The Lion King: Alternate Ending

Disney's 1994 film The Lion King is known as one of the best animated feature films of all time. This Disney animated feature follows the adventures of the young lion Simba, the heir of his father, Mufasa. Simba's wicked uncle, Scar, plots to usurp Mufasa's throne by luring father and son into a stampede of wildebeests. But Simba escapes, and only Mufasa is killed. Simba returns as an adult to take back his homeland from Scar with the help of his friends Timon and Pumbaa.

However, in the film's original script, during Simba and Scar's final battle on pride rock, Scar manages to push Simba off Pride Rock into the flames below. However, Simba is saved by a tree. Scar, thinking that he successfully assassinated Simba laughs manically in victory, only to be burned to death by the flames engulfing Pride Rock.

The reason why this ending was changed was the producers realized that Scar's original death was "too dark" for a Disney film and was changed to the ending where Scar is mauled by the hyenas. Ironically, the ending used in the final cut was based off the original ending of Beauty and the Beast, where Gaston is eaten alive by wolves. It's been presumed that all copies of the original ending have been destroyed. However, storyboard art of the original ending exists and can be found in video form on Youtube.