Zookstar's Animated Animal Movie Reviews #1: The Lion King (1994)

Well, the time has come for me to begin my Animated Animal Movie Reviews. As I stated before, as a kid, I always grew fond to the animal movies of animation. That partially due to me being an animal lover, but I always found the characters more likeable, cute, interesting and I find there is more creativity to be done when doing this subject in animation and still to this day at the age of 18, that novelty has never worn off. Not one bit. Granted I know some people might have an opposite view since it would be hard to relate to characters that aren't human, but for me, as long as the characters are interesting and memorable, I see no big deal. Anyway, the first movie I have chosen to review is none other than:

Ah yes. Seriously people, what kind of person hasn't known this movie already? Just name me one person and I will show that they are lying out of their ass. To put it short, The Lion King has pretty much become the staple in Disney animated films. You can't talk about Disney without mentioning this movie. It is most people's favourite film of the Disney lineup, and why is that exactly? It could be because of the characters, story, music, animation, pretty much all the above. It also could be because it is part of the Disney Renaissance, also known as Disney's Second Gold Age, which had other memorable classics like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, etc etc. So now that we know what we're getting into, let's take a lookback on why this movie left a big mark in animation. (not to mention this movie was released the same year I was born. YAY lol)

Story

Now before we begin, I like to add that for some reason people thought this was the first Disney movie to have it's own original story, which is false. For one that honour goes to Lady and the Tramp, and two, the story is loosely based on William Shakespeare's Hamlet. I've never read the whole story of Hamlet so I don't know if there are any differences besides the animals. Oh well, moving on:

Set in the beautiful landscapes of Africa, ruled by the lion king Mufasa (voiced by James Earl Jones), the animals celebrate the birth of the prince and future king, Simba. During Simba's youth, Mufasa teaches him all about the Circle of Life and the responsibilities of being king. However, Mufasa's brother, Scar (voiced by Jeremy Irons) grows envy of the lion cub's place and builds a plan to have him and Mufasa eliminated so he can take the throne for himself, in which successfully manages to kill Mufasa in a wildebeest stampede. Believing to be the cause of his father's death, Simba runs away from the Pride Lands to avoid punishment. Simba is then found in the desert by the comic relief of the film, the famous meerkat-and-warthog duo, Timon and Pumbaa (both who are voiced by Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella). They teach him the life of freedom from responsibility and work in which they call Hakuna Matata. Through his youth to adulthood, Simba leaves all of the responsibilities behind and lives a life of nothing but relaxing in the savannah with his buddies. That is, until his childhood friend, Nala comes along and they both fall in love (ahhh, lion romance lol). He then learns from her on how Scar has turned the Pride Lands into nothing but badlands. Simba, however, refuses to go back as it would mean revealing his cause of Mufasa's death. But upon meeting the crazy, wild baboon Rafiki (voiced by Robert Guillaume), he summons Mufasa's ghost in which tells Simba he needs to take his true place as the King of the Pride Lands. So now, Simba has to get back to the Pride Lands, battle his uncle Scar and take back the kingdom.

Phew, long summary lol. Anyway, so yeah, the moral of the story is taking responsibilities for your actions. Now, this would completely work if it weren't for one thing. Simba was never the cause of Mufasa's death and Scar tricked him into thinking it was, which brings confusion into how the moral is executed. I can see why this can be a bit of a plot hole and I know a lot of people have pointed this out by now, but I needed to bring it up as well. The movie also has a theme of putting the past behind you and moving on, which I personally think is a homage to a quote by Walt Disney himself: "Keep moving forward"

That's pretty much the only major flaw within the storyline. Other than that, the pacing is done right, the story is set up well and even with that plot hole, it still delivers what has to be the most mature moral Disney has ever done. I mean, Disney has always gave "keep wishing" morals in their movies, and this is one of their movies where the moral is more realistic with it's audience and it's what every kid nowadays should learn.

Characters

This is another thing on what everybody remembers this film for. The characters.

Simba - Our main protagonist. Now I certainly can't say Simba is the most interesting character, but not the most boring either. He has that archetype of "wisecracking male hero" which is a pretty common trait in most male heroes. However, before this film, Disney had always been more known for their princess heroines, which certainly wasn't a bad thing, but it was interesting to see what they could pull off for a male protagonist. Personally, I found Simba more of a exciting character when he was young. He was energised, fun and quirky. When he is an adult, he becomes more bland and less of a fun character, which is strange I mean, he hung out with Timon and Pumbaa all those years so you'd think he'd be a little more exciting. Nevertheless, you couldn't ask for a better protagonist to fit the theme of this story.

Nala - The leading lady and love interest of the film. There really isn't much to this character. She pretty much serves as Simba's mate and mentor when she meets him in adult years. Much like Simba, I found her more interesting in her youth. As for her relationship with Simba, it doesn't really seem all that developed. Granted they had been friends since childhood, but Simba had been gone from the Pride Lands up until adult years, so how could they have developed a full romantic relationship as soon as they reunite? Maybe I'm just digging too deep but that's just my perspective.

Scar - Now we have our main villain. Definetly an evil one. Scar is merciless, sinister and willing to do anything to get what he wants, even if it means taking out his own brother. Scar isn't my favourite Disney villain, but with a voice actor like Jeremy Irons, he definetly brings a good role as the villain of the story. Yeah, he may be not be the most complex Disney villain as say, Frollo, but he definetly has some of the most memorable and hilarious lines in this movie that he still gets a free pass from me.

Timon and Pumbaa - Our comedic duo. As far as I know, these characters were brought into the movie to at least bring some kid-friendly elements in the movie after all the dark themes. And both of them are enjoyable to watch and they didn't feel so out of place in the more serious story (unlike the Gargoyles from The Hunchback of Notre Dame). Granted, some of the jokes they make can be obnoxious but they serve well as the comic relief.

Rafiki - Now this is something I have to agree with Hannu on. As enjoyable as Timon and Pumbaa are, Rafiki is by far the funniest character in the movie. He serves as the wise elder of the movie, but provides some wacky and hilarious moments in the movie. When me and my friends talk about this movie, we always mention how Rafiki was hilarious rather than Timon and Pumbaa.

Mufasa - By far the best and most interesting character in the entire movie. A responsible, powerful king who does well to ensure the future, while at the same time, can still provide light-hearted moments. This is probably what makes him one of the best Disney parent characters, and because of this, his death has been known as the most tearjerking scene in Disney history. James Earl Jones provides an emotional performance with this character. Who'd thought? Darth Vader's voice emotional. lol

That's it from the main characters. Since I am short on time, I'm only discussing the main ones and not the other characters like Sarabi, Zazu or the hyenas as they didn't play too big a role in the plot.

Animation



By far this is one of Disney's most beautifully animated movies of all time, if not the most. Since it was important to capture animal movements and the background of Africa correctly, the team at Walt Disney had made a visit to the place to help with their art and needless to say, visiting there has sure paid off. The team also hired various wildlife experts to study the real life movements of lions and other animals (which was also done for the development of Bambi). The film also does offer beautiful landscapes of it's environment which is just as well done as something like The Rescuers Done Under. The Disney Renaissance defiantly had some of the best looking films in the library and this one is no exception here. That's pretty all there is to know about the animation.

Sound

Once again, another thing this movie is remembered for. Especially the music, written by Tim Rice and famous English singer, Elton John.

Circle of Life - A well-constructed, memorable piece that provides an epic opening for the movie. Definetly a plus here.
I Just Can't Wait To Be King - Pretty average song in my eyes. I don't know, there's something about this song that doesn't particular grasp me as much as the other ones. I still think it's a decent song, but I'd say it's my least favourite.
Be Prepared - One hell of a villain song. As we all know, Jeremy Irons sung half of this song before he started to lose his voice so well talented voice actor, Jim Cummings came aboard to finish the song and it still sounds great! This is a song I keep finding getting stuck in my head from time to time when I decide to listen to it.
Hakuna Matata - Same kind of thing with I Just Can't Wait To Be King. It's average at best, but it is definetly a fun and catchy song to listen to.
Can You Feel Love The Love Tonight - A sweet romantic song. Then again, Disney has never been unknown to romance and because of that, they provide a lot of memorable love songs and this is no different. That is, when Elton John isn't singing it. lol

The rest of the movie's musical piece was produced by Hans Zimmer. Man, this guy must have really worked his ass off with this one, because he has made what is one of the most epic soundtracks in cinema which can really capture both the heart and the emotion of a person.

The voice acting is also spot on. No surprise, the weakest actor was Matthew Broderick, who gave a pretty bland performance for Simba but the rest of actors do their job well. Like I mentioned earlier, James Earl Jones, voice for Mufasa is definetly the best voice in the movie as it is deep and powerful.

Conclusion

It's no surprise that this has become one of the Disney's deepest treasures in their canon. Ever since it's release in 1994, it had blown away the minds of both children and adults with it's memorable characters, epic musical piece and mature message to both kids and adults alike. And still to this day, it gets milked of it's prime with merchandise and a fanbase. Unfortunetly, it is not without it's flaws. Like I said, some of the songs were only average in my eyes, the main characters can be considered bland and uninteresting and of course, the plothole in the movie's theme. I for one can overlook that fine for all the hard work and effort went into making this movie and it's a shame we will never see an animated movie like this ever again (but we can only hope ;)). I cannot watch the movie that much though, because of scenes like Mufasa's death and Mufasa's spirit scenes that I'm extremely sensitive to and can immediately break me down on my emotions.

But with all that aside, I give The Lion King a: 4/5 (yeah, I'm going back to the usual score system as I don't plan to use that Doritos score anymore haha). I plan at looking at the sequel sometime soon but that's for another time. Next time in this marathon, I will look into another popular animal film done by the Mouse House:

So until next time lads and lassies, this is Zookstar1000 saying peace out and stay furry!