Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Hakuna Matata - The Lion King

32 – The Lion King

When I was a kid, 1994's The Lion King was one of my all time favorites. This is one of the first movies that I ever saw in theaters, though I can't remember what I thought then. This whole time I've been reviewing these movies, this one has been on the back of my mind. Beauty and the Beast proved to be way better than I remembered it so I wondered how this one would go.

A young lion, Simba, is born to the King of the Pride Lands, Mufasa. His uncle, Scar, is jealous of Simba and plans to usurp the throne for himself. Scar lures Simba into a gorge and has his hyena allies create a stampede of wildebeest that almost kill Simba. Before they can, Mufasa manages to rescue Simba but is dropped into the gorge by Scar. Simba, having not seen Scar kill Mufasa, believes he is the reason that his father died and is told by Scar to run away. Simba escapes death from the hyenas and meets Timon and Pumbaa, a meerkat and warthog, who teach Simba a new life philosophy. While he grows up with this new philosophy of “no worries,” the Pride Lands fall into drought and famine under Scar's rule. Simba's childhood friend, Nala, happens to find him while she is looking for a solution to the problem. Simba then has to face his past and remember who he is to confront Scar and take his rightful place as king.

Simba, as a cub, starts the story pretty arrogant and impatient. His big goal is to finally become king so he doesn't have to listen to people like Zazu, Mufasa's hornbill majordomo. He really wants to prove that he's brave like his father but he does so by disobeying his father's orders. He ends up going to an elephant graveyard where he, Nala and Zazu are almost killed by hyenas. Luckily, he is saved by his father. He changes completely once he thinks that he is responsible for his father's death. He is racked by guilt even after he learns about Hakuna Matata, the philosophy of no worries, from Timon and Pumbaa. He totally gives up the responsibility that he was so desperate for before. He decides that running away is better than facing his past but it's clear that he still feels a deep guilt that is stopping him from taking responsibility. He has a really interesting story in how he starts the story so overconfident, then loses it all only to have to regain it by the end.

Mufasa is Simba's wise a strong father. He is loved dearly by the kingdom and is a great king. He tries to guide Simba and give him advice to becoming a better king and person (lion?). His death affects Simba greatly although he makes sure to let Simba know that he will always watch over him, even when he's gone. Simba feels so much guilt from his death that he seems to think that Mufasa wouldn't want to watch over him. He later appears as a vision to Simba to remind him to remember who Simba really is. While he's alive, he has a really great relationship for Simba. They get along really well and can play around and Mufasa protects Simba intensely. This really makes it heartbreaking when he does die, especially after the frantic and tense scene that precedes it.

Scar is Mufasa's younger brother and Simba's uncle. While Scar isn't as strong physically as Mufasa, his mind makes up for it. His greatest weapon is his silver tongue. He's interesting compared to other Disney villains as he gets everything he wants simply by talking. The only problem comes later when he needs more than words to get what he needs done. He makes allies with the hyenas, led by Shenzi, Banzai and Ed, and promises that if they help him become king, they won't ever go hungry again. It was interesting seeing their strange relationship as it changed throughout the movie. They start as allies but the hyenas start to doubt him when he can't come through with his promise to keep them fed. They turn to downright hating him when he throws them under the bus and blames them for the Pride Lands problems.

Simba left behind many friends when he ran from home. One of these was Zazu, who tries to look out for Simba under Mufasa's orders. He does what he can to keep the headstrong lion in check but can't control him. Later on, he doesn't appear too much and while I think he's a great character, he didn't get to do much. Nala, Simba's childhood friend, later becomes his love interest and tries to convince him to come back and take his rightful place as king. She really illustrates how things are changing from when they began as friends who would never consider being together to growing up and finding romance with each other. Rafiki is a really weird mandrill character who is actually a very wise shaman who tries to direct Simba toward finding the right answers in his life. It's really great that he lets Simba find the answers for himself rather than spelling it out clearly for Simba. It's much more valuable that Simba comes to a conclusion on his own.

After Simba runs away he meets Timon and Pumbaa. They teach Simba their philosophy of Hakuna Matata, or “no worries.” They help him escape his past life and become best friends over the time they spend together. They are sad when Simba decides he needs to leave to become king but still support his decision and go to fight for him. Otherwise, they mostly provide comic relief. I really liked these guys but I wish they could have used them for a few more heartfelt scenes. I feel a bit like we didn't quite get to know them enough in the movie. We know they like Hakuna Matata but I never really understand why. Genie from Aladdin serves a similar role but I feel like I really understood his motivations. They still serve their role in the story well and it's clear that they do care about Simba a lot.

The music in this story has a really great African style. It's a more unique sound compared to past Disney soundtracks. I think the songs themselves are a bit weaker compared to Aladdin or Beauty and the Beast but the sequences themselves still work really well. They are beautiful to look at and always move the story. I didn't feel like any of them were useless at all. The score of the film is really great. Every scene really had more emotion from the music. The animation is really great, as usual. The characters move really well and there's a great energy in all the sequences. The backgrounds and scenery are especially awesome. They really capture the feel of the setting well and use color expertly to really give you a sense of the emotion they're trying to portray. The best example is how much the Pride Lands change from beautiful under Mufasa's rule to dark and gray during Scar's.

The themes in this movie really blew me away too. Simba has to deal with his father's death which is made even worse because he thinks he is responsible for it. He runs away from who he really is and hides. Responsibility is a huge theme as well. Simba has to remember who he is to take the responsibility to being king and going back to face Scar. Scar wants to rule and wants the responsibility of being king but ends up not being able to deliver. This ends up with him losing the trust of his hyena allies. The themes in this movie are incredibly dark, especially for a kids movie, but they handled them really well.

Overall, the story is just fantastic. The story is so dense, in fact, that I think some of the characters don't get the attention they deserve. I still liked every character, I just wish they could have had their motivations made a bit clearer, especially in the case of Timon and Pumbaa. The music is also really great, if a bit weaker than some of their other works. The themes in this movie are just incredible. It's really nice to see them step away from romance as a major theme. It's good to see them expand a bit and try other kinds of stories. Tomorrow, we go across the ocean to a new world.

32 down. 21 to go.





No comments:

Post a Comment