My Lion King Forum

I'd say it's the combination of strong, memorable, lovable characters. Majestic, touching, emotional music, and the high quality of the animation and visuals that turned this into the greatest movie ever
And lets not forget the storyline, that has so much potential to touch so many people ^^
It is just so awesome

Watch the movie it answers it all

[quote="SnowyCheetah"]Because... it was an epic masterpiece![/quote]
Yup: Go TLK!!!

TLK is currently the #4 best movie ever made, and #1 animation (from what I've heard, sorry i don't have a specific reference) but there's multiple reasons.

1. Advertised alot. 2. Was entertaining to both kids AND parents (something a lot of animations seem to struggle with) 3. Had a strong emotional impact including the fact that it involved the death not only of an enemy, but of a character that the audience actually liked therefore bringing something in a move that had never been done before. Those are just the top three reasons that come to my mind but I could list many more =)

I think one important reason is that TLK is the only Disney movie where NO humans are involved. Bambi comes close, as no humans aer seen on-screen, but the animals still know about humans and "man" is the movies villain.

So I think the unique approach with only having animals star in all roles, with no involvement of humans whatsoever made this movie so popular.

Word of mouth, people saw it, critics praised it, kids and families started to go watch it etc. you CAN make something truly incredible and it can still go by unnoticed, its pot luck these days.

Promotion easily.

It was just a marketing blitz. A lot of parents wallets were emptied that summer

The marketing definitely had something to do with the initial popularity. It is still popular to this day because it truly is timeless storytelling. The plot has everything you could ask for in a movie. A hero who faces early adversity and must face his past, a villain with believable motives and cunning execution of his plan, romance, and even some humor. Add excellent animation and music to that, and it's easy to see why TLK has stood the test of time.

The initial marketing campaign did help TLK not be the "bust" that Disney thought it might be. But once people started to see it, it was up to the movie to keep people interested in it. And keep people in it did. A great plot, great animation, music, characters... just about everything is perfect. The Lion King is not a good children's movie. It's an excellent movie in general.

As a family member of mine said after seeing it for the first time: "It's a great movie, but there's a problem: Why is it for kids?"

Does this even need to be asked?