The films Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King are both undoubtedly beautiful animated movies that have gained the status of modern classics. And even though Disney may be tainting their memory with some unwanted live-action remakes, the original movies will forever remain in history and will be remembered for their worth.
That being said, it's always quite tempting to compare which of the two is better: which is more loved, which is more entertaining, which one won more awards... Luckily, there is a way to compare these movies by looking at their separate elements one at a time.
10 Beauty And The Beast: The Love Story
Love stories, despite often being the B-story rather than the main storyline, are often loved by audiences from all over the world. Consequently, they were an inevitable part of both of these movies, but Beauty and the Beast seems to have done a better job.
To some extent, the appeal of Belle's and the Beast's relationship is due to it being the main focus of the movie, so it simply had more time to develop than Simba's and Nala's.
9 The Lion King: The Soundtrack
Both the scores and the songs in Disney animated movies are often quite good, and this is definitely the case for both Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. Their scores and their songs were nominated and won multiple awards, including Grammys, Golden Globes, and Academy Awards.
It's a very close call as the songs and the scores in both of these movies are absolutely majestic, but The Lion King just seems to have a little more variety particularly in its musical performances.
8 Beauty And The Beast: The Protagonist
The Lion King's Simba is one of those protagonists that you route for from the very beginning. And yet, there's a small problem: there are many supporting characters that sometimes seem to outshine him and focus the audience's attention on themselves.
With Beauty and the Beast's Belle, the situation is different. She is also someone you feel for from the start, but because there are simply not as many characters in the movie, she has more time to shine onscreen.
7 The Lion King: The Villain
Speaking of characters, the villain is crucial for the excitement of the story, and luckily, both movies do a great job with their villains. But while the Beast becomes the hero and Gaston turns out to be the actual villain, The Lion King's Scar is the sole enemy for Simba- and he is simply iconic.
His motivations are clear while he also has a very personal connection to Simba being his uncle. Moreover, Scar feels like a real threat after he murders his own brother and makes Simba run away usurping the throne for himself.
6 Beauty And The Beast: The Jokes
In The Lion King, Timon and Pumbaa provide much of the comic relief, though jokes are sprinkled here and there too. And still, Beauty and the Beast's jokes are somewhat more personal between the characters sharing them.
Because the main focus is on Belle and the Beast, the majority of the humor comes from their interactions and the dynamics of their relationship that develops gradually.
5 The Lion King: Overall Success
Though both movies were incredibly successful earning millions, winning numerous awards, and getting stellar reviews, The Lion King is actually more successful than Beauty and the Beast.
On a $45 million budget, The Lion King managed to gross $988.6 million while Beauty and the Beast grossed $440.1 million on a $25 million budget.
4 Beauty And The Beast: The Themes
The Lion King explores some really interesting themes, including family relations, classes in our society, coming of age, and the classic good vs evil.
On the other hand, Beauty and the Beast tackles themes that aren't usually discussed in cartoons making them all the more interesting. These include exile and alienation, identity, and even sacrifice.
3 The Lion King: The Visuals
Being released during the Disney Renaissance, both Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King have absolutely stunning animation with the former even using some computer generated imagery.
And yet, The Lion King's scenery is simply far superior when compared to Beauty and the Beast. African landscapes are depicted in a very realistic and breathtaking way which is simply majestic.
2 Beauty And The Beast: The Atmosphere
It's true that a movie's atmosphere is an integral part of its appeal and success. After all, a viewer must have a way to connect with the characters and creating the right atmosphere can help tremendously in achieving this.
Despite The Lion King doing an amazing job with this as the audience always route for the protagonist, Beauty and the Beast does it a bit better for several reasons. For starters, nobody can ever truly know what it means to be a lion. And imagining a trip to France is probably easier than imagining a trip to the wild parts of Africa.
1 The Lion King: The Characters
Though the protagonist and the villain are both crucial for the complete cast of the movie, the supporting and even background characters are also important. Belle does meet very many peculiar characters, including talking inanimate objects in the Beast's house, but The Lion King's characters are just too memorable.
Timon and Pumbaa are the ultimate comic duo, Nala is a great love interest, Rafiki is an unusual mentor, Zazu is quite likable, and the three hyenas act as pretty scary minions of Scar.