The Tiger King is a 1996 animated, musical/drama feature film directed and produced by Don Bluth, Gary Goldman, and DreamWorks Animation. It is the first film by DreamWorks Pictures. Containing elements of Hamlet and Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the story centers a tiger prince named Sanjay, who must overcome the loss of his father and his villainous uncle, Scratch, in order to take his rightful place as the king of the Streak Lands.
Plot:[]
The story of The Tiger King takes place in an Indian kingdom called the Streak Lands, where a tiger rules over the other animals as king.
At the beginning of the film, Rajata, a lion-tailed macaque shaman, anoints Sanjay, the newborn baby of King Maderu and Queen Sabita, and presents him to a gathering of animals at Streak Rock. Meanwhile, Maderu's younger brother, Scratch, who decided not to be at the ceremony, is annoyed that he is no longer the heir to the throne. Maderu confronts Scratch about not attending the ceremony and tells him to not turn his back on him, when he tries to leave. When Scratch tells Maderu that he should not turn his back on him and Maderu tells him if it's a challenge, Scratch replies that he would not dream of it as he lacks brute strength. After Scratch leaves, Maderu wonders what to do with him.
Months later, Maderu takes Sanjay around the Streak Lands, teaching him about the "Circle of Life", the delicate balance affecting all living things. He also teaches him where everything the light touches is their kingdom. Later, Scratch tells Sanjay about the elephant graveyard, a place where Maderu has warned him not to go. Sanjay asks his mother if he can go to the water-hole with his best friend, Neeva. Sabita and Neeva's mother Sarvajina agree, but only if Maderu's majordomo, the roller Zinga, goes with them. Sanjay and Neeva elude Zinga's supervision and go to the graveyard instead. There, the youngsters are chased by three hyenas named Shanti, Bali, and Ea, who had secretly been ordered by Scratch to kill the youngsters, but Sanjay and Neeva are rescued by Maderu, who was summoned by Zinga. After sending Neeva and Zinga ahead back to Streak Rock, Maderu scolds Sanjay for putting himself and Neeva in danger, before teaching him about the Great Kings of the Past, who look down on the living from the stars.
Later that night, Scratch gains the loyalty of the hyenas by claiming that if he becomes king, they will "never go hungry again" if they help him kill Maderu and Sanjay. Plotting further, Scratch gathers more hyenas forming an army. Sometime later, Scratch lures Sanjay into a gorge for a "surprise from his father" then signals the hyenas create a nilgai stampede down into the gorge where Sanjay is. Alerted by an insincerely dramatic Scratch, Maderu races to rescue Sanjay from the stampede. He saves his son, but is left clinging to the edge of a cliff, which results in Scratch flinging him into the stampede below to his death. Scratch convinces Sanjay that he was responsible for his own father's death, and recommends that he flees the Streak Lands, never to return. To compound this, Scratch once again sends the hyenas to kill Sanjay, but as Sanjay reaches a thorny embankment, they let him escape, hurling threats that he will be killed if ever seen again. That night back at Streak Rock, Scratch informs Sabita, Neeva and the rest of the streak that both Maderu and Sanjay were killed in the stampede, and that he is assuming the throne as the closest of king. After becoming king, Scratch fulfills his promise to the hyenas and allows them to come into the Streak Lands.
Sanjay collapses in a distant desert where he is found unconscious by Tanay and Parish, a mongoose-boar duo who raise Sanjay under their carefree "Hakuna Matata" lifestyle. When Sanjay has grown into a young adult he saves them from a hungry tigress who is revealed to be Neeva. Sanjay shows Neeva around his home and the two begin to fall in love. Neeva then tells him that Scratch's tyrannical reign has turned the Streak Lands into a barren wasteland; she demands that Sanjay must return and take his rightful place as king, but Sanjay refuses, still guilty about supposedly causing his father's death. Rajata arrives and persuades Sanjay to return to the Streak Lands, aided by Maderu's presence in the stars. After some advice from Rajata and the spirit of his father, Sanjay, followed by Neeva, Tanay, and Parish, returns home.
Once back at Streak Rock, Sanjay (with Tanay, Parish, and Neeva) is horrified to see the condition of the Streak Lands. What was once a lush paradise was now a dead wasteland. With the tigresses overhunting, their prey eventually left the Streak Lands, causing famine in the streak. After seeing Scratch strike his mother, Sanjay announces his return. In response, Sanjay confronts Scratch, who forces Sanjay to confess to being responsible for Maderu's death. Scratch then forces Sanjay over the edge of Streak Rock, just as a lightning bolt starts a fire below. As Sanjay dangles over the edge of Streak Rock, Scratch whispers to Sanjay that he killed Maderu. Enraged, Sanjay leaps up and pins Scratch to the ground, forcing him to admit the truth to the streak. A raging battle then ensues between the hyenas and the tigresses, Tanay, and Parish which results in Sanjay cornering Scratch. In the midst of their fight, Scratch tries to surreptitiously blame everything on the hyenas, but the hyenas overhear his conversation with Sanjay. Sanjay orders Scratch to flee the Streak Lands. Scratch pretends to leave but turns to attack Sanjay, resulting in a final duel. Sanjay eventually triumphs over his uncle by flipping him and kicks him over a low cliff. Scratch survives the fall, but finds himself surrounded by the now resentful hyenas. The hyenas surround their traitorous fallen leader. Scratch frantically tries to absolve himself, but the hyenas have had enough of his lies, derogatory treatment, and broken promises so they ignore his life plea, attack him, and maul him to death, as flames rise around them.
With Scratch and the hyenas gone, and with the rightful king in place, the Streak Lands are restored which is turning green with life again. The film concludes with Rajata presenting Sanjay and Neeva's newborn baby into the air, thus continuing the Circle of Life.
Cast:[]
- Christopher Daniel Barnes as Sanjay
- Noah Reid as young Sanjay
- Amy Poehler as Neeva
- Anndi McAfee as young Neeva
- Tony Jay as Scratch
- Vin Diesel as Maderu
- Richard Kind as Tanay
- Gilbert Gottfried as Parish
- Brian George as Rajata
- James Nesbitt as Zinga
- Rosie Perez as Shanti
- M. Night Shyamalan as Bali
- Corey Burton as Ea
- Shohreh Aghdashloo as Sabita
- Tiffani Thiessen as Sarvajina
- John DiMaggio as Naked Mole-Rat
Species Cast:[]
- Black Rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) - Indian Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis)
- Topi (Damaliscus lunatus topi) - Blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra)
- Meerkat (Suricata suricatta) - Indian Grey Mongoose (Herpestes edwardsii)
- Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) - Asiatic Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus)
- Marabou Stork (Leptoprilos crumeniferus) - Greater Adjutant (Leptoprilos dubius)
- African Bush Elephant (Loxodonta africana) - Indian Elephant (Elephas maximus indicus)
- Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) - Intermediate Egret (Ardea intermedia)
- Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) - Lesser Flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor)
- Thomson's Gazelle (Eudorcas thomsonii) - Chinkara (Gazella bennettii)
- Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) - Sambar Deer (Rusa unicolor)
- Leaf-Cutter Ant (Atta cephalotes) - Weaver Ant (Oecophylla smaragdina)
- Plains Zebra (Equus quagga) - Przewalski's Horse (Equus ferus przewalskii)
- Vulturine Guineafowl (Acryllium vulturinum) - Red Junglefowl (Gallus gallus)
- Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) - Nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus)
- Tanzanian Red-Billed Hornbill (Tockus ruahae) - Indian Roller (Coracias benghalensis)
- Masai Lion (Panthera leo nubica) - Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris)
- Greater Kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) - Chital (Axis axis)
- Cape Buffalo (Syncerus caffer) - Wild Water Buffalo (Bubalus arnee)
- Mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx) - Lion-tailed Macaque (Macaca silenus)
- Vervet Monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) - Grey Langur (Semnopithecus entellus)
- Wood Mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) - Small Five-Toed Jerboa (Allactaga elater)
- Plains Pocket Gopher (Geomys bursarius) - Naked Mole Rat (Heterocephalus glaber)
- Ostrich (Struthio camelus) - Arabian Ostrich (Struthio camelus syriacus)†
- Eastern Gorilla (Gorilla beringei) - Sumatran Orangutan (Pongo abelii)
- Common Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) - Hexaprotodon sivalensis†
- Nile Crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) - Saltwater Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus)
- Giant Anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) - Aardvark (Orycteropus afer)
- Black Sable Antelope (Hippotragus niger niger) - Markhor (Capra falconeri)
- Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta) - Striped Hyena (Hyaena hyaena)
- Jackson's Chameleon (Chamaeleo jacksonii) - Veiled Chameleon (Chamaeleo calyptratus)
- Rüppell's Vulture (Gyps ruppellii) - Indian Vulture (Gyps indicus)
- Common Warthog (Phacochoerus africanus) - Indian Boar (Sus scrofa cristatus)
- Rhinoceros Beetle (subfamily Dynastinae) - Japanese Rhinoceros Beetle (Allomyrina dichotoma)
