By Lindsay Varien
As briefly described in a previous post, one huge part of what contributes to the success of the Walt Disney Company is synergy: its interaction with other companies to widely distribute numerous types of Disney media and other commodities throughout the world. Everything from sequels and soundtracks to clothes and toys, it is difficult to think of another company who has made more use of synergy throughout its existence. One specific aspect of Disney’s synergy, however, is coming into play more and more every day as the world moves into a more technologically driven world.
Computer games and video games, the primary and most popular types of interactive media these days, have soared in demand and popularity since their initial creation in the 1940s and the start of the video game industry in the 1970s. It was in the 1970s that video games and computer games really started to take off. While there were some games that were invented earlier, the first commercially sold, coin-operated video game was Computer Space, created by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. The Magnavox Odyssey (pictured right) was the first home console, which is clearly much different than today’s Nintendo Wii or Playstation, as far as looks and game play. Then came along Atari’s Pong, an arcade version in 1972 and a home version in 1975, which really set the video game industry into motion.
While Disney has put out many computer and video games to try to compete in this fast-growing market, it does not appear to be one of Disney’s strengths as far as synergy goes. Especially with The Lion King, there are not many games related to the movie. Along with the release of The Lion King in 1994, there were a few different Lion King video games that were released in December of 1994 that were based off of the animated feature film. They were released by Virgin Interactive and developed by Westwood Studios. They were published for PC and Amiga computers and the consoles SNES, or Super Nintendo Entertainment System (pictured left), Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and Microsoft Windows, among others. There was also a version that was created for the Nintendo Game Boy and Game Boy advance. The reception of the game was fairly very positive. It received a score of 8/10 from Electronic Gaming Monthly, which is an American video game magazine.
In 1995, Disney released another Lion King-based video game called Timon & Pumbaa’s Jungle Games. It was released for Windows and Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It offered several different types of games and activities within the one game, and it offered opportunity for both single player and multiplayer game play.
Disney does have many other video games in their collection based on some of their other animated films and television shows, but overall, the list of Disney video games is not nearly as extensive as its range of films, music, television and other sorts of commodities. As today’s technological world continues to progress, I wonder what Disney will come up with next, as far as video games or as far or as far as the next big discovery in interactive and entertainment media.
The Lion King 
