Okay, I'm going to be honest here. I had no intentions of reviewing another Disney movie so soon after Robin Hood. I wanted to review a more recent film this week since I found it for fairly cheap, but with the Lion King remake coming out, I thought it was the best opportunity to look at this classic Disney renaissance err.... Classic. Plus, since I didn't do this one for Aladdin, since I had no intentions of talking about that movie here, I thought, since I do intend to share a first impressions on the upcoming Lion King remake, I might as well.
I don't think I need to discuss the Disney renaissance of the 90s, but of the movies released between 1988 and 2000, the biggest movie of the entire set was, without a doubt, The Lion King. It grossed 968.5 Million dollars, it was the highest grossing animated movie of all time until Toy Story 3 was released, in 2010 (Which grossed 1.067 Billion Dollars at the box office). Holding such a record for over a decade and a half is no small feat, especially since Toy Story 3 would be surpassed three years later with the release of Frozen, which is still the highest grossing animated movie as I write this (at 1.276 Billion Dollars grossed). Aside from the money, The Lion King is often considered one of Disney's best features, not just animated, and not just of the 90s. It's on multiple lists of must see animated movies, and if products like The Lion Guard are of any indication, it is one of Disney's more lucrative franchises. Is it all worth it though?
I think we all know the plot to this movie, but in case you don't. It's basically a simplified version of Shakespeare's Hamlet. After the young prince Simba is born, his Uncle Scar no longer stands in line to become king, and so, decides to have Simba killed. This leads to a stampede of Wildebeests in which Simba's father, King Mufasa, leaps in to save him, only to be thrown to his death by the treasonous Scar. Simba runs away from his home of The Pride Lands thinking it is all his fault, and he meets with Timon and Pumbaa, a meerkat and warthog respectively, who teach him to relax and never worry about his past, which becomes his philosophy as he grows up. After Scar makes a decayed pit out of The Pride Lands, Simba's childhood friend Nala searches for help, when she comes across Simba. While Simba still thinks he cannot confront his past, but with help of an old friend, Rafiki, he goes to confront Scar, reclaim his throne and set things right. The plot is really smooth, with a couple hiccups, here and there. The movie is good with showing us that it indeed was not Simba's fault for the stampede that killed his father, and this movie does one up Bambi a little by actually showing Simba seeing his father after his death. I don't like how Scar seems to get the upper hand on Simba towards the end, but as a whole, the plot progressed nicely.
It would be remiss of me if I didn't at least bring up the controversy surrounding this movie and a similar sounding anime called Kimba the White Lion, by big name anime artist, Osamu Tezuka. Of course, what you do have to keep in mind is a lot of names in the Lion King are mostly words of Swahili origin, though I did a couple minutes of research so don't quote me as a source. Personally, looking at a Wikipedia summary the two don't seem at all alike, but I'm also aware that Wikipedia is first, not reliable as a main source, and second, likely missing a few pieces of information. I think this is like a Toy Story vs Jim Henson's The Christmas Toy thing, where people can draw similarities, but a lot of differences as well. Also, Kimba's name was actually Leo in the original and was only Kimba in the English dub from what I've read. So I think we can take most comparisons with a grain of salt.
Steering back on track, the characters were alright. Scar was devilish with his cunning, but also quite arrogant, which would lead to his downfall. The Hyenas are your typical bunch of crazy, Timon and Pumbaa are your typical comic relief, and they do their job fine. There isn't much to say about character here since most of the side characters are only given a couple scenes to shine. Simba's mother for example is only given a couple lines, her biggest scene is probably when she is talking to Scar about his rule. Now we come to Simba, and honestly, he's okay. He begins as a typical child character, excited, full of himself and a bit careless, but also really emotional. When he gets older, he is still emotional, but still has determination. While the characters all had some cute moments, I don't exactly feel like this is Disney's strongest movie when it comes to character. We do not really get subtle shifts and development like in Treasure Planet.
Now, where I can really set my praise is the technicals, specifically the animation. The setting designs and colour schemes are all wonderful, and some of the night scenes are just plain beautiful to look at. Also, any animated movie that attempts slow motion is immediately a high score in my book, animation is hard, and having to slow it down must be tricky. I think the scene where I fell in love with the animation was during the opening, not the sunrise at the very start, that always scared me as a kid. It's when the sunlight fell on the young Simba's head while Rafiki held him up. It was visually amazing, and perfectly timed with the music. Speaking of, musically this movie is... mixed. The background score was incredible, Hans Zimmer did an amazing job with this movie and he was given the Academy award for Best Original Score at the 67th Academy Awards ceremony. It's no wonder he would continue to do many other amazing scores. The songs on the other hand were done by Elton John and Tim Rice and I'm mixed on them. Circle of Life and Be Preapred are amazing two of my all time favourite Disney songs. I just Can't Wait to Be King is good, I think I like the chorus more than the rest of the song, but I don't mind it. Hakuna Matata is stomachable, but Can You Feel the Love Tonight is wretched. I got to like two verses into the song before I just had to skip over it, it was dreadful. As a whole, I can definitely praise the animation and parts of the soundtrack, though I should say this movie pretty much begs to be seen in a theatre setting.
I'm very conflicted on The Lion King. On the one hand, yeah, it is a good movie, with a good story, decent characters, and amazing animation and background score. On the other hand, this was the highest grossing animated movie for sixteen years? I mean, of 1994 The Lion King is one of the better animated movies (though next to that dreadful Cinderella movie I reviewed that isn't saying much), but honestly, I don't think this is one of Disney's best. It doesn't have the emotions of The Fox and the Hound, it doesn't have the depth of Treasure Planet, it doesn't have the charm of Robin Hood, I know this is all subjective, but I did not get the same enjoyment out of the movie as I did others. That is not to say I did not like it, I did enjoy my time. While I may think the movie is overrated, I still think it is a perfectly fine recommendation. Now let's get the remake out of the way...
I don't think I need to discuss the Disney renaissance of the 90s, but of the movies released between 1988 and 2000, the biggest movie of the entire set was, without a doubt, The Lion King. It grossed 968.5 Million dollars, it was the highest grossing animated movie of all time until Toy Story 3 was released, in 2010 (Which grossed 1.067 Billion Dollars at the box office). Holding such a record for over a decade and a half is no small feat, especially since Toy Story 3 would be surpassed three years later with the release of Frozen, which is still the highest grossing animated movie as I write this (at 1.276 Billion Dollars grossed). Aside from the money, The Lion King is often considered one of Disney's best features, not just animated, and not just of the 90s. It's on multiple lists of must see animated movies, and if products like The Lion Guard are of any indication, it is one of Disney's more lucrative franchises. Is it all worth it though?
I think we all know the plot to this movie, but in case you don't. It's basically a simplified version of Shakespeare's Hamlet. After the young prince Simba is born, his Uncle Scar no longer stands in line to become king, and so, decides to have Simba killed. This leads to a stampede of Wildebeests in which Simba's father, King Mufasa, leaps in to save him, only to be thrown to his death by the treasonous Scar. Simba runs away from his home of The Pride Lands thinking it is all his fault, and he meets with Timon and Pumbaa, a meerkat and warthog respectively, who teach him to relax and never worry about his past, which becomes his philosophy as he grows up. After Scar makes a decayed pit out of The Pride Lands, Simba's childhood friend Nala searches for help, when she comes across Simba. While Simba still thinks he cannot confront his past, but with help of an old friend, Rafiki, he goes to confront Scar, reclaim his throne and set things right. The plot is really smooth, with a couple hiccups, here and there. The movie is good with showing us that it indeed was not Simba's fault for the stampede that killed his father, and this movie does one up Bambi a little by actually showing Simba seeing his father after his death. I don't like how Scar seems to get the upper hand on Simba towards the end, but as a whole, the plot progressed nicely.
It would be remiss of me if I didn't at least bring up the controversy surrounding this movie and a similar sounding anime called Kimba the White Lion, by big name anime artist, Osamu Tezuka. Of course, what you do have to keep in mind is a lot of names in the Lion King are mostly words of Swahili origin, though I did a couple minutes of research so don't quote me as a source. Personally, looking at a Wikipedia summary the two don't seem at all alike, but I'm also aware that Wikipedia is first, not reliable as a main source, and second, likely missing a few pieces of information. I think this is like a Toy Story vs Jim Henson's The Christmas Toy thing, where people can draw similarities, but a lot of differences as well. Also, Kimba's name was actually Leo in the original and was only Kimba in the English dub from what I've read. So I think we can take most comparisons with a grain of salt.
Steering back on track, the characters were alright. Scar was devilish with his cunning, but also quite arrogant, which would lead to his downfall. The Hyenas are your typical bunch of crazy, Timon and Pumbaa are your typical comic relief, and they do their job fine. There isn't much to say about character here since most of the side characters are only given a couple scenes to shine. Simba's mother for example is only given a couple lines, her biggest scene is probably when she is talking to Scar about his rule. Now we come to Simba, and honestly, he's okay. He begins as a typical child character, excited, full of himself and a bit careless, but also really emotional. When he gets older, he is still emotional, but still has determination. While the characters all had some cute moments, I don't exactly feel like this is Disney's strongest movie when it comes to character. We do not really get subtle shifts and development like in Treasure Planet.
Now, where I can really set my praise is the technicals, specifically the animation. The setting designs and colour schemes are all wonderful, and some of the night scenes are just plain beautiful to look at. Also, any animated movie that attempts slow motion is immediately a high score in my book, animation is hard, and having to slow it down must be tricky. I think the scene where I fell in love with the animation was during the opening, not the sunrise at the very start, that always scared me as a kid. It's when the sunlight fell on the young Simba's head while Rafiki held him up. It was visually amazing, and perfectly timed with the music. Speaking of, musically this movie is... mixed. The background score was incredible, Hans Zimmer did an amazing job with this movie and he was given the Academy award for Best Original Score at the 67th Academy Awards ceremony. It's no wonder he would continue to do many other amazing scores. The songs on the other hand were done by Elton John and Tim Rice and I'm mixed on them. Circle of Life and Be Preapred are amazing two of my all time favourite Disney songs. I just Can't Wait to Be King is good, I think I like the chorus more than the rest of the song, but I don't mind it. Hakuna Matata is stomachable, but Can You Feel the Love Tonight is wretched. I got to like two verses into the song before I just had to skip over it, it was dreadful. As a whole, I can definitely praise the animation and parts of the soundtrack, though I should say this movie pretty much begs to be seen in a theatre setting.
I'm very conflicted on The Lion King. On the one hand, yeah, it is a good movie, with a good story, decent characters, and amazing animation and background score. On the other hand, this was the highest grossing animated movie for sixteen years? I mean, of 1994 The Lion King is one of the better animated movies (though next to that dreadful Cinderella movie I reviewed that isn't saying much), but honestly, I don't think this is one of Disney's best. It doesn't have the emotions of The Fox and the Hound, it doesn't have the depth of Treasure Planet, it doesn't have the charm of Robin Hood, I know this is all subjective, but I did not get the same enjoyment out of the movie as I did others. That is not to say I did not like it, I did enjoy my time. While I may think the movie is overrated, I still think it is a perfectly fine recommendation. Now let's get the remake out of the way...
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