Review of The Lion King (1994) by James C — 08 Feb 2018

The 1990's were a great decade for Disney. They churned out a string of popular, traditionally animated movies that had children and adults alike flocking to the cinema like never before. Movies like Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, Mulan, Tarzan, Hercules, The Hunchback of Notre Dame to name but a few.

For my money The Lion King is the pick of the bunch or the pick of the pride if you will. The Animation was groundbreaking, the songs were catchy (Elton John's imput was top-notch), the humour was for adults too and the vocal cast was astounding. You have; James Earl Jones, Matthew Boderick, Jeremy Irons, Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, Rowan Atkinson, Whoopi Goldberg and the list goes on. The "choices for voices" were spot on and delivered very effectively.

Although the setting is somewhat different, the story itself is nothing new from Disney. The tried and tested formula, used from Snow White right through to modern movies today was the same. Becoming seperated from one's family, rediscovering the meaning of family and finding ones own identity through regaining family. But the formula works and audiences connect with it. Besides, each time Disney attempt to break or bend the rules the movie tends to be pretty lame i.e. Home on the Range ~ case closed.

There are so many memorable moments in The Lion King. From the opening sunrise "NNAAAAAA SSOOOPENNYAA TUMA LEEKI MA LAAD", to the Gopher who pops up and reports to Zazu "News from the under ground", to the stampede, to can you feel the love tonight, to everything that Timon and Pumbaa say. My personal favourite part is Scars song, be prepared.

I love The Lion King. It is as much a part of my childhood as the sweet smell of a new pencilcase or the rough feel of a new school jumper. I have enjoyed it at the cinema, been ill with it at home (on VHS) and will no doubt introduce my own children to it some day. I feel thst it sends out great messages to children such as; your past may be painful but you must face it and learn from it to move forwards and also the mini-lesson on the circle of life. It's not just me that feels this way either, walk into any Disney store and you will see a lot of Lion King merchandise on sale (for high prices) all year round and the movie is still being re-released at cinemas (now in 3D) and on DVD (now on Blue ray or diamond edition).

Maybe my opinion is biased? Biased because I love animals, biased because I love animation and biased because I love great movies. In all seriousness this is both Disney and animation at its best.

P.S. The SNES game was great too!