The Lion King Gorge Original Concept Art

MEDIUM: Original Concept Art - Ink and Gouache
IMAGE SIZE: 8.5" x 11"
ARTIST: Larry Leker
PRODUCTION: The Lion King, 1994  
SKU: CCV6118

ABOUT THE IMAGE: This page contains two mixed media studies of Olduvai gorge, a gorge in Tanzania that was used as inspiration for the one in the film, by storyboard artist Larry Leker.

ABOUT THE ARTIST: Animation veteran Larry Leker has pretty much covered all the bases on the cartoon ball field in a career spanning thirty-plus years. Getting his start with Ralph Bakshi in the 1970s, Larry has done the assistant animator/ animator thing as well as supervised layout. He has also directed and storyboarded while working on a wide variety of features, everything from Secret of NIMH to Beauty and the Beast to DWA’s Spirit.

Larry spent a long apprenticeship with Don Bluth before moving to Disney Feature Animation where he worked on Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King in rapid succession. Larry served as Art Director on The Goofy Movie, a feature created out of Disney’s Paris studio, then worked as director on All Dogs Go To Heaven 2 before moving over to DreamWorks Animation for Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron.

ABOUT THE FILM: The Lion King tells the story of Simba (Swahili for lion), a young lion who is to succeed his father, Mufasa, as King of the Pride Lands; however, after Simba's paternal uncle Scar murders Mufasa, Simba is manipulated into thinking he was responsible and flees into exile.