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.
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