Lion King Logo PNG
The Lion King logo is as majestic as the main character of the film. It’s powerful, noble, strong, and even heraldic, as directly hinted by its royal palette. The strict elegance is conveyed in the geometric shape of the letters, the harsh lines, even cuts, the precise centering of rows, and the size of the inscriptions.
Lion King: Brand overview
Meaning and History
Despite all the main characters in the film being animals, it actually doesn’t talk about the animal world. It’s an allegory, an interpretation of a plot from William Shakespeare’s works, namely his famous play “Hamlet.” The plot also weaves in the biblical stories of Moses and Joseph. Interestingly, a significant part of the concept of the artistic film was played by Disney’s classic – the 1942 film “Bambi.”
Together, they significantly influenced the identity: the Lion King logo looks both majestic and touching. It concentrates the religious spirit, imbued with childlike naivety because the film collides with two worlds: adult and child, harsh and gentle, cruel and kind. And they are united by justice and Simba – the lion cub, whose character strengthens through hardships.
What is Lion King?
Lion King is the name of a media franchise that emerged based on the eponymous animated film, shot at the Walt Disney studio in 1994. Its directors are Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff. The second is an artistic film released in 2019. It’s animated, computer-generated, and maximally realistic. Jon Favreau and Jeff Nathanson participated in its creation. The franchise is also represented by numerous video games, animated series, musicals, and other thematic content, where the main character is the lion cub Simba, born in the royal family of an African pride.
1994
The Lion King emblem is textual. This is how it appeared on posters and in the opening credits of the feature-length animated film. There are three lines. The top is occupied by the classic logo of Walt Disney Pictures – the personal signature of the studio’s creator stylized as a handwritten font. The middle row is entirely given to the article “The”: It excellently performs its grammatical function but does not interfere with the phrase “Lion King,” which is placed on the lower level. The first two parts are done in a display typeface: white letters with a black outline. They are also designed with shadows, adding volume.
The third line of the movie title is particularly interesting. It’s typed in uppercase glyphs with serifs, but in the middle, there is a dividing line that seems to press down on the lowercase letters, making them appear small. The sides “L” and “G,” on the other hand, are tall and massive. Designers deliberately chose this style: the signs in such a design look like the prickly acacias growing in the African savannah. They have the same even and broad tops as if cut with a ruler.
2019
The logo related to the 2019 film has the same structure as the earlier emblem. It is textual, with three lines and similar content. But its style is different – majestic, ceremonial, royal. This effect was achieved by changing the color: all elements are painted gold, even the line, now divided into two parts by the article “The.” The letters are covered in cracks and crevices, making them resemble the yellow clay earth of the African plains, scorched by the hot sun. This texture makes the inscriptions appear voluminous. Additionally, the glyphs now have thin serifs and side edges.
Font and Colors
The logos use a unique font specially created for this project. Later, a free typeface was developed based on it, named Lion King TTF. Its creator is Melanie Blanco. Overall, the inscriptions are executed in semi-bold antiqua in uppercase. A handwritten font from the Walt Disney emblem is also used for the film studio’s name.
The color palette of the emblems is noble. It includes a classic combination of black and white and two shades of gold. In the early version, there is brick-red, reminiscent of the stony land of Africa.
