No it is not "a US thing". TLK released 20+ years ago when international box office was nowhere near the size of today. TLK made $450M in its original run. 450M OS was incredibly rare, it did extremely well. 300/450 split was very rare. If you look at all movies throughout the 90s, just a quick look of BOM shows how big TLK was overseas.
some comparable films....
Titanic - 1242M
Jurassic Park - 550M
Independence Day - 511M
Phantom Menace - 493M
The Lion King - 451M
Jurassic Park 2 - 390M
Sixth Sense - 380M
Armageddon - 352M
Men in Black - 339M
T2 - 315M
as far as I can tell, TLK was the 5th biggest film OS of that decade. It's BIG big.
also, Disney movies from the 90s:
Aladdin - 287M
Beauty and the Beast - 206M
Pocahontas - 204M
Mulan - 184M
also just a thought. If TLK's domestic gross adjusts from 312M to 683M - well if overseas inflation rose at the same rate (which it hasn't, it's risen more) then Lion King grossed equivalent of $1 billion overseas.