The Lion King (June 15, 1994)

The first thing that stands out when watching The Lion King is its spectacular cinematography during the opening musical number, “Circle of Life”. While I believe the song itself is overplayed and arguably overrated, it definitely sets the mood for the film and its sweeping locations. Truly Disney kept topping itself during this period and it shows how far they had grown from their roaring start in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The plot of this films is the classic story of royal treachery. Scar is passed on for King by Mufasa with the birth of Simba and he hatches a plan to remove both of these obstacles from his path to the throne. Scar’s plan succeeds, he is able to both kill Mufasa and run Simba out of Pride Rock. Simba has to eventually return and retake his birthright. “I Just Can’t Wait to be King” displays Simba’s charisma and delusions. He knows he will succeed his father someday, but that power goes to his head and he deludes himself into hasting that time when he is clearly not ready. In fact, throughout most of this film Simba is generally unlikable, a mere child with no accountability, constantly screwing up and abandoning his duties. Another song that is presented spectacularly is “Be Prepared.” It intentionally draws striking parallels to the Nazi rallies of the 1930s, portraying Scar as charismatic megalomaniac who refuses to get his own hands dirty but is able to command his hyena army into doing it for him. Even the Wildebeest stampede sequences is amazing in its ability convey the enormity of the herd as well as its imposing danger to both Simba and Mufasa. The expressions on all of the characters as well convey a large range of emotions and allows the audience to empathize with the creatures of this world while contrasting this to their animalistic nature. “Hakuna Matata” is a fun and catchy song but I feel it is an unnecessarily drastic and abrupt change of tone after what Simba had just been through- after he was found on death’s doorstep. If it were sung after a longer meeting with Timon and Pumba and more contemplation by Simba, instead of being an introduction, I think it would have had more impact. “Can you feel the love tonight?” is a sweet love song with gorgeous visuals, but it lacks the timelessness of other romantic numbers in past Disney films. Moving on to the characters, Mufasa is an excellent king, and from the few scenes we have with him, an excellent father as well. He is my favorite character in the film. As I touched upon earlier, Simba is immature and cowardly throughout most of the film only deciding to take back his crown near the end. I am not a fan of these sorts of characters and I feel his transition to brave savior is forced not earned. It is done too quickly. I do like that it is spurred out of duty to his former pride, and love for his late father, when he realizes all the trouble he left in his absence. Nala, Simba’s childhood friend, is a great foil to Simba. She is bold and brave and attempts to persuade him to return to Pride Rock; She is a much more likable character than Simba. Scar is another charismatic villain who Is able to manipulate himself into the kingship and does so in an entertaining way. His feelings of being slighted are understandable, though he obviously goes about everything the wrong way, but it is not unlike what would happen in real life. Timon and Pumba are great and loyal friends to Simba and very entertaining and humorous, though they are terrible guides to him; They encourage him to do the exact opposite of his duty. Overall, The Lion King is a gorgeous spectacle filled with both interesting, complex, and irresponsible characters. Simba is not completely blameless in this whole affair. While he did not kill Mufasa he abandoned his kingdom and let it rot away under the control of Scar. It tells the timeless lesson of finding yourself after you have lost your direction and become who you were meant to be all along. It is a great movie that stands up today and though it does have a few shortcomings they are overcome by its spectacular scenery and compelling narrative.

Final Rating: 7.5/10