This Day in Pop Culture for June 24

1994: ‘The Lion King’ Roars into Theaters

Though an original story, Walt Disney Pictures’ The Lion King was heavily influenced by William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Music for the film was written by Elton John with lyrics by Tim Rice. Hans Zimmer wrote the film’s score.

The story of young Simba who “can’t wait to be king” is given the privilege earlier than expected when his father, Mufasa dies at the hand of his bitter brother, Scar.

Though a mature storyline and somewhat darker than Disney’s usual fare, the film was a huge hit becoming the highest-grossing release of 1994. The film won two Academy Awards and one Golden Globe.

Since its release, two direct-to-video sequels were created, a Broadway adaptation of the movie was produced, two TV shows were made (Timon and Pumbaa and The Lion Guard), a live-action version of the story opened in theaters as well as Mufasa, a live-action prequel. (Image: Disney)

1949: The First Western TV Series

William Boyd had starred in 66 different Hopalong Cassidy movies before the TV series of the same name debuted on NBC on this day. When the series began, the network aired edited versions of the many films eventually airing new episodes which also starred Boyd. Edgar Buchanan also starred as his sidekick Red Connors.

Hopalong Cassidy was TV’s first western series which beat out The Lone Ranger by a number of months. The series ran from 1949 to 1952.

2008: ‘Wipeout’ Debuts

Hosted by John Henson and John Anderson with Jill Wagner serving as the on-the-ground reporter, the ABC reality competition series Wipeout once boasted of having the world’s largest obstacle course, and really, who’s gonna check?

Wipeout consisted of outrageous stunts that were mostly impossible to achieve, and many involved the use of water. The show proved so popular, international versions of the show began popping up in the United Kingdom, Australia, Argentina and others. The original American version ran until 2014. Wipeout was rebooted for TBS in 2021 with new hosts John Cena, Nicole Byer and Camille Kostek. It ran for two years. (Image: ABC)

1901: Pablo’s First

Artist Pablo Picasso celebrated his first professional exhibition during his “blue period” in Paris at 19 years of age.

1916: Mary’s First

Mary Pickford became the first movie actress ever to receive a million-dollar contract with full authority over production of her films.

1964: Cigarette’s First

The Federal Trade Commission announced that health warning labels would be required on all cigarette packages and in advertisements.

1992: The Piano Man Finally Graduates

At the age of 43, singer Billy Joel finally graduated from Hicksville High School on Long Island. He was supposed to have graduated in 1967, but he was missing one English credit. The reason being? He overslept.

When asked to send samples of his writing 25 years later, he passed. He got a chance to speak and said, “Well, here I am, Mom. I’m actually going to get my high school diploma, and it’s only 25 years after everyone else got theirs. But Mom, don’t worry. I can finally pull myself out of this dead-end job I have and start working on a career with a real future.”