← Apex Mountain

The Lion King

1994 · directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff · 89 min
27,969 feet · Prominence
18th of 24,106 films scored
Not coveredThe 18th highest film on the mountain, and The Rewatchables has never done it.

How this film scores

Draw86

Lifetime worldwide gross $763m, re-releases included; about $1.70bn in 2026 money.

Rank37 of 11,051In 19941 of 178

How Draw works

Inflation-adjusted worldwide box office, on one global curve, and nothing else. It does not know whether a film was good.

Praise92

Awards claim half the headroom above the critics' score.

Critics90 baseAwards37 signal → +2 lift

Oscars1 won Original Score
Golden Globes1 won Motion Picture
BAFTAs1 nominated Craft and other
How Praise works

Critics set the score; a tiered award record, Picture and Directing carrying the most weight, claims half the headroom above it. Praise is the verdict at the time; Legacy is the verdict since.

Legacy88

Judged directly: Generational, and a Broadway institution.

Verdict88 of 100IMDb8.5 from 1.2mWikipedia91k views a monthAge32 years

On the listsNational Film Registryevidence, not an input to the score
Scored beside it · 31 of 4,039 films judged

If it does not belong in this company, the number is wrong.

How Legacy works

Legacy is a judgment, not a formula. A film can be adored by critics and culturally quiet, or lightly reviewed and permanently lodged in the culture, and no arithmetic over IMDb numbers tells the difference. Every signal behind it keeps updating.

draw 86 praise 92 legacy 88averages 89, placing it at27,969 ft
How the three become one number

Added, not multiplied, so a film transcendent on one pillar and weak on another is not zeroed out. A compression curve then squeezes the top, because the seven greatest films ever made should not be four thousand feet apart.

Whose apex this is

▲ Jeremy Irons▲ James Earl Jones▲ Moira Kelly

In these careers — elevation for this film

Jeremy Irons20,639 ftMatthew Broderick19,729 ftJames Earl Jones19,457 ftNathan Lane19,376 ftRowan Atkinson18,647 ftMoira Kelly18,251 ftJim Cummings17,675 ftCheech Marin17,669 ftWhoopi Goldberg17,669 ftBrian Tochi17,642 ft