days and times.

Plan a tour

The shake · 1994

Six months to go

The film’s page says the 1994 Northridge earthquake shut down the studio about six months before release, and animators finished their work remotely.

Wikipedia’s photo caption calls this address one of several buildings Walt Disney Feature Animation used between 1985 and 1995. Its text gives the address as 1420 Flower Street.

Sources

The film opened on 15 June 1994 in two theatres, the El Capitan in Los Angeles and Radio City Music Hall in New York. Wikipedia notes live shows and tickets up to $30.

The wide release followed on 24 June 1994, on 2,550 screens in the United States and Canada.

Sources
The lit front of a Hollywood cinema with a tall vertical sign
The El Capitan Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard, October 2008. Andreas Praefcke · CC BY 3.0
The vertical sign and lit entrance of a large Art Deco theatre
Radio City Music Hall, Sixth Avenue, December 2022. Mx. Granger · CC0

Off the pegs

Go and find the sheets

The park, its tower and its gorge are open to visit in Kenya. Hollywood and Midtown have two working theatres. The Glendale building is seen from the street, and the Florida studio stood inside a theme park, which is still open; its animation studio closed in 2004.

Sources

Where it is now

7 places to visit across Kenya, California, Florida and New York.

Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.

  • Site reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A national park roughly two hours by road from Nairobi. The gorge can be walked with a guide. Check current entry rules before you go.

  • Site reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A rock column near the park’s entrance, seen from the track. Entry to the park is needed.

  • Site reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Walked with a guide inside the park. Check conditions and entry rules before you go.

  • Area reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. The lake beside the park, with lodges and boat trips on its shore. Pictured from the shoreline, not the park.

  1. Red volcanic cliffs above dry grassland under a wide sky
    Hell's Gate National Park, Kenya, August 2025. Superchilum · CC BY-SA 4.0

    Kenya · Rift Valley, Nakuru County, near Lake Naivasha, Kenya

    Hell’s Gate National Park

    In October 1991 several lead crew members visited Hell’s Gate National Park in Kenya: Roger Allers, George Scribner, Brenda Chapman, Chris Sanders and Lisa Keene.

    A national park roughly two hours by road from Nairobi. The gorge can be walked with a guide. Check current entry rules before you go.

    Sources
  2. A tall column of rock rising from scrub and grass
    Fischer's Tower, a volcanic plug in Hell's Gate National Park, July 2020. Gachukia · CC BY-SA 4.0

    Kenya · Hell’s Gate Gorge, Hell’s Gate National Park

    Fischer’s Tower

    National Geographic describes Fischer’s Tower as a 75-foot-high rock formation made from molten volcanic lava.

    A rock column near the park’s entrance, seen from the track. Entry to the park is needed.

    Sources
  3. Sheer reddish gorge walls with a path below
    The gorge in Hell's Gate National Park, June 2016. Galkey · CC BY-SA 4.0

    Kenya · Ol Njorowa Gorge, Hell’s Gate National Park

    Hell’s Gate Gorge (Ol Njorowa)

    National Geographic says the walls of Ol Njorowa Gorge tower so high they nearly block out the light of the sky, and that visitors can hike it with a guide.

    Walked with a guide inside the park. Check conditions and entry rules before you go.

    Sources
  4. A calm lake shoreline with reeds and low hills
    The shore of Lake Naivasha, August 2019. Kenenock · CC BY-SA 4.0

    Kenya · Naivasha, Nakuru County, Kenya

    Lake Naivasha

    Hell’s Gate National Park lies near Lake Naivasha. Several lodges around the lake offer water sports and wildlife viewing.

    The lake beside the park, with lodges and boat trips on its shore. Pictured from the shoreline, not the park.

    Sources

Stay

A room on the boulevard.

A Hollywood hotel on the street where the film opened.

The Hollywood Roosevelt

The Hollywood Roosevelt

Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles

A 1927 hotel at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard, on the same boulevard as the El Capitan. Pictured: the El Capitan, 2008.

Check rooms

Go there

See the places.

A theatre tour in Manhattan and live searches for Kenya.

Madison Square Garden Entertainment

Radio City Music Hall Tour

Sixth Avenue, Manhattan

The hall’s own behind-the-scenes tour, where the film opened on 15 June 1994. Check the schedule for days and times.

Plan a tour
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Hell’s Gate National Park tours from Nairobi

Naivasha, Kenya

Live marketplace results for day trips to the park the crew visited in October 1991. Check each route and what it includes.

Live marketplace results · itineraries change

Compare tours
Viator · Ad / affiliate

Lake Naivasha and Hell’s Gate gorge walks

Naivasha, Kenya

Live marketplace results for the lake and the guided gorge walk. Check each route.

Live marketplace results · itineraries change

Compare tours

What’s on

No dates yet.

Nothing dated for the film is listed at these places now.

No current dated events are listed. Check providers for the latest programme.

Dates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.

The archive

Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.

8 of 8 places · 9 of 9 stories

  • Hell’s Gate National Park

    Rift Valley, Nakuru County, near Lake Naivasha, Kenya

    • The research trip

      Five lead crew members visit Hell’s Gate National Park to study the environment for the film.

    • The Pride Lands

      The film’s Pride Lands setting is modelled on the park the crew visited, as Wikipedia puts it.

  • Fischer’s Tower

    Hell’s Gate Gorge, Hell’s Gate National Park

    • The lava plug

      Fischer’s Tower, a 75-foot lava plug, stands in the park whose cliffs National Geographic calls the real-life inspiration for Pride Rock.

  • Hell’s Gate Gorge (Ol Njorowa)

    Ol Njorowa Gorge, Hell’s Gate National Park

    • The gorge walk

      Visitors can hike the gorge with a guide; its walls nearly block out the sky.

  • Lake Naivasha

    Naivasha, Nakuru County, Kenya

    • 1400 Flower Street, Glendale

      1400 Flower Street, Glendale, California

      • The move to Glendale

        The animation department leaves the Burbank lot for Glendale, and uses several buildings there until 1995.

      • The earthquake

        The Northridge earthquake shuts down the studio about six months before release; animators finish remotely. The source names no building.

    • Disney’s Hollywood Studios

      Bay Lake, near Orlando, Florida

      • Twenty minutes in Florida

        Nearly twenty minutes of the film are animated at the studio inside the Disney-MGM park.

    • El Capitan Theatre

      6838 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, Los Angeles

      • Opening night, Los Angeles

        The film opens at the El Capitan on 15 June 1994, in one of two theatres, with live shows.

    • Radio City Music Hall

      1260 Avenue of the Americas, Midtown Manhattan

      • Opening night, New York

        The same day, the film opens at Radio City Music Hall.

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    Image credits
    • Los Angeles at night, seen from Griffith Observatory · dubassy / Mixkit · CC BY-SA 4.0
    • The Manhattan Bridge framed by Washington Street, DUMBO · Redd Angelo · CC0
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