The song was re-recorded in 2003 by the Disney Channel Circle of Stars, a group of actors and actresses who have appeared in Disney Channel television series and original movies. The line-up was significantly different when their next re-recording, "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes," was released two years later.

Popular culture

Due to the film's impact on popular culture, the song "Circle of Life" is often referenced in other media.

The opening to the Lion King was parodied in the 90s cartoon Animaniacs

Animaniacs

Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs, usually referred to as simply Animaniacs, is an American animated series, distributed by Warner Bros. Television and produced by Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation. The cartoon was the second animated series produced by the collaboration of Steven...

 in which the theme of "Circle Of Life" was parodied with "Surprises In life" vocals by Jim Cummings

Jim Cummings

James Jonah "Jim" Cummings is an American voice actor who has appeared in almost 100 roles. He has appeared in classic animated movies such as Aladdin and The Lion King, as well as taking on roles in more current films, such as Bee Movie, Princess and the Frog, and Winnie the Pooh.-Personal...

 and Cree Summer

Cree Summer

Cree Summer Francks , best known as Cree Summer, is a Canadian actress, musician and voice actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as college student Winifred "Freddie" Brooks on the NBC sitcom A Different World...

 as lead singer, the whole parody is known as "The Tiger Prince". The short song parody took place similar to "Pride Rock" in the film, the character Yakko Warner taking the role as Rafiki, and when the time came to hold up the cub, he accidentally drops it and replies with "Ooh...I thought they were supposed to land on their feet!"

The Tenth Doctor

Tenth Doctor

The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...

 finds himself unconsciously quoting "Circle of Life" during a confrontation with the Sycorax

Sycorax

Sycorax is a character mentioned though not seen in William Shakespeare's play The Tempest.Sycorax may also refer to:*Sycorax , a moon of Uranus, named after the fictional character...

 leader in the season two premiere of the revived Doctor Who

Doctor Who

Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...

 series, The Christmas Invasion

The Christmas Invasion

"The Christmas Invasion" is a 60-minute special episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is Christmas, but there is little cause for celebration as planet Earth is invaded by aliens known as the Sycorax...

.

In an episode of the television series The Critic

The Critic

The Critic is an American prime time animated series revolving around the life of film critic Jay Sherman, voiced by actor Jon Lovitz. It was created by Al Jean and Mike Reiss, both of whom had worked as writers on The Simpsons. The Critic had 23 episodes produced, first broadcast on ABC in 1994,...

, there was a song that parodied "The Circle of Life" involving New York City pests and the opening vocals of Hepatitis. In the 17th episode of season 4, A Very Crappy Christmas, in South Park

South Park

South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...

, Mr Hankey the Christmas Poo parodies this song, by singing a song called "The Circle of Poo" with his song Cornwallace.

It is currently the main theme song for Disney's Animal Kingdom

Disney's Animal Kingdom

Disney's Animal Kingdom is an animal theme park located at the Walt Disney World Resort. The fourth park built at the resort, it opened on April 22, 1998, and it is the largest single Disney theme park in the world, covering more than . It is also the first Disney theme park to be themed entirely...

 at the Walt Disney World Resort

Walt Disney World Resort

Walt Disney World Resort , is the world's most-visited entertaimental resort. Located in Lake Buena Vista, Florida ; approximately southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States, the resort covers an area of and includes four theme parks, two water parks, 23 on-site themed resort hotels Walt...

. Disney's Epcot

Epcot

Epcot is a theme park in the Walt Disney World Resort, located near Orlando, Florida. The park is dedicated to the celebration of human achievement, namely international culture and technological innovation. The second park built at the resort, it opened on October 1, 1982 and was initially named...

 park currently features a cinema-type film called "The Circle of Life" with three of the characters at the Walt Disney World Resort

Walt Disney World Resort

Walt Disney World Resort , is the world's most-visited entertaimental resort. Located in Lake Buena Vista, Florida ; approximately southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States, the resort covers an area of and includes four theme parks, two water parks, 23 on-site themed resort hotels Walt...

 as well.

In Channel 4 comedy Green Wing

Green Wing

Green Wing is a British sitcom set in the fictional East Hampton Hospital. It was created by the same team behind the sketch show Smack the Pony, led by Victoria Pile, and stars Tamsin Greig, Stephen Mangan and Julian Rhind-Tutt....

, the character Sue White sings the song after giving birth to a lion herself, parodying the opening sequence.

On The Daily Show

The Daily Show

The Daily Show , is an American late night satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. The half-hour long show premiered on July 21, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 1998...

 the song and segment was used with Barack Obama

Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

 on the skit Barack Obama: He Completes Us.

In 2009, the song was used in the pilot episode of Modern Family

Modern Family

Modern Family is an American television comedy series created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan, which debuted on ABC on September 23, 2009. Lloyd and Levitan serve as showrunner and executive producers, under their Levitan-Lloyd Productions label...

, when Cameron holds up his and Mitchell's newly adopted baby in a parody of the Disney film.
In one of Disney's many self references, this also appeared as a false beginning of Chicken Little when Buck was trying to open the movie.

Ronan Keating

Ronan Keating

Ronan Patrick John Keating is an Irish recording artist, singer-songwriter, musician, and philanthropist. Keating debuted on the professional music scene alongside Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham, Shane Lynch and Stephen Gately, in 1994 as the lead singer of Boyzone. His solo career started in 1999, and...

 recorded a cover for "Disneymania

DisneyMania

Disneymania is the first of a series of albums released by Walt Disney Records featuring various musical artists performing Disney songs. The original album, released on September 17, 2002, featured contemporary Disney classics...

".

Charts

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Chart (1994)	Peak position
Canadian Adult Contemporary	1
Canadian Top Singles	3
US Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...	18
US Mainstream Top 40 (Pop Songs) Mainstream Top 40 (Pop Songs) The Mainstream Top 40 is an airplay chart from Billboard magazine, and is also known as Pop Songs on billboard.com. It was often mistaken for and confused with the now discontinued Pop 100 Airplay chart...	26

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Chart (1995)	Peak position