OVERALL: Draw

All Platinum Edition releases seem to be identical, except the R1 has both "Theatrical mix" and "Disney Enhanced Home Theatre mix” in Dolby Digital 5.1, but R2 UK and Finland and R4 Australia have "Disney Enhanced Home Theatre mix” in half-rate DTS.
Do note, that with R1 "Collector's DVD Gift Set Edition", you´ll get an exclusive book and sketches and the Diamond Editions include an exclusive featurette.

When compared with the original theatrical release, a few minor changes have been reported:
– The letters S-E-X (or S-F-X), which were formed by a swirling cloud of dust created, as Simba falls to the ground in despair (in one scene, few frames) in the previous releases are now "masked". More info: http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/lionking.htm.
– Also, there are some crocodiles (and some birds), that have a few seconds of screen time in the “I Just Can’t Wait To Be King” sequence. These crocodiles and birds have been altered in all later releases due to co-director Roger Allers' dissatisfaction with their designs in its initial release because "in the rush of trying to get the film done, the scene kind of fell through the cracks" and wound up just using a story panel.
– In addition, additional changes were made for the 2011 3D re-release version.

Even more info can be found here:
- http://www.ultimatedisney.com/thelionking2.html.
- http://lionking.wikia.com/wiki/The_Lion_King_Series_Re-release_Changes

CUTS:

• R1 Diamond Edition America- Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment - No cuts - includes 2011 3D re-release version (88 mins).
• R1 Special Platinum Edition America- Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment - No cuts - includes both theatrical version (88 mins NTSC) and extended version (89 mins NTSC).
• R2 Special Edition Finland- Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment - No cuts - includes both theatrical version (84:34 PAL) and extended cut (85:16 PAL).
• R2 Diamond Edition Germany- Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment - No cuts - includes 2011 3D re-release version (84:45 PAL).
• R2 Special Edition Germany- Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment - No cuts - includes both theatrical version (84:34 PAL) and extended cut (85:16 PAL).
• R2 Diamond Edition Scandinavia- Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment - No cuts - includes 2011 3D re-release version (84:45 PAL).
• R2 Special Edition Spain- Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment - No cuts - includes both theatrical version (84:33 PAL) and extended cut (85:16 PAL).
• R2 Special Edition United Kingdom- Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment - No cuts - includes both theatrical version (84 mins PAL) and extended cut (85 mins PAL).
• R4 Special Edition Australia- Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment - No cuts - includes both theatrical version (84 mins PAL) and extended cut (85 mins PAL).
• R4 Brazil- Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment - No cuts - includes both theatrical version (88 mins NTSC) and extended version (89 mins NTSC).

Do you own a release not listed? Then please visit our forums and let us know!

Comparison added by Adrian_Busby on 18/07/03
Comparison last updated by Mikael_Pitkänen on 04/07/21

UPDATE LOG:

18/07/03: Initial entry.
17/12/11: Addition of the R2 Finland SE.
18/12/11: Addition of the R1 American and R2 Scandinavian Diamond Edition.
04/07/17: Clean-up, added ASIN links, and updated Overall.
04/07/21: Added Spain. More clean-up.