Can You Feel the Love Tonight facts for kids

Quick facts for kids "Can You Feel the Love Tonight"
Single by Elton John
from the album The Lion King: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Released	May 12, 1994 (1994-05-12)
Recorded	1993–1994
Genre	Pop, soft rock
Length	4:01 (album version)
Label	Walt Disney Hollywood
Composer(s)	Elton John
Lyricist(s)	Tim Rice
Producer(s)	Chris Thomas
Elton John singles chronology
"Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" (1994) "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" (1994) "Circle of Life" (1994)

"Can You Feel the Love Tonight" is a song from Disney's 1994 animated film The Lion King composed by Elton John with lyrics by Tim Rice. It was described by Don Hahn (the film's producer), Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff (the film's directors) as having "the most diverse history" in the film. It was a chart hit in the UK, peaking at number 14 on the UK Singles Chart, and achieved even more success in the US, reaching number four on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was a number-one hit in Canada and France. At the 67th Academy Awards in March 1995 it won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. The same year the song also won Elton John the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

Early production

The song was planned to be sung only by Timon and Pumbaa, but Elton John disliked the comical nature of the concept. John declared that "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" was meant to follow "Disney's tradition of great love songs", and that it could "express the lions' feelings for each other far better than dialogue could". The final result was the song mainly sung by an off-screen voice (Kristle Edwards) with short lines from Simba (Joseph Williams) and Nala (Sally Dworsky), and the beginning and end parts by Timon (Nathan Lane) and Pumbaa (Ernie Sabella). It also included Zulu vocals that, while mostly muted in the on-screen version, were much more prominently featured in the audio-only releases.

Track listing

Festival of the Lion King

In Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom's Festival of the Lion King, the song is sung by Nakawa and Kibibi. As they sing, two ballet dancers (one male, one female) dressed as birds dance on the stage. After the main chorus is sung, the male bird dancer attaches his partner to a harness that allows her to fly through the air.

Cover versions

English pop group S Club, Sara Paxton and Elliott Yamin all covered the song for Disneymania, Disneymania 4 and Disneymania 6, respectively. Jackie Evancho covered the song for her album Songs from the Silver Screen. Harajuku, a Eurodance band covered a dance version of the song in a 1995 release with singer Stephanie O'Hara, also known as Stefanie Obst, performing vocals. Italian trio Il Volo covered the song releasing it in the special edition of their album We Are Love. In 2017 D-Metal Stars created a Heavy Metal cover of the song on the album "Metal Disney" featuring Mike Vescera and Rudy Sarzo. Beyoncé, Donald Glover, Seth Rogen, and Billy Eichner performed the song as Nala, Simba, Pumbaa, and Timon, respectively, in the 2019 remake of The Lion King, directed by Jon Favreau. Pentatonix released an a capella rendition in conjunction with the 2019 remake. In April 2020 Christina Aguilera performed the song for the ABC's television special, The Disney Family Singalong. In September 2020, Japanese composer Yoshiki created a new classical arrangement of the song for the Disney My Music Story: Yoshiki special on Disney+.

We Love Disney

The song was covered in different languages for the series We Love Disney by:

• Christophe Willem for We Love Disney, France in 2013
• Jason Derulo for We Love Disney, United States in 2015
• Cakra Khan for We Love Disney, Indonesia [id] in 2015
• Luis Fonsi for We Love Disney, Latin America in 2016

Personnel

• Elton John: Piano, lead vocals
• Davey Johnstone: Guitar, backing vocals
• Chuck Sabo: Strings, drums
• Phil Spalding: Bass, backing vocals
• Guy Babylon: Keyboards
• Robert Englund: Backing vocals
• Rick Astley: Backing vocals
• Gary Barlow: Backing vocals
• Kiki Dee: Backing vocals

Charts

Certifications

See also

In Spanish: Can You Feel the Love Tonight para niños