When your reference points include Bambi, Hamlet and The Jungle Book there's plenty of scope to go wrong but Walt's wonders pulled it off with this gorgeous 1994 adventure.

The film has been translated into 32 languages, from Swedish to Zulu, and it still holds the crown as the most successful animated film of all time.

Now Disney's boffins have reformatted the original specifically for the big, big screen using as a basis the movie's original digital elements.

The cub born-to-be-king falls victim to the schemes of his evil Uncle Scar, superbly voiced by Irons as a cross between Leslie Philips and Machiavelli.

When his father is killed and he takes the rap, Simba flees Pride Rock and is befriended by a manic meerkat and a windy warthog until he can take his rightful place.

A rich gallery of characters includes a pedantic hornbill (Atkinson), a baboon medicine man (Robert Guillaume) and a cackling hyena that looks like Whoopi Goldberg and actually is voiced by her.

Tim Evans

* The Lion King Imax version can be seen around the country at cinemas in Waterloo, London, Bournemouth, Birmingham, Manchester, Cheshire Oaks and Durham.